A leaked video of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban’s conversation with a recruit has gone viral, providing an insight into Saban’s primary recruiting strategy: telling them that Alabama is the best.
“We’ve won six championships in the last 11 years. We’ve been in the national championship game eight out of the last 11 years. We’ve been to the playoffs nine of the last 11 years,” Saban says in the video.
WATCH:
Saban continues to debunk the argument other coaches use to dissuade recruits from joining Alabama.
“Everyone’s gonna tell you in recruiting, ‘Oh don’t go to Alabama. You can play at our school before you play there. They got all those good players there. You won’t be able to play. You’ll play at our place earlier.’ I think that’s the worst stuff that people can tell you. First of all, when they tell you that, they’re insulting you. I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you if you couldn’t play here. Number 2, when they say ‘You can play at our place before you play at Alabama,’ they’re just telling you Alabama’s better than them. Number 3, if you ask just our players on our team, they’ll tell you the competition made them better.”
Later, Saban discusses how cornerback Marlon Humphrey and wide receiver Amari Cooper competed “every day.” Then, he added that offensive tackle Cam Robinson won the Outland Trophy, and defensive lineman Jonathan Allen won the Nagurski, and they practiced against each other “every day for three years.”
“The competition made me better,” Saban recalled. “The guy I practiced against was better than the guy I played in the game against.”
The video ended with Saban saying that, “Everybody can’t play for the Yankees, man. You’ve gotta want to be good, you’ve gotta want to play with the best, you’ve got to want to be the best…”