By Michael Casagrande
sports@timesfreepress.com
TUSCALOOSA – For the first time in three years, Alabama fell short of its recent lofty recruiting standards.
The Rivals.com recruiting service that crowned the Crimson Tide the previous two years had it fifth after a rather uneventful national signing day that was over by midmorning. The other major service, Scout.com had Alabama fourth, but none of that made a difference to coach Nick Saban.
The fruit of the recruiting process takes two years before evaluations are valid, he said.