All you need to know about the number of stars a football gets from recruiting services is that the guys giving stars aren’t coaches.
So says Nick Saban.
Shannon Terry, who founded On3, Rivals and 247 Sports, tends to disagree.
The ESPN analyst and former Alabama coach, who appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, took exception to recruiting rankings.
“We never, ever looked – and I know (Indiana coach Curt Cignetti) doesn’t either – at how many stars a guy has because I think what you all need to do is look at who is giving out the stars.
“They don’t know their ass from a handful of sand.”
He said he wouldn’t, as a coach, depend on somebody who isn’t a coach to evaluate players.
“I saw all the time that (former Alabama players and NFL star) Josh Jacobs had no stars,” Saban said of his former player. “Damien Harris was a 5-star. They are both really good players, don’t get me wrong, but Josh Jacobs was a first-round draft pick and Damien Harris was a third-round (pick). Josh Jacobs is still playing. Damien Harris is not.”
Terry responded on social media.
“247 — when our team ran it — had Josh Jacobs with a No. 92 rating, 4-star, No. 6 RB and No. 2 overall in state of Oklahoma,” Terry posted. “There are some wins and losses in the recruiting & scouting media business, but wouldn’t necessarily call this one a miss.”
Despite that, though, Saban laid advantages to grading recruits yourself.
“When you evaluate players on your own, in terms of the criteria for what you’re looking for at each position that fit into your system and the criteria as to the kind of people you want to make the culture of your team what it is – which I think Cig has done a fantastic job of – because it’s culture over system.”