At 11:06 a.m. Friday, the following email appeared in the inboxes of journalists on the University of Alabama athletics mailing list:

The subject line: Statement from Head Coach Nick Saban.

This was the entirety of the statement: Bo Davis has submitted his letter of resignation. We appreciate all the contributions he made to the program and wish him and his family the very best in the future.

It was rather generous to call that a statement. Saban often uses more words to clear his throat and get warmed up before launching into one of his patented rants.

You would think the oddly timed resignation of one of his long-time assistants would merit more than two sentences, one of them containing the cold, hard fact of the departure, the other an upbeat thank you, good-bye and good luck.

Davis isn't just another Alabama assistant football coach. He coached the defensive line, the single strongest position group on the 2015 national championship team. He worked for Saban at LSU, with the Miami Dolphins and in two separate stints with the Crimson Tide.

It seems fair to say that Saban doesn't hire someone more than once if he doesn't trust them and value their contributions.

Assistant coaches typically don't resign out of the blue on April 29, 13 days after the spring game, without a reason, but as has become the norm with Saban's tight-lipped Alabama program, no details were provided.

The departure of Davis would be curious enough if it weren't preceded by a Thursday evening report from TideSports.com that Davis was headed out the door "over an inquiry into possible recruiting violations."

A person familiar with the situation told AL.com it did concern a potential recruiting violation, which may not have been serious in nature, but Davis was not cooperative with the school when questioned about it. It appears that lack of cooperation led to his departure.

It won't be just another staff change for Alabama because Davis wasn't just any recruiter. The recruiting website 247 Sports ranked him the No. 1 recruiter in the SEC for 2016 and No. 2 nationally behind USC's Tee Martin, crediting him with such signees as Gordo linebacker Ben Davis and Texas quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Among Davis' "top all-time commits," 247 listed nose guard Terrence Cody, cornerback Kendall Sheffield and defensive tackle Daron Payne.

A year ago, Davis was given a raise to $475,000 a year and an extension through the 2017 season. It's unclear if he'll receive any severance pay.

It's a positive when a compliance department does its job, but it's a negative when a football program has to lose an assistant with a proven track record of success. Overall, it's not a good look for an Alabama program that keeps racking up national championships on the field and in recruiting.

On the day Crimson Tide defensive linemen A'shawn Robinson and Jarran Reed were drafted by the NFL, their position coach was forced to leave the program.

The impact of those losses, especially that of Davis, remains to be seen.