Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News
Dec 6, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer gestures on the sidelines after a dropped pass in the end zone against Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
For nearly two decades, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide ruled over the college football world.
Saban won six national championships and nine SEC championships in Tuscaloosa, and he fielded a number of the most talented teams in the history of the sport. He did so with a wide array of players, but also largely by recruiting the talent-rich borders of the state of Alabama.
Now, under Saban’s successor, Kalen DeBoer, things have changed, and they’ve done so in a drastic manner.
Alabama Has Zero Top In-State Recruits In The Class Of 2027
DeBoer, who led the Washington Huskies to the College Football Playoff championship game in 2023, has found it tough to find his footing with the Tide.
While he hasn’t been awful by any measure, DeBoer is just 20-8 in his two seasons with Alabama and has yet to pass the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in its new, expanded format.
Those struggles are not turning up on the recruiting trail as well, where Alabama has just the 33rd-ranked recruiting class in the nation, and the 13th-ranked class in the SEC.
But it gets even worse if you dig into the details.
A stat that would have been unfathomable three years ago: All of the top 15 prospects from the state of Alabama in the 2027 recruiting class are now committed to schools that aren’t the University of Alabama. https://t.co/zdRNQBZWUG
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) July 18, 2026
According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, the Crimson Tide has zero commitments from the top 15 players in the state in 2027.
By comparison, rival Auburn has commitments from four of the top 12 players in the state, and Miami has commitments from two of the top three.
Alabama was always expected to take a small recruiting class in 2027, and its overall rankings is indicative of that. But the inability to keep in-state talent in the state, or at least get them to Tuscaloosa, is nothing sort of jarring.