ROLLTIDE: Alabama secured 5-star RB flip form Miami Hurricanes recrui..

ROLLTIDE: Alabama secured 5-star RB flip form Miami Hurricanes recrui..

Alabama football recruiting became a national brand under legendary coach Nick Saban.

That’s not to say the Crimson Tide was incapable of attracting talent from coast to coast prior to Saban’s arrival in 2007 — his predecessor Mike Shula, for example, signed linebacker Prince Hall out of California in 2005 — but pre-Saban, UA did not often venture beyond the Southeast in gathering recruits. That changed under Saban, and all that national appeal helped lead to top-ranked signing classes. But it also put a squeeze on the number of scholarships Alabama could offer to in-state recruits, and in turn, local ones.

Saban’s last recruiting class included two from the Tuscaloosa area, however, in offensive lineman William Sanders of Brookwood and running back Kevin Riley, who played at Tuscaloosa County High. Both are headed for redshirts this season, but new UA coach Kalen DeBoer is confident the two will be better for a developmental year.