Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh loves the type of players Nick Saban produces at Alabama.
John Harbaugh regularly looks to build up his Baltimore Ravens roster with one former Nick Saban Alabama standout after another.
Mark Inabinett of AL.com expounded on the Alabama/Baltimore connection we did not realize was there. Saban has called the shots in Tuscaloosa since 2007, while Harbaugh has been in Baltimore since 2008. Over the last 16 NFL Drafts, Baltimore has picked eight former Alabama players, tying them with the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders for the most.
Harbaugh believes very much in the iron sharpens iron mantra that has made this Iron Bowl participant’s practices legendary and awe-inspiring.
“I think you get a bunch of guys that know how to practice. They know how to compete in practice every single day. I have to think at Alabama, practice is probably tougher than most of the games. Every single day, you’re fighting for your position … At our level, that’s good. It’s good to have guys that know how to work hard and football’s important to them.”
Of course, Harbaugh is well aware that former Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome is a Crimson Tide legend and was in the Cleveland Browns’ front office when Saban was Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator in the early 1990s.
“Ozzie’ll take a lot of credit for it, for sure. Heck, yeah, it’s Ozzie. But we’ve always had great success with those guys. Maybe it’s because Ozzie knows those guys so well. I think Nick (Saban) and Ozzie are very close. They talk a lot. I think Ozzie’s kind of an advisor and confidante for Nick, and the same thing the other way.”
Let’s also not overlook how impactful former Crimson Tide players have been in Baltimore uniform, highlighted most triumphantly of late by defensive back superstar Marlon Humphrey.
“But we always feel like we know those guys really well, and we’ve never been steered in the wrong way. Alabama guys, they like to work, they like to compete. Marlon Humphrey’s one of the best ever, but he’s not the only one. We’ve had so many great players from there. I love those guys.”
While Georgia has done as good of a job as anyone of replicating Alabama’s blueprint, not all former Crimson Tide stars become them in the NFL. A lot of this has to do with Saban getting as much of the juice squeezed out of his players as humanly possible before turning pro. Humphrey, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derrick Henry and Julio Jones bucked the trend, but many guys are also-rans.
Let’s discuss if Baltimore should continue to draft Alabama heavy going forward or pivot quickly.
Baltimore Ravens HC John Harbaugh gives a fantastic Alabama recruiting pitch
What Harbaugh said isn’t new, but it definitely reaffirms what we know that is all and good about the Alabama program. Yes, not every NFL team is going to want to draft a Saban Alabama player because they may feel that there is little tread on the tires. However, smart teams like Baltimore know that drafting well-coached players who have thrived with discipline will thrive with them.
More importantly, what Harbaugh’s quotes say to prospective college recruits and their families is two-fold. One, your son will get developed and could get drafted coming out of Alabama. And two, there are well-run organizations out there like Baltimore that love what Alabama is all about. Yes, bad organizations will draft Alabama players, such as Washington, but they like the Tide as well.
Ultimately, it still serves Baltimore to draft Alabama heavily for as long as Saban is the head coach and Newsome is in the Ravens building in some capacity. Though they could still keep doing that in future regimes down the line, this does feel like a drafting pool with diminishing returns. Maybe try to be the AFC version of the Philadelphia Eagles, who are addicted to taking Georgia Bulldogs?
There are way more similarities than differences between the Ravens and the Alabama program.