Even sitting in his office, more than 500 miles away from the talent-rich territories of Dallas and Houston, Alabama coach Nick Saban casts a large shadow over the recruiting trail in Texas.
Much has been written about how Texas A&M’s move to the SEC has energized the Aggies’ recruiting resurgence with top Texas prospects, but at the same time, many observers have also noticed an uptick of other SEC teams becoming a factor with the Lone Star State’s best high school football players.
Yes, Arkansas and LSU have always been on the minds of many top Texans because of their proximity, and Missouri has been recruiting the Lone Star State hard for decades because of its Big 8 and Big 12 roots, but no out-of-state program in the conference has gobbled up elite Texas talent recently better than Alabama.