>As an aside, is Bama's grip on recruiting in the South
>starting to finally vane, or is this just wishful thinking?

guys like Cochran and Burton Burns (who had been there a decade and had a hand in nearly every successful bama back). didn't help that some of those guys ended up at SEC rivals, a fact he seemed to lament to Belichick during The Art of Coaching.

but they'll still get top 5 classes as long as Saban is there. I mean hell, they just finished 2nd nationally last year.