Paul Finebaum reacts to Alabama recruiting surge: 'Kalen DeBoer can do no wrong'

To win in college football, teams still need to recruit and recruit well. Even with how recruiting is done changing, that remains true, and in recent weeks the Alabama Crimson Tide have had a surge on the recruiting trail.

This has, ultimately, been a major boost for head coach Kalen DeBoer going into his second season. In the process, DeBoer even earned the praise of Paul Finebaum during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“I think at this moment in time,” Paul Finebaum said. “Kalen DeBoer can do no wrong. He is dialing up everything on the recruiting trail.”

Alabama and DeBoer certainly have had plenty of recent recruiting success. Last recruiting cycle, Alabama signed three five-stars and seven top-100 overall prospects. Now, with recent commitments, the Crimson Tide are trending toward another top class. That includes two recent five-star commitments from running back Ezavier Crowell and linebacker Xavier Griffin in June. Then, five-star wide receiver Cederian Morgan and five-star safety Jireh Edwards joined in July.

For Paul Finebaum, that success comes from a few different places. Alabama has stability. However, it also goes to show that Alabama remains Alabama and a premier program in the sport.

“I think some of it, and I know he’s using this to friends and fans alike, is that there is stability in the program. That goes back to not losing anyone in the portal. I really think that helps the momentum. You can say this 1,000 times and fans will shake their heads,” Finebaum said. “But [we] know it’s true, the brand of Alabama remains large. It just goes to show that as great as Nick Saban was, and he was, this program lives on because there is a very strong infrastructure there.”

Alabama currently has the fifth-ranked recruiting class in the 2026 cycle. That includes 19 prospects, five of whom are five-star recruits, who have committed to go and play for the Crimson Tide. In total, Alabama has commitments from 12 Top 300 players.

“Kalen DeBoer is now able to take advantage of it. Yeah, he lost some players in the first days. His first season, in many ways, was terribly disappointing because of the expectations. He has calmed everything down. He’s got a good staff. He’s got a great GM. He’s getting what he needs,” Finebaum said. “And that, to me, is the biggest surprise because I think a lot of people, including myself, wondered, could Alabama hang in this Texas oil money world that we live in, where it’s hard to keep up with certain programs. But they are, and I think there is a flip side of that, and I feel like you’ll get to it in a minute, but as great as Alabama looks at this particular moment, Auburn looks equally as bad.”

As Finebaum noted, Alabama’s in-state rival Auburn has struggled in that same time to recruit. Head coach Hugh Freeze has received some criticism for that. Auburn currently has the 80th-ranked recruiting class in the 2026 cycle. That’s 16th in the SEC, and only seven players are committed there in total.

Certainly, Kalen DeBoer is winning on the recruiting trail. Now, he’s going to need to find a way to win on the field and get the Crimson Tide back to the College Football Playoff too.