Alabama is making a habit out of winning national titles both on and off the field. And their correlation is no secret. The process, as coach Nick Saban often describes it, is in full swing on the Tuscaloosa campus. It starts with laying a foundation. In other words, it begins with recruiting. On Wednesday, the defending champion Crimson Tide secured the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for the second year in a row, beating out Florida and Ohio State for the distinction of obtaining college football's most talented crop of recruits. Alabama signed a total of 25 prospects to national letters of intent, 18 of which ranked among the ESPN 300. Alabama is the only school to finish with a top-three class in each of the past six years. But for Saban, signing day was about more than rankings or outside evaluations. Frankly, he said, he put little stock in the opinions of others outside his office. To his way of thinking, signing day was about seeing more than a year of work on the recruitment trail in the form of signatures rolling off an archaic fax machine, ensuring the bank of top-tier talent at Alabama won't soon run dry. "Signing day is the culmination of a lot of hard work," he said. The next step, though, is the most difficult: getting the prospects to turn into players. "Just because you get the puppy dog with the biggest feet doesn't mean he'll grow up to be the best hunting dog," the hard-nosed coach was quick to point out. The paws on the Crimson Tide's newest crop of recruits do leave something to the imagination, though. Thirteen of Alabama's signees were ranked among the top 10 at their respective positions. Derrick Henry, Alabama's lone five-star commitment, was the No. 1 athlete in the country. He'll likely play running back for Saban, though he has the skills to play either H-back or linebacker. Their most high-profile signee might be Reuben Foster. The No. 1-rated inside linebacker in the ESPN 150 had a recruitment that can best be described as a melodrama. He verbally committed to Alabama before his junior year at Troupe County High in Georgia, moved to Auburn, Ala., and subsequently flipped his commitment to the in-state Tigers -- and had a tattoo of their logo put on his arm. But after Auburn coach Gene Chizik and his staff were fired, Foster reopened his recruitment and on Wednesday signed with Alabama. Read more http://espn.go.com/college-sports/r...k-saban-thrilled-another-top-recruiting-class
