Getty Eddrick Houston dealt Nick Saban one of the few bad pieces of Alabama recruiting news this fall.
It’s no surprise to see an influx of Alabama recruiting news when we hit the early signing window because, after all, no bunch is quite as good at making a late pitch to potential signees as Nick Saban’s program. But on Wednesday, one of the Crimson Tide’s big potential flips slipped out of its fingers, as defensive lineman Eddrick Houston made it official with Ohio State.
In all, Alabama signed 23 prospects this week, in what ESPN ranks as the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation, behind only Georgia.
But a late push to flip Houston, who committed to the Buckeyes in August, might have firmed up what is already looking like a great defensive class. According to 24/7 Sports, Houston made a visit to Alabama as recently as Sunday, days before he could officially sign.
“There was also a rather big surprise visitor in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Five-star Ohio State Eddrick Houston (Buford, GA) arrived on campus Saturday morning just in time to watch the Crimson Tide’s first Rose Bowl practice. He met with Nick Saban and a few assistant coaches on Sunday morning before traveling back home,” the site reported.
Alabama Recruiting News: OSU Calmed Eddrick Houston’s Transfer Fears
According to Houston, he did not finalize his decision until Wednesday morning, which had kept the Alabama recruiting news cycle spinning right up until he officially announced.
At 1:33 on Wednesday, Ohio State’s Twitter account released a post that read, “Eddrick Houston – A giant from the Peach state, he looks to make even bigger waves rushing the passer and ruining the days of offensive lineman in the Scarlet and gray. He only has one mode, and its GO. Welcome to THE Brotherhood Eddrick.”
Houston explained how OSU managed to keep him on board.
“I talked with Ryan Day this morning,” Houston said via Fox5 in Atlanta. “I would say like 9 in the morning. I’ve been up since 7 trying to think on it. So. Yeah.”
Buford 5⭐️ defensive lineman Eddrick Houston says he finalized his decision *this morning* between Ohio State and Alabama after talking to Ryan Day around 9am. I asked what final sticking points were, his answer is below.
Houston had been made a bit concerned about Ohio State because the program lost several players to the transfer portal.
“We talked a lot, a little shaky because, you know, transfer portal and things like that,” Houston explained. “But, Ryan Day, he knew exactly what it was, he told me about each player, and why they left. And it was like, OK.”
Nick Saban Laments That Schedule ‘Pushed Forward’
As for Nick Saban and the current Alabama squad, the pressure is on to handle business on a number of fronts. Not only did the school need to push forward with recruiting, but there is also the looming Rose Bowl matchup against Michigan on New Year’s Day.
Saban lamented the fact that the early signing window now so prominently overlaps with bowl game prep. He’s gotten used to it, but he is not a fan.
“When we made an early signing day years ago, we said ‘This would become the signing date.’ Well, it also just moved the recruiting calendar up like six months,” Saban said this week, per The Athletic. “Players visit in the summertime, that’s when most guys visit. I mean we used to have tons of guys visit in January, we’ll have very few visits in January (this cycle). The whole thing is kind of just pushed forward..
“There’s just a lot of things happening right now that take our time and focus and attention. Recruiting is important, the game is important, our team is important. We’re trying to manage our time the best we can to do a good job in all those areas so that we can finish.”