Paul Finebaum says Alabama, Kalen DeBoer sending a 'signal' to rest of college football

USA Today

01-07-2025

ESPN and SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum is impressed by the recent run in recruiting by the Alabama Crimson Tide and second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Finebaum made his weekly appearance on "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" on Birmingham's WJOX-FM Monday and said that DeBoer and his staff were recruiting at the levels Alabama once enjoyed under former coach Nick Saban.
Alabama's recent recruiting tear saw the Crimson Tide close the month of June with 10 hard commitments in the class of 2026. The list includes 5-star EDGE Xavier Griffin from Gainesville, Ga., the nation's No. 1 ranked linebacker in the 2026 class according to 247Sports, as well as 4-star running back Ezavier Crowell, the No. 4 ranked running back.
The Crimson Tide also got Jett Thomalla, the nation's No. 15 ranked quarterback, to flip from Iowa State. They landed the No. 7 ranked offensive tackle, Sam Utu, and No. 7 ranked tight end Mack Sutter.
As a result, Alabama's 2026 class has jumped to No. 8 in 247Sports' recruiting rankings and No. 9 by On3. Alabama had already landed elite recruits from the nation's top-ranked cornerback in 5-star recruit Jorden Edmonds back in March and 4-star defensive back Zyan Gibson last December.
Finebaum said Monday that DeBoer was bringing stability to the Alabama program.
"Kalen DeBoer, with the addition of Ryan Grubb and finally getting the staff a little bit more to his liking, has brought continuity," he said. "That's evidenced by him retaining his players in the spring, which I think is a very big deal for that purpose, and I think it's oozing over to recruiting."
Sure enough, Alabama did not a single player to the spring transfer portal after closing spring practice with its annual A-Day event back in April.
'Vintage Alabama recruiting': Finebaum says Kalen DeBoer has Crimson Tide in envious spot
Finebaum continued:
"Quite frankly, this is one of the great recruiting runs we've seen in some years. It almost feels like Nick Saban is running the ship again when it comes to recruiting, because this is vintage Alabama recruiting. And I think when we saw this transition (in 2024), a lot of people doubted if Alabama could come back to this particular moment in time, but it is here and I think it bodes extremely well for Alabama in the future."
Co-host Greg McElroy, Alabama's starting quarterback during the 2009 national championship season and now an analyst on ABC and ESPN, noted that the Crimson Tide were still waiting on commitments from other targets in the 2026 recruiting class. One of those is in-state wide receiver Cederian Morgan of Alexander City.
Morgan is set to announce a commitment Wednesday. Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Colorado are among the other finalists for the 5-star recruit.
Finebaum says Alabama is sending a signal to rest of college football
Finebaum added:
"I think this is the most important thing and I have a feeling... to the rest of college football, this is a very annoying and irritating signal. Because based on what the new transfer from Boston College to FSU said last week and many others have said before him, Nick Saban may be gone, but Alabama is still one of the great standards of all-time in college football. And I think a lot of people forgot that, especially younger people who only knew the Nick Saban era.
"Even during other coaching terms... Alabama never got hung up on the record. They knew they were Alabama, and it upset a lot of people. It came off as arrogant and cocky, but it has always been able to be backed up over the course of history. There's a reason why there's so many statues outside Bryant-Denny Stadium for coaches who have won national championships, and while recruiting is not the final arbiter in college football anymore, and we all know that and talk about that every day, it is still an incredibly important sign.
"And what I'm interested in, and I will leave it to the recruiting experts because I'm not one either is, if Alabama is doing this well, it's at the expense of who? Because Alabama has been losing these battles over the last year or two. Not all of them, but they've been losing some of them. Right now, it looks like they're winning almost all of them."
Alabama is still 'the brand' in college football, Paul Finebaum says
Co-host Cole Cubelic wondered whether Alabama's presence on the national stage, particularly in the weekly 2:30 p.m. game on CBS for many years, was something DeBoer and the current staff could lean on in recruiting given that few other programs had enjoyed the same advantage as the Crimson Tide in terms of national exposure.
Finebaum responded:
"One thing about Kalen DeBoer, he is different. He tweaked things, he altered things, but he never let go of the core. I don't want to go back in ancient history, but a lot of coaches have come into Alabama and tried to break the mold. He didn't. He leaned on Nick Saban when he needed to. Saban still walks around and can be seen, not that that is helping you get a five-star recruit.
"But I think a lot of people just forgot that that it is Alabama. Alabama is the brand. Alabama is the brand that has been around college football since the Rose Bowl of the 1920s.
"I would laugh sometimes when I would hear young people say, 'Well, it's only Nick Saban.' That's not true. I'm not taking anything away from Saban. That's absurd... but when a recruit lands in Tuscaloosa or drives through that city and sees the sights that everybody has seen now throughout the course of history, it just resonates. And some places it doesn't. It's all about what happened recently... Alabama has always been there, and the signs right now is it looks like they're always going to be."
Can Alabama stay competitive in NIL era?
McElroy wondered if Alabama could still be the "alpha dog" in the new landscape of college football with NIL, given the resources of schools like Texas, Texas A&M and others.
Finebaum said it remains to be seen and implied that there was "concern" among boosters. But he also said that talk of Alabama being "finished" as an elite program without Saban, who led the Crimson Tide to six national championships in his 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, had been proven wrong.
"The only thing that has not been proven yet is whether Alabama can sustain the financial ability like the Texas' and the A&M's and some of these other schools. I think it's one thing to get a player; it's another thing to keep him. So on that part of the card, Alabama answered that in the spring by not losing any players. I think the answer short term is yes. I think it's all a matter of how the new House settlement gets dissolved. I think that actually helps Alabama a little bit more where, while there is a lot of money at stake, it's not just open checkbook like it was six or seven weeks ago as the mad, wild rush was made to get in under the wire."
Alabama football schedule 2025
Alabama will open the 2025 season against Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
Here's the rest of the 2025 Alabama football schedule with current start times. All times Central
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