Alabama News & Notes for Monday

R ecruiting Update: Nick Saban is already working on the 2012 class, MaxPreps reported. As has been said a hundred times, limos won’t land recruits—hard work does.

Speaking of recruiting, Bama Online posted a Q&A with Trent Richardson. Lots of good information there, but I found this most interesting. Favorite food: “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

Kleph over at Roll Bama Roll takes a look at the “kerfuffle” over what Nick Saban said about Alabama fans.

One point everyone misses in this situation is that Alabama’s fans often need to be rebuked. Fans should never forget they were responsible for the Mike Dubose fiasco. As long as fans remember that, they will support a real leader and that real leader’s vision for the program.

How long will it take for the Alabama Crimson Tide to win a national championship under Nick Saban? Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel says soon. He ranked Saban the fourth best coach in the nation and wrote, “No one has a better touch of instant relevancy than Saban, who brands his programs with success quickly and emphatically. What other coach do you know who could make Bear Bryant an afterthought at Alabama? One of the country’s highest-paid coaches is worth every penny. Expect a national championship to come through Tuscaloosa in the next five years.”

Alabama’s quarterback Greg McElroy continues to generate chatter around the conference. The AJC ranked him as one of the SEC’s and ACC’s stars of the spring. Here is what they wrote, “Coach Nick Saban, not one to hand out rewards easily, tabbed McElroy the starter during the spring rather than let the competition drag through August. But McElroy is used to waiting. He backed up Chase McDaniel in high school, finally starting his senior year. He waited again in Tuscaloosa for John Parker Wilson to move on. McElroy threw for 189 yards and two TDs in the spring game.”