In the midst of preparation for Clemson and the Sugar Bowl in one College Football Playoff semifinal, Alabama coach Nick Saban discussed the 15 early signees Alabama secured on Wednesday during the first early signing period in college football.

“This is all kind of new for us,” Saban said in a press conference with reporters. “The early signing period I guess is some kind of an indication of the kind of recruiting that you’re doing. We’re very pleased and happy with the 15 players we were able to sign to Alabama today. I think there’s a lot of work to do to finish this class.”

Saban said Alabama plans to sign 23 players this recruiting year, so there are eight spots remaining.

“We’ve kind of identified our needs and hopefully will continue to be able to finish with a lot of good players who are left out there that are going to wait until February, or maybe sign in the next two days.”

Saban said Alabama would continue to try and recruit a quarterback even though the two who have seen time this season are expected to return. Saban was asked about wanting to recruit a quarterback in each class, and he said ideally, he’d like to have four on the roster.

Saban said he expects to lose five defensive backs, and therefore the secondary was well-represented in this recruiting class. He said the staff would like to replace that many players.

One of the defensive back signees, Saivion Smith, a former LSU player, would ideally offer more maturity and a level of experience in the SEC that other players typically don’t have, Saban said.

Saban said he wasn’t sure how the second half of the recruiting cycle would unfold going into February, but added that, “there’s a lot going on here right now.”

“Trying to prepare for a playoff game,” he said, “Trying to recruit. The intensity in recruiting in December and the schedule was much more hectic and much more difficult relative to trying to see more players who you thought were going to sign at mid-year, or sign early. Maybe even if they weren’t mid-year guys. It’s different. So I would say now that we’re going to recruit the rest of this recruiting cycle pretty much like it’s been in the past. Because there’s just going to be a smaller pool of players. But I can’t answer the question because I have no experience at this.”