Another recruiting year has come and gone. And with the new recruiting class comes hopes of a great future for Alabama football. This class has size, speed, strength and talent at almost every position.

Mike DuBose has made a commitment to upgrade the Tide’s offensive production. Look for plenty of excitement over the next few years from skill players like QB Tyler Watts, RB Shontua Ray and WRs Freddie Milons and Eric Locke. And expect the stars to be well supported by the Tide’s six new OL recruits, whose average size is 6’6 and 300 pounds!

Last season Alabama’s most glaring weakness was it’s lack of speed on defense. That problem should be solved with the addition of guys like Canary Knight, Cornelius Griffin, Jerome Morehead, Aries Monroe, Darius Gilbert and Reggie Myles.

DuBose does not like to hype a recruiting class, but he’s probably smiling with satisfaction about this new group of freshmen.

Staff Deserves Credit

Mike DuBose is one of the nation’s top recruiters, but he hasn’t done it all by himself. He has organized a staff of outstanding assistants.

The assistant coaches deserve a lot of the credit for Alabama’s recent recruiting success. Special mention goes to the holdovers from DuBose’s original staff. Neil Callaway, Ellis Johnson, Jeff Rouzie, Ivy Williams, Dabo Swinney and Randy Ross were understaffed after DuBose dismissed four assistant coaches in early December. But they picked up the slack and helped Alabama land several top prospects.

New Assistants Made a Difference

Ronnie Cottrell, noted as one of the nation’s premier recruiters, helped the Tide land several top JUCO stars, including Miguel Merritt, Canary Knight and Kenric Lott. Cottrell also played a key role in getting Tallahassee Godby LB Aries Monroe.

And new secondary coach Charlie Harbison was instrumental in convincing DB Reggie Myles to choose the Tide.

Many close observers say that Mike DuBose and new DL coach Jackie Shipp are alike in personality, that they’re both intense, aggressive and likable. It’s that personality that brought Mike DuBose much of his success as a recruiter. So look for Shipp to become another major contributor in Alabama’s recruiting efforts.

What’s in the The Recap

You see it all in the navigation bar on the left. Our feature story is about the Tide’s new recruiting coordinator, Ronnie Cottrell, and was written by guest contributor Aaron James. Aaron also wrote the story in our profile of Tyler Watts.

Our goal in this year’s recap is to help you get to know each new recruit as a player and a person. For each new Tider we give you stats compiled and honors earned, and we relate stories told. Find out who learned from George Teague’s example the art of stripping the ball, and learn why Marico Portis is called IHOP. Our favorite story is the one told by Aries Monroe about his being chased by a cow during an official visit. Can you guess where that chase took place?

This is more than a recap of the past recruiting season, for it has a preview of the recruiting season to come. Ted Miller of the Mobile Register presents DeMarco McNeil, a promising junior at Blount High School in Mobile. And with the help of Freddie Kirby of PIGSKIN PREPS, we give you a list of the top high school juniors and junior college freshmen.

Thanks

I’d like to thank to all of those people who helped make this recap possible. A special thanks goes to Freddie Kirby of PIGSKIN PREPS for helping us compile the Juniors List. I’d also like to thank Aaron James for his feature stories on Ronnie Cottrell and Tyler Watts, and Ted Miller of the Mobile Register for his feature on DeMarco McNeil. And thanks to all those who provided us with pictures for the recap.

I’d also like to thank my brother, Dalton, for the enormous amount of time and effort he has devoted to TI. Without his efforts TI would not be possible.

And, finally, thanks to all of the TI members who made this a fun recruiting year. I appreciate your patiently waiting for us to complete this recap.

Hope to see you at A-Day!

Rodney