Not everyone of the employees departing Alabama is Nick Saban.
There was the first significant decommitment to the program shortly after the illustrious football coach, who had spent 17 years with the Crimson Tide, announced his retirement.
Five-star recruit Ryan Williams, who is listed as the No. 9 wideout prospect on ESPN’s 300 2024, decommitted from the program before of the 2018 class after learning of Saban’s retirement without doing any research.
In actuality, Williams told ESPN, “I had no idea.” “I just noticed that every other player is either transferring or declaring for the draft during this dead period. I was speculating about [what might happen], but Twitter let me know that Saban was retiring.
A player from Saraland, Alabama named Williams called the Alabama coaches to make sure the information was accurate. About an hour after the call, he made the decision to decommit after learning it was true, according to ESPN.
Despite his commitment to the program, which dates back to October, he chose to wait until his birthday in February—which also happens to be National Signing Day—to sign the letter of intent during the December signing period.
Williams said to ESPN that while losing his positional coach was “already hard,” they could be replaced. Moving on from Saban was “like the legacy leaving” and “the cherry on top.”
Despite not having signed an official contract with Alabama, he is still able to proceed with the recruitment process.
Williams highlighted Texas, Texas A&M, and Auburn as three additional universities that were highly ranked; his positional coach, who is going to the Aggies, is a member of the Aggies.
Despite Williams’ departure, Alabama’s top three prospects, according to ESPN’s 300 2024 list, are quarterback Julian Sayin of California and wide receiver Jaylen Mbakwe of Alabama.
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