The world of recruiting websites and services is a multi-million dollar industry that happens to both make the dreams of high school aged kids, while also crushing the dreams of many others.

Coaches, as well as their personnel and recruiting staffs, don’t put a whole lot (if any) stock into what recruiting sites have to say about recruits, or their star ratings.

In fact, Nick Saban went on a bit of a tear on the unrealistic expectations that recruiting websites instill in a lot of kids, and how that leads to issues like transfers early on in their playing careers.

The issue came to a head when Saban got a little testy after being asked about what he tells young players in his program that are exploring transfer options, with the reporter who asked obviously alluding to the hotly discussed quarterback battle between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Both guys were highly recruited out of high school, with Jalen Hurts leading the Tide to a great season last year, before being replaced by Tua in the national championship game where the backup went on to throw the game-winning touchdown.

“Basically every guy, when you’re a senior in high school, you have goals and aspirations and things that you want to accomplish, but when it comes to developing your career you’re rolling the dice as to how that works out,” Saban shared.

“How you’re able to compete, how you’re able to sustain, what kind of player you’re going to be. And it makes it even more difficult because all the people out there who are so-called experts on Scout.com, and all the people who give them 5-stars, they create an expectation with these guys that’s unrealistic.”

“So it’s an unrealistic reality that we live in with a lot of young players, and I feel bad for them, because what I’d like for them to do is just focus on what they need to do to be good players, and try not to worry about meeting all the expectations and standards that people have created for them. I think in some cases, that contributes to guys making some not great decisions about what they do, in terms of their future.”

Hear more from Saban on the topic below.