If history continues to be an accurate indicator, the Alabama Crimson Tide football program will be atop the college leaderboard as having the most players in the NFL for years to come. How do we know? It’s because of Nick Saban.
When Saban turned LSU into a national powerhouse, it took a few years, but the Tigers rose to the top of the annual listing for most NFL players by college, and then proved difficult to dislodge. Even though he was only in Baton Rouge from just 2000-04, Saban’s dynasty didn’t surpass his previous school as being the prime place to find next-level talent until he had been in Tuscaloosa for roughly a decade.
The last time the Crimson Tide didn’t lead the NFL in former players was in 2018, when it had 44 players on Week 1 rosters. That designation was important as the NFL takes a snapshot of the league rosters only once during the calendar year, Opening Weekend, otherwise known as Kickoff Weekend. Otherwise, they’re always fluid. It’s the lone time that every team is set, even if it may just be for a few hours or days.
In 2019, Alabama had the most players of any college, 56. A year later it had 57, which didn’t include five who had opted out of playing the anything-but-normal season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The number dipped a little in 2021, to 54, and 2020 Alabama had 57 active players on 29 rosters, with 14 non-active players (practice squads, injury lists, etc).
In 2023, before Saban’s final season at Alabama, it was 57 again, 10 more than any other collegiate program, Ohio State. Last year, the Crimson Tide had 61, still 10 ahead of the field.
Incidentally, those figures don’t include any Crimson Tide players who transferred elsewhere and still made the league like quarterback Jalen Hurts, who did finish his degree at Alabama before wrapping up his collegiate career at Oklahoma.
“Alabama has always had the name brand, recognition, the historical tradition,” former NFL general manager and Senior Bowl director Phil Savage said. “It always resonates with people, but I also think that it was just a stop on the circuit [for scouts]. There was not a lot of distinction between going to Alabama versus Tennessee, Auburn or Georgia. It was just one of the stops. Once Nick Saban got there, honestly in the Southeast it has become the stop.”
– Phil Savage
As for why Saban was successful in this regard, Christopher Walsh of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral touched upon it in his book “Decade of Dominance. Besides recruiting the obvious high level of talent, there were three other major contributing factors.
First, Saban’s “process” was comparable to how an NFL team runs things, along with schemes that were both complex and pro-friendly. Former safety Mark Barron went so far as to say that learning the Crimson Tide’s defense was tougher than anything he’s had to do in the NFL, and he not only switched teams but positions — from safety to linebacker — after leaving Alabama.
“It’s very difficult,” former Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans said in agreement. “It just takes time.”
Saban also had an open-door policy to the NFL and was known for being accommodating to scouts, who were often fixtures on the sidelines during practices. In addition to checking out prize prospects for the next draft, with Alabama having quality players at every position, it gave them an immediate baseline by which to evaluate all others that they’ll see.
“When I was the scouting director of the Ravens (1996-2002), one of the first stop I made every August was the University of Miami,” said Savage, a former NFL general manager and director of the Senior Bowl. “I knew I was going to see players at virtually every position and now I could start making comparisons right away with Ed Reed at safety, Kellen Winslow at tight end, whomever.
“Alabama is very similar.”