There was a different feel to the second go-round with college football’s early signing day. The experimentation with Year 1 led to new strategies in Tuscaloosa.

And it clearly worked.

The Crimson Tide walked away from 2017’s early signing period with 15 signees and the No. 6 class. That followed seven straight years of top-ranked classes, so the drop off was startling.

Move ahead a year and Alabama left Wednesday with the nation’s No. 1 signing class by a significant margin. It’s fair to say a few important things changed since college football’s first early-signing period produced subpar results for the traditional recruiting powerhouse.

Nick Saban explained some of the lessons learned when adjusting to the new calendar.

“I think we figured out that we needed to get ahead on more players,” Saban said, “that more and more players are going to make this their signing date.”

Alabama announced 23 players signed this December compared to the 15 from a year ago.

“So you've got to start the process earlier,” Saban continued. “You've got to get more players in here earlier, you've got to develop relationships with them. I think that's what we did a little better. I think last year we tried to save more spots for guys that didn't sign early.”

There were also the unknowns that came with the new structure of the recruiting cycle. Asked after last December’s signing day how he expected the second phase of recruiting to look, Saban said he was still figuring things out.

“I can’t tell you because I’ve never done it before,” Saban said Dec. 20, 2017. “I just know there’s a lot of stuff going on here right now, trying to prepare for a playoff game, trying to recruit. The intensity of recruiting in December and the schedule is much more hectic and much more difficult relative to trying to see more players that you thought were going to sign at midyear, or sign early, maybe even if they weren’t midyear guys. It’s different.”

And there would be significantly more coaching staff turnover to come after the first signing day. Departures between December and February included Derrick Ansley (Oakland Raiders), Brian Daboll (Buffalo Bills) and Karl Dunbar (Pittsburgh Steelers).

“And then with all the coaching turnover we had,” Saban said Wednesday, “we lost a lot of relationships with guys and I think it hurt us in the end. This year we were probably a little more aggressive.”

There was also an upgrade in recruiting talent among the hires made to replace some of the outgoing 2017 assistant coaches.

Daboll and Dunbar had limited experience in the college ranks so additions like Josh Gattis, Dan Enos, Jeff Banks, Karl Scott and Pete Golding added some youthful energy to the recruiting effort.

“We lost a lot of coaches and were able to replace them with good recruiters,” Saban said Wednesday. “That's always a priority when we hire somebody because I think it's really important to have great relationships and have a lot energy, enthusiasm and realize the importance of recruiting as a coach. If you don't have good players you're probably not going to have a lot of success. I've been very pleased with this staff.”

Saban went on to say he wasn’t upset with the previous coaching staff.

“Most of the time when we don't get players,” Saban said, “I feel like it's as much my fault as anybody's because I'm the leader of the organization. You want to have an organization that attracts the people.”

From a big-picture standpoint, Saban doesn’t sound like a big advocate for this recruiting calendar. Jamming in a two-week recruiting period after the conference championship isn’t great for Saban. All the in-season visits aren’t his thing. Saban would rather they come in the offseason when there’s time to build relationships.

“But it is what it is,” Saban said Wednesday after signing the top-ranked class, “and we're trying to make it work the best we can.”

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.