For more than a decade, Nick Saban has been among the top recruiters in college football. Every year, he reloads the Alabama program with more talent, allowing for consistent success.

That’s because Saban is persistent and has plenty of strong selling points. But he also puts in the time.

In fact, Saban is willing to put in the work at any time of the day. He recently shared his most interesting recruiting story during his weekly radio show on Wednesday, and it’s one that shows Saban’s dedication to the Crimson Tide.

James Burnip is currently a redshirt freshman punter at Alabama. He’s from Australia, and although he previously played at Arizona Western College, he was talking to Saban when he was in his home country. That meant Saban was doing Zoom calls at 6 a.m. because of the time difference. Still, that’s what the coach did.

“After about the fifth zoom call, [Jesse’s father] Arthur came on the line and he said, ‘Well, I’ve decided where I want Jesse to go to school.’ My heart just dropped,” Saban said on the show. “They hadn’t been here on an official visit, never been to America and I’m thinking he’s not coming to Alabama when his dad says that. I said, ‘Well how did you come to this decision, Arthur?’ And he said, ‘I’ve got 25 schools calling me here and all they ever talk about is Alabama. So I think you guys must be the best. So that’s where I want Jesse to go.’ And that’s how we got him.”

Now, Burnip will be getting an opportunity to be Alabama’s punter this season. And perhaps all those early recruiting calls will pay off for Saban and the Tide.

No. 1 Alabama opens the season Saturday with a matchup against No. 14 Miami in Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.