2x Super Bowl champ Blaine Gabbert shines a light on the process used by Nick Saban when recruiting him

Retired Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has cut a niche for himself as a fan favorite on ESPN's "College GameDay" after exiting college football. Before he retired, Saban was renowned for being one of the best recruiters in college football as he built a dynasty in Tuscaloosa.

During a Saturday segment of the “Casa De Klub Podcast,” two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Blaine Gabbert revealed how Saban recruited him uniquely from Parkway West High School in Missouri in 2008 (10:20).

“I forget my teacher’s name,” Gabbert said. “He pulls me out of class, we go to the gym, and he’s (Nick Saban) like, ‘Can you dunk?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, can I get a warm-up?’ So, I dunked. He’s like, ‘all right. That’s all I needed to see.’ I was like, alright, cool."

Gabbert was a five-star prospect and the No. 14 overall player in the class of 2008. Despite being recruited by Nick Saban, he initially committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers but flipped his commitment to the Missouri Tigers after coach Bill Callahan was fired.

Nick Saban was a master recruiter

According to author John Talty's "The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban," the former Alabama coach gathered all the staff at the program when he arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007 and spoke about the importance of recruitment.

“Everything we do,” Saban said, “is about recruiting. Everything we do. This place has to be show-ready 100 percent of the time."

During the 2024 SEC media days, Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin, who was Saban's offensive coordinator between 2014 and 2016, revealed how he has modeled his recruitment practices on the legendary coach.

"We got to coach better, but we as coaches got to recruit better in our thinking and evaluations and so forth," Kiffin said. "One of the big things was I just thought should happen in a few games over our time here, really with Alabama and Georgia, was there was a length and size issue.

"You know, both Kirby [Smart] and Coach [Nick] Saban, you learn from Coach Saban there is an impact profile they recruit to of size. That's not easy to do everywhere. Everybody would love to have every player 6'5". I do think we addressed that."

During his extensive coaching career, Nick Saban won seven national championships as coach of the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide on the back of his recruitment genius.