Tider Insider's
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INTERVIEW
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| How did Alabama's recruiting class rank? That's a popular
question among all Tide fans who follow recruiting. Most national recruiting
services rank Alabama's class among the nation's top ten. In the SEC, most
services that cover southern recruiting rated Alabama among the top two
or three classes.
Since Tider Insider started following Alabama recruiting in 1975, Alabama has had many outstanding recruiting classes. This class meets the standard set by the best of those. On March 18 we had the opportunity to speak with Barry Holland of PIGSKIN PREPS about this Alabama recruiting class. |
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| TI | Barry, it seems that some -- not all, but some -- recruiting ratings are like WWF Wrestling, they're good for a laugh or two, but you shouldn't take them too seriously. I say that because there appears to be much bias in the ratings. For example, Shaun Bohanon and Sam Matthews were heralded as great prospects until they committed to Alabama, then their stocks slipped. |
| BH | There is some bias and it's not fair. First and foremost, it's unfair to the kids. I think anyone who has a recruiting service that rates players should give the most accurate rating they can on a kid. If they don't do that then they're cheating the kid, they're cheating their subscribers, and in the end they're cheating themselves because it affects their credibility. Our goal at PIGSKIN PREPS is to evaluate each prospect as accurately as we can regardless of where he's from or which schools he's considering. |
| TI | What criteria do you use to rate a prospect? |
| BH | It's a combination of things. We watch as many kids as we possibly can either on film or in person. This gives us a first-hand view of the kid and what he can do. Obviously we can't see all the players, so we also talk to high school coaches frequently, and their opinions are very important to us. Then we look at which schools are recruiting a kid. If all the top schools are after a kid, then you get the idea he must be a player. |
| TI | I know that PIGSKIN PREPS rates players, but you don't rate classes -- at least not in your recap magazine. Looking at the individual player ratings, how well do you think Alabama did this year? |
| BH | Actually, this year Alabama ended up with more All-South first-team players than any other school. In our opinion, Alabama landed 6 of the top 25 players in the south [Matthews, K. Smith, Dixon, Carroll, Bohanon and Bailey]. If you take the top 15 players in a class, what I'd call a power rating, Florida State was tops in the south. Tennessee was second, Florida third, and Alabama fourth. If you look at the entire class signed by each school, I still rate Florida State's class the best. Florida would be second followed closely by Alabama. Miami could be fourth ahead of Tennessee, but it would be very close. |
| TI | What do you consider to be the strength of this Alabama class? |
| BH | Obviously it is defense. A lot of Alabama fans wanted more offensive weapons, but it was critical that Alabama get a lot of defensive help and they did. |
| TI | If you don't mind, analyze the defensive side of this class. |
| BH | Well, the thing that jumps out at me is that Alabama signed two of
the top six players in the south and both were defensive tackles. We rate
Sam Matthews as the top defensive tackle in the south and Kenny Smith is
our third best.
Larry Paul was very close to making our Super South 75 list. I also like Shawn Williams and Joe Yount very much. At linebacker, Travis Carroll is the best in the south this year. Carlton Person and Chris Wheeler are very good. In fact, Person could be special. I think Andrew Zow will end up at outside linebacker and he is very athletic. He could end up the best of the bunch. In the secondary, Tony Dixon may be one of the best athletes to ever play for Alabama. He's a great talent. Kecalf Bailey is rated the best corner in the country by some. He's good in run support, but he's great in man coverage. Chris Reier is a nifty player, but I'm not sure where he'll end up playing. If you're an Alabama fan, you've got to be very excited about Chris Horne. Tennessee wanted him badly. Wayne Thomas is a tremendous athlete who would've been rated highly if he hadn't broken his ankle so early last season. John Fielding is a hitter. |
| TI | What about the offensive recruits? |
| BH | There's no doubt that running back is the strength. Cox, Bohanon and
Williams are all Super South 75 players.
The wide receivers, Jason McAddley and Quincy Jackson, have the speed to stretch the defense. On the offensive line, Cuthbert and Barfield are outstanding. Cuthbert is the type of line prospect Neil Callaway really likes. He's got the size that Callaway looks for. Don't be too surprised if Shawn Draper ends up at guard or center. |
| TI | Under Mike DuBose's leadership, Alabama's coaching staff seemed to take a different approach to recruiting this year. |
| BH | The word that's been used to describe DuBose is aggressive. It seemed
like once he was named coach, his first priority was to hit the road visiting
players he wanted most with the idea of getting early commitments.
A lot of kids saw coach DuBose as an honest and believable person. I think DuBose will get players who are like him -- very hard workers. I don't think there's a player who signed with Alabama this year that didn't understand they were going to work their rear off once they get on campus. |
| TI | We couldn't end this conversation without asking about next year's class of prospects in the state of Alabama. |
| BH | The state is loaded. Two years ago the state had 71 players sign Division-1. This coming year there could be more than that. Obviously Pelham quarterback Tyler Watts is the top player in the state and one of the best in the country going into next year. Right now, it's still a little early to go in-depth though. |
| Editor's Note: We appreciate Barry's taking the time to
share his thoughts and opinions with us.
If you are interested in southern football recruiting, we recommend PIGSKIN PREPS recruiting package for the upcoming season. The package includes a preseason reference guide that includes over 600 player profiles and 200 pictures. During the recruiting process there are 7 newsletters that contain player ratings, college preferences, and official visit lists. The package also includes a post-signing day magazine with analysis of all the South's major D-1 schools. And if you order by July 1st, 1997 you will receive the Summer Hot 250 List at no additional charge. You can order by sending a check for the amount of $40 to: PIGSKIN PREPS |
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