As Damien Harris weighed his options during the recruiting process last year, Kentucky coaches told him he should start something new in Lexington rather than sign up to be yet another Alabama running back.

Kentucky pitched him on becoming the face of the program and being able to leave a long-lasting legacy for the in-state school. Harris, a five-star recruit from Berea, Ky., ultimately chose tradition over in-state ties, but the Wildcats' pitch is one Alabama has to fight against frequently in recruiting battles.

Opposing schools use Alabama's success against it when recruiting the same prospects as the Crimson Tide. They'll sell players on the need to be different and stand out rather than join a program that is accustomed to winning championships. It's a pitch that can be very successful on impressionable 17-year-olds, but Alabama coaches have a tried and true defense strategy.

"More than anything, our approach in recruiting is to sell our product, our proven record in terms of the system we run and the process we use," says receivers coach Billy Napier. "We aren't selling hope; we are selling something that is proven. We have a great product to sell."

Depth chart argument

Since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007, Alabama has signed 32 five-star and 120 four-star prospects, according to 247Composite. With that tremendous recruiting success comes the birth of a negative recruiting approach.

"It's always they have so many players, and you're not going to play," says special teams coach Bobby Williams. "You have to sit and wait for your opportunity. It's the same old thing."

Says Napier: "Most people paint a picture that we have a loaded roster, and you'll have to wait to play here."

Rival schools use Alabama's depth chart against it in pitching recruits on earlier playing time opportunities at their school. The approach can be both position-specific and broadly as Alabama signs the nation's top recruiting class year-after-year. Most top high school football players want to play as early as possible at the next level, and Alabama is depicted as a school that won't allow that.

When a host of Southeastern Conference schools recruited five-star defensive lineman Daron Payne, they told him he'd have to wait his turn to play in Tuscaloosa. Further, other schools told him if he ever got on the field he'd only play as a zero-technique lineman and wasn't a natural fit for Alabama's defensive scheme.

Despite tremendous depth on the defensive line in 2015, Payne played significant time as a freshman and is expected to start next season. Alabama coaches are careful not to promise any player early playing time, but use players like Payne, defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and receiver Calvin Ridley as an argument against freshmen automatically having to wait their turn.

"You can do the same things that maybe some of these guys have done in the past," says Napier, who coached two standout freshmen in Ridley and Amari Cooper. "With the success we've had with incoming freshmen, it comes down to the competition that's going to happen once they get on campus. We are going to put the best guys on the field."

Williams says each year approximately 50 percent of the freshmen play and 50 percent redshirt. Out of the 21 players from Alabama's class of 2015 that made it on the roster, 11 played as true freshmen.

Alabama atmosphere

When recruiting against Alabama and Saban, it's foolish to attack his coaching prowess. After winning four national championships in the last seven years, Saban is almost untouchable in that department. It's why schools are more likely to use Saban's personality and style against him rather than his results on the field.

Saban can be portrayed as a no-nonsense, cheerless perfectionist who isn't enjoyable to be around. Those that know him say that's not the truth -- his players even say he's "hilarious" -- but certain schools sell the fun angle against Alabama. They'll characterize Alabama as a joyless football factory that treats players like cogs in the machine. Coaches tell recruits to play instead in a fun environment where it wouldn't be all football, all the time. Recruits that have been successfully steered away from Alabama have talked about preferring more of a fun, family atmosphere.

Outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi has heard similar scuttlebutt but uses the misconceptions to Alabama's advantage.

"One of the strongest things about being at Alabama is what a focused environment it is," Lupoi says. "Some major metropolitan areas you can find yourself with players being distracted having so many things to do whether it be the inner city or beaches. In Tuscaloosa, it's extremely focused. You are going to work every day, you are going to school and you are playing ball."

Alabama emphasizes its ability to develop players and properly prepare them to play in the NFL. In the Saban era, 17 Alabama players have been taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. That statistic is an attractive selling point for the Crimson Tide, with an additional three Tide players expected to go in the first round of this year's draft. Coaches sell top recruits on joining the legacy of players taken highly in the NFL Draft.

Alabama isn't flashy during the recruiting process and won't sell fun to prospective recruits. The program has all the bells and whistles -- its facilities are among the best in the nation -- but its approach boils down to a simple belief it offers players the best chance to win in college and make it to the professional level. It's the most successful defense Alabama coaches have against all the negative recruiting they face as college football's top dog.

"What you want to get the young man and his family thinking about is this is an investment for them," Napier says. "You've been blessed with a lot of ability and talent, what are you going to do with that? Are you going to go somewhere where you'll invest your time and put yourself around people who have a history of doing quite well?

"That's the path we point them toward and try to get them thinking the right way."