Nick Saban has captivated an aura around his Alabama football program: consistency, power, and talent have become their trademark. The latter, though, found it’s way with 44 different players on NFL rosters in Week 1.
Nick Saban has cultivated Alabama to become the elite brand of college football in terms of producing talent. So, it should come as no surprise that the program has produced the most amount of players on an NFL roster than any other program this past Sunday. In total, Alabama had 44 players on Week 1 NFL rosters. The next few teams, LSU and Florida, weren’t too far behind.
“After Alabama were a pair of other SEC schools, LSU with 40 players on NFL rosters, and Florida with 37. Up next were Miami and Ohio State with 36 each. Florida State (33) and USC (32) were the only other schools with more than 30 players on Week 1 rosters.”
The 44 players include Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster, the cornerback Jets Minkah Fitzpatrick, etc. Saban curated a brand at Alabama that imposed their will on opponents but also developed the players individually to be prepared for the NFL. As the statistics show, Saban’s philosophy has paid off ten-fold: Alabama players are usually the most coveted players in drafts and teams clamor to add NFL-ready talent to their roster.
Saban’s impact has spread among the SEC and other school’s such as listed team’s above, Ohio State, USC, and Florida State. Saban’s goal wasn’t just to build dominating team’s: it was to take players who dominated in high school and get them to replicate the same thing in college and to carry it over to the pros.
Now, it’s common for players to not need as much development once they get to the NFL. The Sabanization of college football helped curate that, it’s just Saban’s impact has made more of a splash than others, which was to be expected.