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This was my routine yesterday morning on a state news website as the top high school football recruits let their college decision be known on National Signing Day (NSD).

Always in early February, high school football players — those who have committed verbally or written — send in their signed national letter of intent, usually by fax, to their college of choice.

Usually, there are ceremonies held in honor of the recruit. In 2009, Andalusia’s Nico Johnson signed his letter of intent in front of classmates to play at Alabama. Johnson is now with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL.

NSD, depending on the coach, can be considered as Christmas Day.

I’ll use Alabama coach Nick Saban as a quick example.

We all know the man recruits like crazy, and believe that he’s born with a natural talent of luring players to come play at Alabama.

Heck, as of yesterday afternoon, the Crimson Tide was in the running of having the third-straight No. 1 recruiting class. A few big reasons why were the acquisitions of Hoover’s Marlon Humphrey and Auburn High School’s Rashaan Evans, who said he flipped his decision while at the podium.

This always happens on NSD — a player who is on the fence about one school will pick another. It’s exciting isn’t it?

Auburn did pretty well, too.

The Tigers got St. Paul’s Tre Williams and Oxford’s Roc Thomas, among others, in a good top 10 class.

Look for AU to be really good in the coming years.

In an early-morning conference call yesterday, Saban told reporters that it’s crucial how the recruit develops as a player once he is signed.

He’s right.

It’s all about what the players turn out on the field.

It’ll be interesting to see how each of these players and the others who signed their letters of intent develop as players on the gridiron.

Who knows, they could be a part of a championship-caliber team.