Alabama Was Called Cheap; Now Its Strategy Looks Smart
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Cheap. Inactive. Falling behind.
I’ll take: what are words that many described the Alabama Crimson Tide for $800, Alex.
In the landscape of NIL, the Crimson Tide zigged when other programs zagged.
Several powerhouse programs spent their resources heavily into acquiring the top transfer portal targets, or the best available recruit.
Yet, the one aspect that flies under the radar is roster retention.
It’s not sexy, but when you look at previous national champions, a winning team requires continuity – not the other way around.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is well known to be one of the more aggressive recruiters in college football, but he also understands that consistently bringing in new talent at the expense of what you have, isn’t always sustainable.
"The more you can retain the guys that are on your current roster, I think that helps. Does it create a little more of a challenge for programs? Absolutely. Is that a necessary challenge? Absolutely."
Yet, you look at the Texas Longhorns and see how significant their roster turnover was from last season to this upcoming season.
Texas took a different approach. The Longhorns were aggressive in the transfer portal and invested heavily in some of the most sought-after players available.
“We had to let some pretty good players leave to create the cap space to bring those guys in,” said Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. “I think strategically, there were some tough decisions to make. But, we made them. I think we all can agree that we’re probably better today than we were a year ago at this time.”
Alabama's approach looks a little different when viewed through that lens.
In December 2025, General Manager Courtney Morgan emphasized the importance of roster retention, and how critical it is to sustain success in college football.
“When you look at the number one classes this year, they have 36 commits. Well, only way we take 36 commits is if you have a lot of people leaving your roster. We don’t want players leaving our roster, and that’s why we’re in the position we’re in now… You don’t want to overspend your high school class, because retention costs too.”
Alabama's 2027 class finished with just 14 commitments, one of the smallest recruiting classes the program has signed in years.
The last time Alabama had a class with under 20 commits, you have to go all the way back to 2004.
And it’s the first time in 20 years that the Crimson Tide were outside of the top-10 in high school recruiting.
That shift has signified a changing of the guard.
Recruiting isn’t all about stacking the best players anymore, it’s about sustainability.
And when you’re bringing in the financial component to the equation, you need to start treating your program like a business.
When Nick Saban retired from coaching Alabama, there were always going to be growing pains.
Those growing pains included a new coach, but also a new landscape that the school has been attempting to navigate through.
So that necessary challenge that Lanning alluded to? The Tide are already there.
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