When Alabama hired Nate Oats after the end of the 2019 season, there was a range of emotions from deserved, cautious optimism to full, unbridled excitement. The up-and-coming coach out of Buffalo brought with him two things that the Crimson Tide program was sorely lacking: a “no slacking” mentality and an actual effective offense.
However, it wasn’t just all bluster and highlight clips from a smaller school. Oats immediately stepped in and, with almost no time to spare, put together a recruiting class within a month of starting with his new team. That class consisted of three 4-star players in Juwan Gary, Jalen Forbes, and Jaden Shackelford, two 3-stars, a grad transfer, and a former 5-star transfer in Javon Quinnerly.