Crimson Red Sports

When I was getting recruited, I looked at a lot of different schools,” said center Barrett Jones, who was a four-star prospect with offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida. “Every coach kind of tells you the same thing. You’re going to win championships, you’re going to have success, they’re going to make you successful as a person and a player.

“But when coach Saban sits down in your living room and tells that to your parents and looks you in the eye and lays out his plan, it’s special. I don’t know why, but you just believe him and you want to be a part of it.”

Players say one of the more attractive parts of Saban’s pitch is he doesn’t beg. He lays out his plan, tells the prospect what his role might be and basically says "We're going to win with or without you."

We have a facility full of five-star guys," Square said. "So when you come in, you better humble yourself."

Square said seconds after his first meeting with Saban, his hard-nosed grandmother told him he needed to go to Alabama.

“He came and visited my grandmother’s office at her work and we had a real good talk,” Square said. “My grandmother is a pretty straightforward person and sometimes it’s hard for people to handle her, but he handled her pretty well and when he left, she told me, ‘That’s where you need to be. That’s the best guy I’ve seen all year.’