Tide Tidbits – February 6, 2010

This Alabama Class Was About Needs Not Wants. Plus 10 Stars to Look out for.
The Stones said it best: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find. You get what you need.” It is not the prettiest class of the Nick Saban Era, but none the less it is a very significant one. In a year when as many as seven defensive backfield players with experience are leaving, necessity overtakes desire. This can also been seen in the signing of eight linemen, four on the defensive front and four more on the offensive side. Having to sign a punter and a kicker are never easy pills to swallow when you might want to take a five-star safety and his QB brother. That is the burden of having to replace needs. Still, even with the need to fill holes, Alabama managed to land a consensus top-five recruiting class for the third year in a row. That is a feat that has only been duplicated by the likes of Florida and USC. [More]

Recruiting rewind: Alabama
Recruits: 29 (27 high school players, 10 who enrolled early, and two junior college players, one enrolled early). Top prospects: The Crimson Tide were second to Florida in the SEC with nine ESPNU 150 prospects. DeMarcus Milliner is the No. 2 cornerback prospect in the country, and he’s already on campus. Phillip Sims is the No. 1 quarterback, and he’s also enrolled in school. Alfy Hill and Adrian Hubbard are two of the top 6 defensive end prospects in the country, and Chad Lindsay is the top offensive guard prospect nationally. Needs met: Alabama lost three starters in the secondary, which makes junior college signee DeQuan Menzie and Milliner key additions. Both will compete for starting jobs at cornerback and possibly the star position, Alabama’s version of the nickel. Typical of a Nick Saban class, Alabama loaded up on defensive linemen. There are six in this class. The Crimson Tide also picked up both a kicker and punter. Where they fell a little short was at receiver. Julio Jones is likely gone to the NFL after next season. That’s where losing Keenan Allen hurts. [More]

Shinn 70 percent committed to Tide
How committed is Marvin Shinn to Alabama? Kerry Stevenson, Shinn’s coach at Vigor High School, said Friday afternoon he overheard the standout receiver tell one reporter a couple of days ago he’s 70 percent committed to the Tide. “To me, that’s still committed,” said Stevenson, who prefers to serve as Shinn’s public mouthpiece rather than let the junior speak to the media. “Yeah, he may still have questions about how much they’re going to throw the ball when he’s there, but he also understands they’re using a quarterback that was there before Coach (Nick) Saban got there.” [More]

Ranking recurits hardly a science
Team rankings are the most scrutinized and often get coaches in trouble. You don’t need a map to find the correlation between successful recruiting and on-field success at national powers Florida, Texas and Southern California. Each has consistently posted top-5 classes since 2005. Nick Saban’s first full recruiting classes at Alabama, in 2008 and 2009, were both ranked in the top two and helped the Tide win the ‘09 national title. But there does seem to be a disconnect between the national rankings of Notre Dame and Florida State and the actual results. [More]

Five questions with Alabama’s Jerrell Harris
Who’s on the clock to step up for the Crimson Tide? How about we start with linebacker Jerrell Harris … As Alabama looks to replace three departed starters at linebacker, that means it’s pretty much now or never for Harris, a once-touted recruit and now a true junior despite his lack of playing time through two college seasons. Talent has never been the issue. The first year was all about grasping the defensive system. Then he was in line to play more before the 2009 season, but fell into NCAA trouble for impermissible benefits obtained from Curtis Anderson, an Athens, Ala., businessman who was investigated this past summer by UA compliance for dealings with other players. [More]

Roll Tide!

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