How Will Nick Saban's Retirement Impact Ryan Williams' College Decision?
Anytime a college football head coach retires it impacts recruits. However, Alabama losing Nick Saban is a situation on an entirely different level.
That's probably the prime reason that 5-star Alabama wide receiver commitment Ryan Williams quickly made a public de-commitment from the Crimson Tide after the Saban news began to break on Jan. 10. That news undoubtedly hurt Alabama's chances of signing Williams.
Now it is time to discuss the backdrop to Williams being recruited before going into three critical questions.
For the record, the four upcoming official visits for Williams would be Texas A&M (Jan. 13), Alabama (Jan. 20), Texas (Jan. 27), and Auburn (Feb. 3). A&M is the long shot as it's the new school to the mix.
The second college football National Signing Day begins on Feb. 7, with Williams planning to announce his choice on Feb. 9. That's also Williams' birthday.
With Saban no longer being the head man in Tuscaloosa, here are three questions to consider about the 5-star Saraland (Ala.) High School wide receiver and where Williams eventually signs his letter of intent.
1) How quickly will Alabama hire its next head coach?
Recruiting is about relationships. If Alabama does not hire a coach for a few weeks, how could Williams truly build a relationship not only with Bama's new head coach? Even if it happens today, it's still a new head coach and not Saban.
There would be the assistant coaching staff to consider as well. How many of the current Crimson Tide coaches stay on staff that Williams knows? The new head coach would have big decisions to make that make an impact on Williams.
To sign the receiver with 10.3 100-meter speed, it's a good bet that Bama needs to quickly expedite its coaching search and whether the assistants that Williams feels most comfortable with are either staying or leaving Alabama.
2) How well will the new Alabama head coach connect with Williams?
This is the raw unknown nature of recruiting. Sometimes coaches just do not connect with a recruit and the opposite can be the case as well. It's anyone's guess how it would go with Alabama's next head coach and Williams.
It's also hard to imagine Williams eventually signing with Alabama if the new head coach is not someone he's comfortable with. That's understandable.
3) With head coaches that Williams knows, can Texas and Auburn separate from Alabama?
For now, Williams is familiar with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. That simply has to be considered an advantage for both institutions. It's common sense and it fits with what most recruits do when selecting a school.
As noted above, the relationships between the assistant staff for Texas and Auburn are going to be more intact than at Alabama. Those bonds are likely to help down the recruiting stretch. There's still more.
Look for Texas and Auburn to turn up the recruiting attention as this is a unique opportunity to sign a recruit away from Bama. In particular, the in-home visits will be important to further distance the Longhorns and Tigers from the Crimson Tide. Those sit-down conversations will be with people Williams knows.
Conversely, how does Bama utilize in-home visits? That's the other important question that is honestly hard to answer.
To summarize, Alabama losing Saban to retirement is unquestionably going to impact Williams and at least provide Texas and Auburn with better chances of signing the 5-star receiver.
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