TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Wednesday wasn’t a busy day for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide signed three players, giving it 25 signees for the 2020 recruiting cycle after a 22-player haul during the early signing period in December. National letters of intent from Javon Baker, Jamil Burroughs and Damieon George arrived at the facility by noon CT.

But don’t tell head coach Nick Saban it wasn’t a busy National Signing Day.

“Did you guys take math?” Saban said. “Did you have math class? Did you learn how to add when you did have math class? Twenty-two and three make 25. Is that what we expected? We could only sign three guys, that’s what we expected -- based on math.

“But it was a very busy day, aight, because the calendar is moved up, aight. So, we spent our whole day today really on next year’s recruiting. I think I talked to 22 guys today, and I think I talked to 14 guys yesterday, aight. So, it was very busy. In fact, by the end of the day today, I was stuttering on the phone and having a tough time speaking clearly. That’s how busy it was.

“It wasn’t busy in terms of how many guys we signed, but we had lots to do.”

Alabama signed the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, only behind the Georgia Bulldogs. Saban and company were unable to land 4-star defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson and 3-star cornerback Ennis Rakestraw, who chose to sign with Texas A&M and Missouri, respectively. Had they signed, the Tide would have had the No. 1 class.

However, Alabama’s 25 signees for the 2020 cycle did have an average player grade of 93.56. Clemson finished in second place in the category at 93.45, Georgia was third at 92.96.

Based on that math and the needs UA was able to address, Saban was pleased with the Tide’s 2020 recruiting class, specifically two critical areas -- one on each side of the football.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban

“I think quarterback’s always a big thing,” Saban said. “Bryce Young, obviously, we feel is a very talented guy, and hopefully, we can bring him along from a development standpoint, as well as the other quarterbacks that we have on our team.

“I think the biggest thing was we got a significant number of guys in the front seven in terms of outside ‘backer types, defensive line types. Guys that are athletic, guys that can rush. Inside ‘backer types. That was probably really something that we needed to address because I think the lack of depth at that position last year was a factor for us. I mean, I think we were pretty good, aight, but as soon as we lost LaBryan Ray, as soon as we lost two inside linebackers, now all of a sudden we’re playing four freshmen in the front seven for the entire season.

“Even though those guys did the best they could, it wasn’t quite the standard of what we would have liked to have been able to play with on a consistent basis. Now, those guys are going to be young guys, but hey, this is all about the future and how do we continue to build the program for the future.”

Thirteen signees are already on campus as early enrollees and will participate in spring practice next month, “which is probably good for player development for us,” the coach said.

Those players are now part of the program, along with the other nine that signed in December. That’s the difference the early signing period has created for college teams and coaches -- what used to essentially be a football holiday, National Signing Day, is now what Saban called “the Limited Edition Signing Day,” as recruiting has shifted to a year-round business.

“I used to sit in the office 10 years ago and do nothing but recruit for this class on this day to try to get guys signed and make sure everything was going the way it was supposed to this day,” Saban said. “We had guys having one o’clock press conferences, 12 o’clock press conferences.

“I haven’t talked to a single recruit today that we’re recruiting in this class. I talked to 22 guys that we’re recruiting for next year. It has changed significantly.”

Contact Charlie Potter by personal message or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).