Alabama failed to sign its eighth consecutive No. 1 overall class during the 2019 national recruiting cycle, instead finishing with a No. 7 overall ranking, according to the 247Sports Team Composite rankings.
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While that's hardly a cause of concern, especially for a team coming off its fifth national championship in nine years, it's still a blemish on what has been absolute dominant run in recruiting by Nick Saban during his tenure in Tuscaloosa.
Saban admitted the Tide's massive staff turnover — including losing both his offensive and defensive coordinators — played a negative role in recruiting during an interview with Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on ESPNU Radio.
"We certainly had a lot of change this year and I think it affected us some in recruiting because now you recruit guys for so long, as you know, because we start so much earlier," Saban said. "So when you lose the person that has a relationship with them a month before they are going to decide where they're going to go, it does have some impact."
Former Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll accepted the offensive coordinator position with the Buffalo Bills in January after just one season with the Tide. Former defensive coordinator and head recruiter Jeremy Pruitt accepted the head coaching gig at Tennessee and managed to sway four-star linebacker JJ Peterson — who initially favored Alabama — to sign with the Vols.
Still, the Tide managed to sign two 5-star and 12 4-star prospects and finish with a top-10 ranking, which again, is hardly a cause for concern for the reigning national champions.
