The Nick Saban fever ain’t going away anytime soon. Honestly, we don’t even know if that’s a bad or a good thing. Kalen DeBoer had a lot on his shoulder when the Tide went up against the Dawgs. The result of this rivalry game could either make the Bama fans hate Kalen DeBoer or love him. So after DeBoer and Co. managed to grab the dub against Kirby Smart and his boys, we had thought that maybe some insiders would change their views regarding the new Tide HC.

But nope. On the latest episode of On3 Recruits, Tim Watts, lead publisher of Bamaonline, speaks on how it is still Nick Saban who has been the key for Alabama recruitment.

“I saw several recruits just going crazy… No matter how cool you are in that Arena, if your name was Nick Saban, you’re probably selling some kind of emotion. Saban has got that old Larry Bird thing where Miller hit the big three and he just kind of just chilled, no emotions, made him a legend, I think saban’s kind of that way too in that regard,” Watts noted. We won’t deny it.

Nick Saban and his legacy have been an important part of Bama recruitment. When the 7x national title winning coach (6 with Alabama and 1 with LSU) announced his retirement in January, a heck lot of players left Bama. 10 different players hit the transfer portal and the Tide lost around 17 starts combined. That understandably made Kalen’s already tough job even more difficult. But look how he got over it.

Kalen could calm the worries of the enthusiasts, at least in his first impression, helping the Tide climb steadily up the recruiting rankings in the class of 2025. Alabama has 20 commitments in the class of 2025. Of those players, six are five-star prospects according to the 247Sports composite rankings. This might make some recall Saban’s 2021 class which included seven five-stars and was the No. 1 class in the country.

The highlights of Kalen’s recruits include five-star quarterback Keelon Russell, who flipped his commitment from SMU. Other five-stars include offensive tackle Ty Haywood, wide receiver Caleb Cunningham, cornerback Dijon Lee, running back Akylin Dear, and linebacker Darrell “Duke” Johnson. DeBoer has leaned heavily on his West Coast ties since joining Alabama. Of the 20 commits, six hail from California. But among all these, Caleb Cunningham requires a special mention.

Cunningham hails from Mississippi, where it is extremely difficult to get top prospects to leave the state. Despite having interest in Mississippi State and offers from every major program in the country, Cunningham ultimately chose the Tide. This success effectively proves that the new Alabama staff recruiting very well in the South. Based on all these, the 247 Composite has placed Alabama No. 2 in the recruiting ranking. The Crimson Tide’s 2025 class sits behind only Ohio State. So Kalen has very much kept Saban’s recruiting machine running. And he got into that business even before landing in Tuscaloosa. Take Ryan Williams for example.

The wide receiver had left Alabama after Saban’s departure. But as reported by AP, Kalen DeBoer’s plane hadn’t even landed in Tuscaloosa when he reached out to Williams. Twelve days after that call, Williams re-committed to Alabama! “I really thought Ryan would go elsewhere, He took a couple of official visits and then he went up and spent the weekend (in Tuscaloosa). He really came back with just a great confidence and a feel for a guy that he could go in and play for,” recalled Jeff Kelly, Williams’ coach at Saraland High School about it.

So, that is how Kalen has started building his path from where Saban has left. Just the style is different. Saban had businesslike and a larger-than-life personality. DeBoer is more low-key and quiet but confident. “He’s got the right balance of humility and reverence for a place like Alabama mixed with a quiet confidence in his abilities and his knowledge of the game,” Ron McKeevery, a special assistant to Kalen said of him. If you are still not ready to give Kalen his due credits, here is the legend himself speaking for you.

“You want to keep the good things, you want to get rid of some things you’d like to keep in the way you like to do things, but at the same time you want to keep as much continuity as possible and you have a very limited amount of time to try and recruit players, keep players there, not let them get in the portal, pick the staff you want to keep, bring the staff that you want for it to go for you and I think Kalen DeBoer has done a fantastic job with that,” Nick Saban had said about Kalen in July.

Still, to not give credit to Kalen DeBoer and what he managed to pull against Georgia is wild. We understand the emotions and all, but Nick Saban was there on the sidelines. DeBoer was there on the turf, guiding his boys. You gotta cut this man some slack.

Alabama’s offense flourished in the hands of Kalen DeBoer

Alabama is sitting on top of the AP polls and nothing can bring them down now. We will admit that Kirby Smart gave quite the fright to Bama fans in the 4th quarter of the game. Heck, the Dawgs almost made a comeback win.

However, DeBoer came out on top and all thanks go to Ryan Williams and Jalen Milroe pairing. To say that both players were explosive would be an understatement. Take the first quarter of the game, for example. 3 back-to-back touchdowns? Going 21-0 in 15 mins against a strong defense like the Bulldogs. Are you kidding?

DeBoer has done his magic with the Bama offense. It ain’t no wonder why people call him one of the greatest offensive masterminds. Alabama found itself with only a one-possession lead against Georgia with 5:36 left in the game. Even then, they didn’t slow down, without trying to drain the clock, up 33-28 at the time. When the ball was snapped on each play, Alabama left 15, 22, 17, 20, and 16 seconds on the clock in the respective plays.

So a caller on the “Hey Coach” radio show asked Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer about the clock management in the second half. “Why didn’t we try to drain the clock in between plays,” the caller asked. “To me, it was about scoring. To me, it was about making sure we were running the right plays. We have some systematic ways. I don’t feel like we were pushing fast. But also, there’s some times we wanted to get lined up to see what the defense was going to show us,” Kalen replied.

He also said the new two-minute warning has changed things “quite a bit.” “A lot of time on the clock. Yeah, you can try to shrink it. I think if you have a two-touchdown lead at that time with 5½ minutes, it’s a whole different deal than it is when you have a 5-point lead. Even a field goal at that point is still a one-possession game,” Kalen added.

After Alabama’s punt, Georgia scored the next play with a 67-yard touchdown pass to take a 34-33 lead with 2:31 left. But Alabama quickly responded with a 75-yard score from Ryan Williams to take the lead back and make it 41-34 Alabama with 2:18 left. An interception from cornerback Zabien Brown clinched the game for them. While many fans had their reservations regarding the changes Kalen DeBoer is making to the Tide, we hope that this rivalry matchup cleared much of the doubt. Alabama takes on Vanderbilt at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday.