Alabama Recruiting: 5-Star WR Decommits Amid Fear of ‘Exodus’

Getty Nick Saban's retirement could spell disaster for Alabama recruiting

The headline at 24/7 sports said it all. In the wake of the retirement of Alabama coach Nick Saban, the headline read, “Alabama faces ‘precarious’ time avoiding transfer portal exodus.” Indeed, the first domino fell on Wednesday when 5-star wide receiver Ryan Williams dealt Alabama recruiting a blow by decommitting from the Crimson Tide following the announcement that Saban—as well as receivers coach Holmon Wiggins, who is heading to Texas A&M—will no longer be with the program.

“It’s about the departure of coach Saban and the receivers coach (Holmon Wiggins),” Williams told Al.com. “Of course, it’s a hard decision. I don’t really want to do it, but I have to explore my options and see what happens before Feb. 9.”

While Saban told his players on Wednesday he was leaving, he was not able to tell Williams, who found out like the rest of us.

“I couldn’t talk to him, so I knew nothing about it,” Williams said. “I found out when everyone else found out. I was shocked. I didn’t believe it and then I saw it on official pages and I was like, ‘Oh, this is real.’”

Alabama Recruiting Could Suffer as Transfer Portal Opens

The problem for Alabama recruiting is that the entire Tide roster is now eligible for a transfer because of Saban’s departure. Players will have 30 days to either stick with the team or head for other pastures.

Also at risk are the recruits, like Williams, who have committed. Alabama has the No. 2 rated recruiting class in college football for 2024, according to 24/7 Sports and On3.com. Those players now can decommit and find another home, too.

And, worse still, there will be no opportunity for Alabama recruiting to make up for whatever losses it incurs. The Tide can lose players, but won’t have an chance to replace them.

“It’s a really precarious time for Alabama, because as you mentioned, the portal is closed for everybody else. So if you do lose people, there’s not necessarily an opportunity to backfill them,” Bama247 senior writer John Talty said. “I can guarantee you there are personnel in programs all around the country right now that are probably going up and down the Alabama roster seeing guys who could be potential fits.”

Nick Saban: Retirement ‘Not About’ Transfer Portal

There is some irony, of course, in Alabama recruiting possibly losing big with the transfer portal, because it has been something that Saban found distasteful over the years. He was not a fan of players transferring at will, nor was he a fan of NIL deals that operated as pay-for-play covers.

But in an interview with ESPN, Saban said it was health and age (he’s 72) that drove his decision to step down.

“Don’t make it about that. It’s not about that,” Nick Saban said. “To me, if you choose to coach, you don’t need to be complaining about all that stuff. You need to adjust to it and adapt to it and do the best you can under the circumstances and not complain about it. Now, I think everybody is frustrated about it. We had an SEC conference call, 14 coaches on there [Wednesday], and there’s not one guy you can talk to who really understands what’s happening in college football and thinks that it’s not an issue.

“But [his retirement] ain’t about that. We’ve been in this era for three years now, and we’ve adapted to it and won in this era, too. It’s just that I’ve always known when it would be time to turn it over to somebody else, and this is that time.”