Alabama fans will need to trust a new process under Kalen DeBoer
I remember watching high school all-star Reggie Ragland throw people around during most of his prep career.
It earned him first-team All-State honors as a sophomore, junior and senior in 2009, 2010 and 2011. I remember him dominating the 2011 Alabama-Mississippi High School All-Star game as he prepared to sign with Alabama and begin his collegiate career.
Then, Reggie Ragland practically disappeared for two years.
According to a timeline of significant events in Ragland’s Tide career at 247Sports, he signed with Bama on February 1, 2012. He worked with the inside linebackers on the first day of fall practice August 3, 2012.
The next item on his timeline is a nice spring scrimmage performance in April of 2014.
Of course Ragland went on to a stellar Crimson Tide career and was picked in the middle of the second round in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Somehow, Nick Saban convinced Ragland it was in his best interest to sit and soak for two years behind star CJ Mosley until it was his turn.
He did the same with defensive linemen Da’Ron Payne (13th overall in 2018) and Quinnen Williams (3rd overall in 2019) and many others.
Saban preached the gospel of delayed gratification. He convinced 5-star phenoms to take redshirts or assume a reserve role while learning new things and refining skills for a year or two with a promise that it would pay off one day in the future with NFL riches.
It is one of the primary ways Saban was able to dominate the sport for almost 17 years.
But those days are gone, and new Tide coach Kalen DeBoer must blaze a new trail in the transfer portal era.
Sure, maybe a random dude would still be willing to sit and wait in this new era. Most, however, will evaluate the landscape, jump in the transfer portal and offer services to a team ready to hand out a lot of NIL money and a lot of playing time.
That part of the Saban process can’t be duplicated today.
DeBoer can still use meticulous planning, superior player evaluation, experienced staff hires and player development — all part of the Saban process — but he can’t use delayed gratification.
If DeBoer is successful getting top-3 talent to Alabama over the next few years, we’ll talk about his ability to relate to players, his attractive offensive philosophy and his school’s commitment to be competitive in the NIL game.
It’s certainly the beginning of a new era for Alabama football, and the beginning of a new process.
Read also: On Alabama’s Hire of Kalen DeBoer