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Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:18 pm to T Rich3
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:29 pm to TideSaint
How OL coach Brent Key turned into one of Alabama’s top recruiters (SEC Country)
Brent Key is No. 3 in the 247Sports composite coaches rankings.
Brent Key is No. 3 in the 247Sports composite coaches rankings.
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Pat Jasinski was an underrecruited linebacker from Blessed Trinity High School (Roswell, Ga.) in the 2015 class. He had two offers to play college football: UCF and Air Force.
At the time, Alabama offensive line coach Brent Key was an assistant on UCF’s staff, and Roswell, Ga., was one of his primary recruiting territories. Blessed Trinity coach Tim McFarlin, who has known Key for nearly 20 years now, told him about Jasinski, the nation’s No. 119 outside linebacker in the 2015 class. He is now one of UCF’s star linebackers and led the team with 104 tackles last season.
Blessed Trinity coach Tim McFarlin told SEC Country that the way Key ended up landing Jasinski was because of the time he put into getting to know the coaching staff and learning the details of Jasinski as a person before the player.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 2:48 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:29 pm to TidalSurge1
quote:
“He hangs on to some values that we’re losing in recruiting,” McFarlin said. “The way he got Pat was he pulled up a chair to watch film with us as a staff. He really takes his time in recruiting. He takes time getting to know the coaches and not just the player on the field but what he does off of it.
“The thing that impresses me about Brent is he wants to know the intricate details about the person he is recruiting. He asks all of the right questions. I’ve been doing this for 37 years — and it used to be common in recruiting — but these coaches are moving so fast in recruiting and very rarely do they actually talk with you and watch film, but he does that. With Brent, recruiting for him is all about quality and not quantity.”
Key has turned himself into not only one of Alabama’s best recruiters, but also one of the nation’s top recruiters. He is ranked No. 3 in the country, according to the 247Sports composite coach rankings, behind Oklahoma assistant Cale Gundy and Tide defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi.
McFarlin said the film session Key had with him and his staff was the difference in UCF getting Jasinski.
Brent Key was Mac Jones’ primary recruiter when the quarterback was a recruit in the 2017 class.
McFarlin said college coaches often cycle through the school but they’re just in and out without actually having a genuine conversation. Not Key. He knows when Key is on Blessed Trinity’s campus, he’s going to get quality time with him. The relationship between the coaches is now at the point where McFarlin can truthfully let Key know his exact thoughts on the players he’s recruiting.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 2:53 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:29 pm to TidalSurge1
quote:
"Brent is a great communicator and genuine,” McFarlin said. “It’s not for show. You just feel like you can develop a relationship where you can be really honest in the recruiting process. There are conversations both good and bad that you need to be able to express to the college coaches and you can do that with Brent.”
His honesty is not just something he expresses to high school coaches across the country. Alabama 5-star tackle commit Pierce Quick has developed a strong bond with Key over the past few years, and the coach’s honesty is what attracted Quick to his future position coach.
“Coach Key is a great recruiter because he’s real with you, and you can tell he’s being real,” Quick said. “He’s gonna tell you the truth of what you’re signing up for.”
Quick also touched on Key making sure he not only developed a relationship with him but also those closest to him.
“Coach Key is now almost like part of my family, and I don’t think there are many other coaches recruits could say that about,” Quick said. “My parents love him. My little brother loves him. Every single person in my family does.”
Clay Webb, a 5-star center from Oxford (Ala.) High School, is one of Alabama’s top offensive line targets in the 2019 class. For several months now, Webb has told reporters that he has the closest relationship with Key.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 2:59 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:29 pm to TidalSurge1
quote:
When it comes time for Webb to make his commitment, the relationship he has with Key could be the ultimate factor. “He’s kinda like a really, really, really close uncle,” Webb said. “I know that sounds kinda weird. I talk to him a lot. We know a lot about each other. It’s always fun to talk to him when we go down there.”
Key’s most recent commitment in the Tide's 2019 class is 4-star defensive tackle DJ Dale. Dale committed to Alabama over Auburn, Clemson, Florida State and Tennessee this week. Even before Dale was a national recruit, Key was there building a relationship with him. It was the same thing he had done with Quick before he committed.
Both Dale and Quick grew up wanting to play for Alabama and when it was clear that they were going to develop into some of the best high school football players in the country, Key’s already established relationship with them gave the Tide an edge over the competition.
“He’s just a great man,” Dale said of Key. “We have developed a great relationship over the years, and he has always been honest with me. My family really likes him, and he keeps it real with me and always tells me how it is. I also like how he’s more interested in me as a person than just as a player. Other coaches were doing that, too, but he was recruiting me before them. We already had a relationship.”
While it was likely that Alabama would have ended up getting both Dale and Quick with minimal recruiting effort because of them wanting to play for the Tide since they were kids, Key recruited them just as he would other players.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 3:45 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:29 pm to TidalSurge1
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The same can be said about Quick’s teammates at Hewitt-Trussville, Key’s alma mater: 4-star quarterback Paul Tyson and 2020 4-star wide receiver Dazalin Worsham. Tyson is the great-grandson of Bear Bryant and Worsham grew up wanting to play for Alabama.
Hewitt-Trussville coach Josh Floyd noted he didn’t let their connections to the university stop him from putting in significant time at building bonds with each of those players.
“I think he looked at it like every other situation,” Floyd said. “He knows he had to recruit those kids still, and it didn’t matter if they grew up loving Alabama. He knows that other schools were on those guys hard, so I think he recruited them like every other kid out there.
"And there’s still a long way to go until signing day, so nothing is going to change with his recruiting effort. You can just tell though that he's developed a really good relationship with the kids. I think he’s honest with them, and I think they really appreciate that.”
Alabama has 3 offensive linemen committed: Pierce Quick and 4-star tackles Tanner Bowles (Glasgow, Ky.) and Amari Kight (Alabaster, Ala.). The Tide would like to add Clay Webb and are in good position to land 5-star tackle Darnell Wright (Huntingdon, W.Va.), too. Key is the primary recruiter for both players, and if they get added to the trio already committed, it would be the highest-rated offensive line class in the Nick Saban era. A lot of the credit should go to Key if and when that happens.
“He’s just a good person. Brent Key is a good person,” McFarlin said. “At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about and that’s what he’s going to be remembered for. He’s the offensive line coach for Alabama, and that’s pretty special, but he’s the same guy he was 10 years ago.”
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 3:44 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 2:34 pm to TideSaint
TS was getting ready to post them. Look at the first one labeled season highlight. He plays R & L guard at that size. He flattens people, can pull, and then 10-20 yards gets down field to block runners. 6'7 345 at guard and his speed I want. 
Posted on 5/5/18 at 3:51 pm to TideWarrior
Who you gonna trade for Aumavae-Laulu? OT Darnell Wright
OG/OT Pierce Quick
OC/OG Clay Webb
OG/OT Tanner Bowles
OT Amari Kight
That's an awesome group of OLs, all with 5 years to play 4 of elligibility.
Elliot Baker was the #1 Juco OT for 2017.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 4:17 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:09 pm to TideSaint
shite that kid looks like a monster. Can move too. Man with the o line we could assemble it won't matter who the running back is.
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:10 pm to TidalSurge1
Bowles easy.
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:18 pm to Tide or Die87
quote:
Bowles easy.
Saban and Key don't seem to agree with you, since they happily took Bowles' commitment. Maybe they'll take 6 OL and pass on filling a need at another position to make room, but I doubt it. This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 4:30 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:21 pm to TidalSurge1
They've been known to change their mind and stop answering phone calls lol.
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:25 pm to Tide or Die87
True, but I think the Juco guy is most likely a backup plan.This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 4:26 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:27 pm to Tide or Die87
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:29 pm to TidalSurge1
Man you see that film??? Nick Saban dropped his lil Debbie when he saw that big SOB running down the field.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 4:30 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:36 pm to Tide or Die87
Damn kid has some ball skills.
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:38 pm to Tide or Die87
quote:Have y'all ever gotten in the way of one of those big linemen rolling down the field? It's a fricking nightmare. I was only around 5'10 140 at the time. I didn't really hit my growth spurt until after high school
Nick Saban dropped his lil Debbie when he saw that big SOB running down the field.
. The best thing I could hope for was to get tangled in their legs like a rope Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:41 pm to Tide or Die87
quote:
Man you see that film??? Nick Saban dropped his lil Debbie when he saw that big SOB running down the field.
Yes. I get the feeling Saban is like a kid in a candy store. I want this. And that too. Oh, I like these too. Oh wait, I really like this right here... And, he does move very well for his size, but he wasn't facing anywhere near the level of D-front competition he'd face at Bama. He looks like he might could even be a good OT or interior DL.
This post was edited on 5/5/18 at 5:07 pm
Posted on 5/5/18 at 4:41 pm to Cobrasize
Nope never have thankfully. Stuck with basketball after middle school football was over.
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