Barstool Sports tweeted a purportedly leaked internet recruiting visit Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban had with an undisclosed player. It’s unclear if the player decided to attend Alabama, though that would seem unlikely that they would leak information about the program they are going to, or are playing for.
It’s also unknown whether or not this is Saban’s A-level pitch to a recruit he feels he has a strong chance of bringing into the fold. What is sure is that everything Saban is spitting is 100% facts. Saban uses Dallas Cowboys star wideout Amari Cooper as top evidence of the pristine level of competition one encounters as a part of Alabama’s program.
Somebody recorded Nick Saban’s zoom recruiting pitch and it’s INCREDIBLE @UnnecRoughness pic.twitter.com/6x4JkI4E8i
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 30, 2021
Saban rattles off the number of championships, FBS championship game appearances and CFB playoff appearances Alabama’s earned in the last decade, and then when talking about having 64 players in the NFL the previous season, invoked Cooper’s name as a testament to the level of competition players face daily in practice compared to other schools who try to use the path to early playing time as their pitch against Alabama.
Cooper was drafted No. 4 overall in the 2015 draft after a stellar career in Alabama. He had a 1,000-receiving yard, 11 touchdown season as a freshman, and finished his career with 1,727 receiving yards and 16 scores as a junior, finishing third in the Heisman Trophy race while being a Consensus All-American and earning the Fred Biletnikoff award and SEC player of the year.
In 2020 he had his fifth 1,000-yard receiving season in his six years as a pro despite only playing with star quarterback Dak Prescott for the first 4.5 games of the season.
For the 99% of America who has never been recruited to play collegiate sports, it’s amazing to get a glimpse into that life of a high school sports star. Even still, not every school’s best player lands on the radar of one of the greatest coaches sports has ever seen. Saban’s accolades as a collegiate coach are beyond reproach, and in a recently leaked video he crystalizes just how powerful those accomplishments can be.
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