ESPN is running that breakdown of 21 five-star kids and where they all fit and I cannot help but laugh. Twenty-one five-stars. In one class. And half of them are probably going to end up at programs that bought them a bag of cash and a car before they ever took a snap under the lights on Saturday. I remember when five-star meant something because Coach Bryant had to actually convince your mama that Tuscaloosa was the right place, not because some collective wrote a bigger check than the school down the road.
The worst part is watching these kids commit and decommit three times before signing day. That is not recruiting, that is an auction. I sat through the 1992 season when we won it all with a bunch of guys who stayed four years and bled crimson. You think any of these 21 kids will be on the same roster by their junior year? Half of them will be in the portal the second they are not the starter. NIL did not level the playing field, it turned college football into a rental car agency. You get the kid for a year, maybe two, and then he is off to the highest bidder again. We used to build dynasties on loyalty. Now we build them on the highest offer sheet.