TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama coach Nick Saban might have some free time this spring, and he's not happy about it.

A new NCAA rule passed in January bars head coaches from visiting high schools during the spring, a time Saban has prized for meeting prep coaches and administrators as he evaluates potential recruits.

The restrictions - dubbed the "Saban rule" by some - were passed just months after Saban was questioned over having improper contacts with recruits in Miami during the spring, and he unloaded on the rule during a conference call with reporters.

"I think it's ridiculous that we're doing what we're doing," said Saban.

Known as a tireless recruiter, Saban said the rules don't leave head coaches enough time to do their work.

"When you're talking about developing relationships and knowing players and meeting guidance counselors and talking to principals and all those kind of things, I think we've put ourselves at a tremendous disadvantage in terms of evaluation," he said.

By his own count, Saban visited around 100 high schools last spring. Under the old rule, a coach could speak with a player briefly if he happened to encounter him at the high school.

A stop in Florida created a stir when The Miami Herald reported that Saban may have committed secondary NCAA violations by having more than brief, inadvertent contact with recruits.

Asked by a reporter if the new rule was aimed at him, Saban avoided responding directly.

"I would rather not answer that," Saban said. "But I guess everybody can make their own assumptions about that."

SEC coaches once opposed the new rule, but they endorsed a change during their spring meeting last year following the questions over Saban's actions.

"We probably honestly were our own worst enemy with some people taking advantage of the rule," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said during the conference call. "When a head coach walks into a high school, it almost ends up as an event."

Vanderbilt's Bobby Johnson said the old system "is a hard rule to enforce, and I think (the new rule is) the only way to do it."

Alabama's assistant coaches will do the legwork in checking out recruits this spring. They will report to Saban, who will make final decisions on which prep prospects to offer scholarships from a recruiting command post in the football building.

"I have looked at every player that we've offered," Saban said. "I will continue to look at and evaluate players. I will communicate from here."

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