Matt Barrie believes Kalen DeBoer still has something to prove at Alabama, and it’s something the ESPN anchor said Nick Saban did better than anyone during his Tuscaloosa tenure. Recruit and develop.

Barrie noted on “Always College Football” with Greg McElroy that Saban often had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.

“My point being is we haven’t seen DeBoer, yet, stay somewhere longer than a couple of years to see how things develop holistically as a program from the bottom up,” Barrie said. “Can he go get guys to come to Alabama? Well, yeah, it’s Alabama. But how much of a lock is the Crimson Tide logo and the Alabama brand without Nick Saban as the CEO? And I think that’s what we’re going to find out.”

Barrie described Alabama before Saban, and outside of Gene Stallings, as “teetering.”

“And he made it the most dominant brand in college football,” Barrie said. “What’s it gonna be now? I think to hit a home run on the hire, but I’m interested to see how the foundation is laid by DeBoer after 17 years of dominance from 1 coach, and that’s where I’m reserving judgement yet.”

McElroy then recalled several high-profile hires and the questions that followed those coaches, but given the pool of candidates, he believes Alabama hit a home run.