Five-star cornerback Zabien Brown could be in the starting lineup for the Tide this Saturday, despite nearly leaving the team last winter.
When Alabama begins the Kalen DeBoer era on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium, two freshmen—wide receiver Ryan Williams and cornerback Zabien Brown—have a strong chance of starting.
However, following Nick Saban’s unexpected retirement in January, Alabama risked losing both of these five-star recruits. Williams initially decommitted just hours after Saban’s announcement, only to later re-commit and sign with Alabama’s new coaching staff. Meanwhile, Brown also hesitated before deciding to remain with the team, as revealed in a new book co-authored by CBS Sports and 247 Sports’ national college football writer John Talty.
In “The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos,” released earlier this week, Talty and co-author Armen Keteyian argue that Alabama benefited from a “Saban discount” in its NIL program, with players accepting less money to join the Crimson Tide and learn from Saban. This included Brown, who graduated early from Mater Dei High School in California and joined Alabama for Rose Bowl practices in December.
“Could Zabien have gotten a lot more money? Absolutely,” said Courtney Brown, Zabien’s mother, in the book. “But if that’s not what matters to him, that’s not what matters to me. He chose the school based on the coaches, based on Nick.”
According to Talty and Keteyian, Alabama’s NIL funding was trailing behind some of its top competitors under Saban. They cited a source who said donors became “lazy” due to Saban’s ongoing success. After Saban’s retirement, that advantage faded, and Alabama had to scramble to retain its players during DeBoer’s initial weeks as other schools made more lucrative NIL offers.
Brown had already enrolled at Alabama and started classes on the day of Saban’s retirement. As described in “The Price,” Brown reconsidered his decision to stay with the team but was eventually convinced by new defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist and general manager Courtney Morgan.
The book further details that Brown considered entering the transfer portal. Saban’s departure came as a shock since Alabama had repeatedly assured recruits that he was not leaving anytime soon. When Courtney Brown asked Alabama receivers coach Holmon Wiggins about the retirement rumors earlier that year, he dismissed them, saying, “He’ll basically die on the field… He’s still keeping us out ’til midnight.”
Zabien felt frustrated, especially after he had sacrificed so much—summer classes, missed social activities, and giving up part of his senior year of high school to study the Alabama playbook before spring practice—only to find out that Saban was leaving on his first day of classes. “I think he felt burned,” Courtney Brown explained. “He was immediately like, ‘I’m not going to stay here.'”
Brown reached out to Jackson Zager, Zabien’s agent, to discuss potential options. Although Zabien had not entered the portal, there was significant interest if he chose to do so. Brown and Zager had several discussions during that first week, with the young agent impressing Zabien’s mother with his calmness in the face of uncertainty.
Though Zabien had not been focused on NIL money, his perspective shifted after Saban’s retirement. “I knew if we went elsewhere, we’d be negotiating for a much higher NIL deal,” Brown noted.
Alabama was determined not to let it get to that point. Mo Linguist, having recently left his position as Buffalo’s head coach to join Alabama, quickly flew to California to meet with Brown and other parents, pitching the vision of the new regime. In the end, his efforts were sufficient to persuade the highly-touted recruit to stay in Tuscaloosa.
Now, Zabien Brown, who was named to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year watch list on Wednesday, saw significant first-team reps throughout fall camp. He is in a close competition with Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones for the starting cornerback position opposite USC transfer Domani Jackson.
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