Jeremiah Smith may have just put a spotlight on one of Nick Saban’s biggest recruiting whiffs.
Alabama’s wide receiver room was loaded from 2017 through 2020, when the Crimson Tide packed future first- and second-round picks into the same depth chart. The “Ryde Outs” stretch included Jerry Jeudy, DeVonta Smith, Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle all at once, with John Metchie buried as WR5 in 2019 despite eventually becoming a future second-round pick himself.
After that run, though, Alabama’s production at receiver dipped, especially when it came to high school recruiting. Jameson Williams delivered huge results in his lone season in Tuscaloosa after transferring from Ohio State, but the Tide had a tougher time landing and developing homegrown wideouts.
The biggest miss, though, didn’t come into focus until this week.
At SEC Media Days, Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith said Alabama was once his “dream school.”
“Growing up my dream school was Alabama when Nick Saban was there. But they wasn’t recruiting me," Smith said, via Stephen Means of Cleveland.com.
Smith was a class of 2024 prospect and committed to Ohio State early, but it’s still jarring to think Alabama apparently never pushed hard for a player who now looks like the best wide receiver in college football from the moment he stepped on campus.
There’s no way to know what would have happened if Alabama had gone all-in and landed him. Saban retired after the 2023 season, and Smith would have had the same portal freedom so many others used, including his current quarterback in Columbus, former Alabama signee Julian Sayin.
Still, it’s easy to imagine what Smith could have looked like in Tuscaloosa alongside Ryan Coleman-Williams. Those two were the most explosive young receivers in college football during the 2024 season, and together they would have given Alabama’s offense a terrifying one-two punch.
Saban has already pointed to another recruiting miss as the biggest of his career, saying he should have recruited tight end Mason Taylor harder. Taylor ended up at LSU and delivered the game-winning two-point conversion in the Tigers’ 2022 win over Alabama in Baton Rouge.
That one stung. But Smith’s revelation makes for a different kind of what-if entirely.
Maybe Saban never knew Smith viewed Alabama as his dream school. He does now. And if he ever gets asked about his biggest recruiting mistake again, the answer might not be the same.
In Other News...
Trent Richardsons Next Alabama Coaching Move Will Hit Tide Fans Hard
Trent Richardsons post-playing career has kept him close to the game and close to home, and his next move adds another stop on the Birmingham-area high school circuit. The former Alabama star and NFL running back has already spent the last two seasons coaching running backs at Ramsay High School, building on a football rsum that still carries plenty of weight with Tide fans who remember his days in Tuscaloosa.
John Carroll Catholic announced the hire on social media, giving the program another recognizable name on its staff as it looks ahead to the 2026 season. The Cavaliers are coming off a 3-7 year and open next fall against Talladega, so Richardson steps into a setting that will ask for both patience and presence, the kind of role that fits a former player trying to stay connected to the sport while helping shape it at a different level. [Read more 🡒]
These Alabama Breakout Candidates Could Decide Kalen DeBoers 2026 Ceiling
Alabamas 2026 roster already has a solid core in place under Kalen DeBoer, but the bigger question is how quickly a young, relatively inexperienced group can turn promise into production. The latest breakout watch list reflects that balance, with established starters and key contributors already accounted for while a long line of younger players wait for their chance to force the issue.
Fall camp should start sorting out who is ready to climb the depth chart and who still needs time, and the early-season games figure to do plenty of the rest. By then, Alabama should have a much clearer idea of which names are real candidates to shape the ceiling of this team and which ones are still a step away from making that jump. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Fans Will Hate This New Reminder About Receiver Recruiting
Jeremiah Smiths rise at Ohio State has already turned him into one of the sports most talked-about young receivers, and his appearance at SEC Media Days only sharpened the sense that Alabama let a major one get away. The class of 2024 prospect committed early to the Buckeyes, but the broader backdrop here is the same one that has followed the Crimson Tides receiver recruiting for a while now: when the best pass-catchers in the country are sorting through their options, Alabama has not always been the obvious landing spot it once was.
For Tide fans, the frustrating part is not just that Smith ended up elsewhere, but that his path only adds to the list of near misses that keep coming back into view. Alabama has built its identity on elite wideout play, yet this is the kind of reminder that makes the recent struggles in that area feel even more glaring, especially when a player of Smiths caliber was sitting there as the kind of talent that could have changed the conversation in Tuscaloosa. [Read more 🡒]