Alabama football’s recruiting budget for 2024 revealed

The folks at On3 have released data on the top recruiting budgets for college football programs from the 2024 calendar year.

Now, it's important to note that these figures are NOT reflective of any NIL deals or rev-share spending. For one, the revenue split didn't exist last year. Also, these numbers are solely focused on a school's spending on recruiting. It's basically a running ledger of how much money was dumped into resources for recruiting.

That means... travel fees for coaches and players during official or in-home visits, room and board during visits, promotional recruiting efforts — all those sorts of expenses. So, according to On3, Alabama came in with the No. 2 reported highest recruiting budget at just over $5 million, a smidge less than Tennessee apparently had.

The top six schools with the highest recruiting budgets are all in the SEC.

2024 College Football Recruiting Budgets🤑

More: https://t.co/eNrWGdp35q pic.twitter.com/nruQvTuqS3
— On3 (@On3sports) September 4, 2025

That list likely isn't a be-all end-all when it comes to recruiting, because you have some schools like Ohio State and Notre Dame you'd think would definitely be on there who simply aren't. However, for any worry that Alabama wouldn't continue to plunge resources into its program post-Saban... that does not appear to be an issue.

Alabama suffers tough Week 1 setback

When you are Alabama, with half a dozen national titles this century, a loaded roster and the No. 8 preseason ranking in the country, expectations are that you beat an ACC club recovering from a 2-10 record in 2024. But rather, Florida State jumped on the Crimson Tide early and bullied them all night long for a two-touchdown victory in Tallahassee, completing just NINE passes in the process.

Florida State could be all the way back and a road loss against what looks like a top-25 squad is not the fate-worse-than-death which Alabama fans may treat it as. But their real panic should be rooted in some observations shared by many college football fans and media Saturday evening — that the effort, sharpness and intensity of a typical Nick Saban squad is simply missing from this group, and at a larger scale, from this coach and staff.

Head Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer has a long season ripe with other marquee matchups he can use to right the ship and get back to the College Football Playoff, but the eye test was a total failure in Week 1.

The good thing is... we know they have plenty of talent.