Greyshirting plus Juco's plus running off recruiting mistakes sums up Saban's success, especially in his early years. Once he started winning NC's, top talent followed with very little efffort. I think Dabo has done a much better job all around, including coaching. Saban used same tactics at LSU and Les Miles contiunued the practice except he couldn't get a to QB. When Bama played LSU in the NC game, there were 34 players on both rosters (18 for LSU and 16 for UA) that were not part of their official recruiting classes. Bama had 9 on medical scholarships. We had 1 and Michigan had none as way of comparison.
BK could have been help immensely by being able to do the same things, especially in 2016 when we needed to "import" defensive help. 3-4 DB's and 2 LB's and 3 linemen would have done it. I can probably get agreement on my suggestions who should have been dropped from the 2016 squad to make room.