Alabama Football: Saban ignores rankings, snags commitment from OL Jarrett Bell
Alabama football has been a recruiting hot bed since Nick Saban came to town. Jarrett Bell just became the third Crimson Tide commitment in less than a week.
If I told most NCAA coaches I had an athletic, 6-foot-5, 295-pound lineman who bench presses 365 pounds, squats 525 and power cleans 315 pounds. If I told them that this same guy won offensive lineman MVP at USC’s football camp, they would all offer him sight unseen. Well, USC saw him and didn’t offer him. I introduce you to Jarrett Bell.
If you are looking on the recruiting sites for the top OL prospects you either won’t find him or will have to scroll down a few pages before you find Bell’s name. It’s hard to believe he wasn’t highly regarded, but he wasn’t.
Before he showed up at Alabama’s camp this summer, the Norco High School product was a 2-star prospect by most recruiting sites. Now, magically, he has seen the data on his ratings change. Rivals, now has him as a 4-star, and Scout has him a 3-star. Alabama didn’t care about any of that. Nick Saban and his staff were so impressed with the kid that they offered him a scholarship from camp!
Naturally, Jarrett Bell announced his college choice in a way only this generation can…YouTube.
The Fine Print
There is an explanation as to why Jarrett Bell was largely anonymous to Power 5 schools. He was primarily a defensive lineman before deciding to focus on the offensive line this season.
Under Nick Saban, year in and year out Alabama has become a lock for Top-3 recruiting classes. It is going to take a strong finish by the Crimson Tide to crack the Top-5 this year. The early signing period, which starts December 20, is right around the corner. This will prove a huge challenge for Saban and his staff to flip recruits last minute.
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Instead of fear if you are a Crimson Tide fan, or jubilation if you are rival, maybe there is a third option. Maybe, just maybe, Nick Saban doesn’t care about stars and rankings in front of a players’ name. Maybe, the Bama staff has seen some fantastic under the radar talent at their camps that they do not want to potentially see poached. I’m gonna error on the side of believing Saban has something up his sleeve. He always does.