Remember back to 2008? Nick Saban had taken over the Alabama Crimson Tide a year prior and was in the early stages of building the team into the annual titan it is today. That spring seven years ago, Alabama didn’t have a single player from Saban’s first team chosen in the NFL draft.

My, how times have changed.

With wide receiver Amari Cooper becoming a first-round pick on Thursday night, going at No. 4 to the Oakland Raiders, Saban’s count since that doughnut in 2008 is up to 17 first-rounders, and he’s had a first-round selection in seven straight drafts.

In just Saban’s eight years at Alabama, that gives him more than any current SEC coach — more than Steve Spurrier in a 20-plus year career between Florida and South Carolina, more than Les Miles in 10 years at LSU and more than Mark Richt in his career at Georgia.

By 2013, Saban passed legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant in first-round picks. Bryant had 13 first-rounders in his 25 years at Alabama. Saban eclipsed him in just five drafts, and now he’s soaring above the rest of college football.

To refresh your memory, here’s a list of all 17 of Saban’s first-round picks at Alabama:

  • OT Andre Smith (2009)
  • LB Rolando McClain (2010)
  • CB Kareem Jackson (2010)
  • DT Marcell Dareus (2011)
  • WR Julio Jones (2011)
  • OT James Carpenter (2011)
  • RB Mark Ingram (2011)
  • RB Trent Richardson (2012)
  • S Mark Barron (2012)
  • CB Dre Kirkpatrick (2012)
  • LB Dont’a Hightower (2012)
  • CB Dee Milliner (2013)
  • OG Chance Warmack (2013)
  • OT D.J. Fluker (2013)
  • LB C.J. Mosley (2014)
  • S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (2014)
  • WR Amari Cooper (2015)

It’s easy to say that since Alabama gets the most talent, it’s no wonder Saban has so many first-round picks to his name. That thought isn’t wrong; Alabama has had the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation for the last five years, according to most recruiting services, and has had a top-five class every year since 2008. Dating back to Saban’s first year at Alabama, the Crimson Tide have brought in 31 total five-star recruits, including this year’s haul of six.

However, barely more than one-third of Saban’s first-round picks — six of the 17 — came in as five-stars.

There’s a two-fold takeaway there. The first is that Alabama’s record with five-star players is slightly worse than the SEC as a whole. In the previous 10 years, 48 five-star prospects have passed through the SEC and onto the NFL draft. Of those 48, 23 have gone on to be first-round picks, a rate of 48 percent. Alabama since Saban took over has sent 40 percent of its five-stars (6 out of 15 through 2012, the class currently eligible for the draft) to the first round.

On the other hand, it’s evidence that Saban and his staff have done well in developing their slightly lesser prospects — although, if we’re being honest, those four-star prospects have been as good as many of the best signees at some other SEC schools — into NFL-ready players. Eddie Lacy wasn’t even a top-10 running back in his class in 2009, but went on to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2013. In that same class, Chance Warmack was a lightly regarded three-star guard who was rated outside of the top-25 players at his position. He ended up as a top-10 selection as an interior lineman.

The Crimson Tide have had a good eye for junior college transfers that fit into their mold as well. Terrence Cody was a three-star player coming from JUCO in Mississippi, and in his two years at Alabama became one of the most dominant defensive tackles in the nation. James Carpenter was a JUCO transfer as well, although he was the top-rated JUCO offensive tackle in 2010.

Saban has some similarities to  his equivalent at the college basketball level, Kentucky’s draft pick machine John Calipari, master of the “one and done” prospect. While many of Saban’s players stick around for all four years, that hasn’t been the case with his first-rounders, most of whom have left school early just like Calipari’s Wildcats. Only five of the 17 first-round picks have used up their college eligibility; the other 12 have all entered the draft a year ahead of schedule.

In some ways, the Crimson Tide’s first-round pick streak has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Saban has a reputation for only recruiting the best players in the nation, and many of the best players in the nation want to go play for him. It’s not just a myth, though; the track record shows that if a solid player goes to play for Saban, there’s a good chance the coach can turn them into an NFL-caliber player, if not a first-round pick.

Even after Cooper, there are plenty more Alabama players who are likely to be selected over the next six rounds of the draft; Landon Collins (who most experts projected would go in the first round but unexpectedly slipped), Jalston Fowler, T.J. Yeldon, Arie Kouandjio, Xzavier Dickson, DeAndrew White and Austin Shepherd all are projected to be chosen sometime after the first round.

Looking ahead, there’s no reason to think Saban’s parade of first-rounders will come to an end anytime soon. Already, linebacker Reggie Ragland is being talked about as the best inside linebacker in the 2016 draft class and as a first-round pick. Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson (another five-star recruit) is a good candidate to enter the draft a year early if he improves upon his 2014 season, while Jarran Reed will be highly regarded as well after considering entering the draft early this year. Running back has been devalued in recent drafts, but two went in the first round this year and Derrick Henry could capitalize on that trend reversal with a big junior year.

And, with 12 five-stars and more than two dozen four-star signees over the last two classes, the parade is set to march right on, from Tuscaloosa all the way across the stage on draft night in 2016, 2017 and beyond.

Throughout his career, Saban has built his reputation on many things. He’s as good a recruiter as anyone in the nation. He’s a master motivator and leader. He’s a fiery competitor who will jump to the defense of his team and his players, sometimes unprompted.

Perhaps underrated among all of the traits that make him the SEC’s top commander is the way he coaxes the most out of his talent. The way Saban develops his elite high school and JUCO talent into players ready to step onto an NFL gridiron can’t be overlooked.