Nick Saban Recaps 2020 National Signing Day

The Crimson Tide added three recruits to its roster, bringing its total to 25 signees

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — 2020 National Signing Day saw Alabama football sign three additional athletes to its roster, concluding recruiting for next season with a total of 25 signees.

“We’re really excited about the class that we were able to attract,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. “I think this is an accumulation of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. I think our recruiting staff here did a phenomenal job of sort of setting the table for our coaches to be able to go out and make the kind of evaluations and that’s something that you have to do really early on now.”

Four-star wide receiver Javon Baker and four-star defensive tackle Jamil Burroughs of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga., were the first two to commit on signing day. Four-star offensive tackle Damieon George of North Shore High School in Houston, Texas, signed on later in the day.

Saban commented on the defensive line which Burroughs and two other signees at the position will be joining in 2020.

“I thought that the three players we got at that position this year are certainly good players that will contribute to [development] as well because Raekwon [Davis] is really the only guy that is leaving that group,” Saban said. “I think we need to make significant improvements with those guys but I always say guys really improve a lot from their first year to their second year.”

“I feel like in the last two years we’ve added good, young talent at that position.”

Early signing day on Nov. 13 saw 22 athletes sign with the Crimson Tide, including  five-star prospects. The early signing day has shifted to now be the main signing day for the majority of high school athletes.

Saban said that he thought this was going to be the case from the early signing day’s inception.

“Look, I said this when we made an early signing date,” Saban said. “It’s going to be the signing date. So is this the third year we’ve had the early signing date? So it is the signing date. What percentage of players signed early? 90? 90 percent? Most people were in the same situation as us today; they only had two or three spots to fill, basically.”

Alabama finished No. 3 overall in the SI All-American recruiting rankings for the 2020 year.

“I think the key thing for us is we felt like we got a lot of good players,” Saban said. “Character, quality people who want to get an education who are good football players.”