Paul Finebaum Reveals One Area Kalen DeBoer Is 'Nick Saban-Like' At Alabama

Since taking over at Alabama, there have been many questions about whether Kalen DeBoer can handle replacing arguably the greatest college football coach of all time.

DeBoer is an accomplished coach with a 37-9 record at the FBS level, including a national championship appearance last season with the Washington Huskies. The main question was whether he could recruit at a high level. DeBoer never managed to secure a top-25 class at Washington. During 2022 and 2023, the two years he was there for the full year to recruit, his average recruiting finish was 60.5. That won't work at Alabama.

DeBoer has proven his doubters wrong so far. According to 247Sports , Alabama has the No. 2 ranked class and the most five-star commits. This has led ESPN's Paul Finebaum to compare his recruiting ability to that of Saban.

"In terms of recruiting, he has been outstanding, elite, Nick Saban-like recruiting," Finebaum said. "He's in control of this program, and I think Alabama is very well primed to go back to the playoffs."

The Crimson Tide currently have 22 players committed, and their average recruit grade of 94.68 ranks No. 1 in the country. In terms of overall points, the Crimson Tide trails the Ohio State Buckeyes (309.94 to 306.37). Even though the Buckeyes have one less five-star recruit committed, they have two more four-star and one more three-star recruit committed than the Crimson Tide.

Recruiting shouldn't be a problem for DeBoer at Alabama.

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