HUNTSVILLE | University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, making his third stop on a tour around the state, told media representatives on Thursday that he was 'disappointed' that a college football playoff was unlikely to materialize before the year 2014.

'I've always been a fan of the plus-one idea,' Saban said. 'Since 1997, I have been advocating a four-team playoff. It seems like almost every year when you have issues it involves a third team being left out. I'm sure with a four-team playoff you'd have the fifth team complaining, but at least you'd be pretty sure you had the best team in that top four.'

Saban said he supported the playoff, even though his 2003 LSU team won the BCS championship under the current system.

'I just like the idea that you would have to beat two quality teams to win the championship,' he said. 'It would be difficult, but that's what you have to do in the NFL.

'The plus-one system could be very easily implemented. It would give us a combination of the current bowl system with a chance to find the best team.'

The BSC playoff was one of several issues that Saban addressed in a 15-minute media session.

Saban also confirmed that he had met with sophomore offensive lineman Charles Hoke, who is expected to leave the team for medical reasons. Hoke has been bothered with a shoulder injury.

Hoke, who is from Birmingham, has played in 24 games, mostly as a blocking tight end and as a member of kicking units. During the spring, he was a backup to starting left tackle Andre Smith.

'Charles and I discussed it and will make that decision with the medical staff,' Saban said.

'Charles has an outstanding character and has represented this institution in a first-class way. He does have a recurring shoulder program. It came out twice in the last week of spring practice.'

Saban was asked whether the absence of any Crimson Tide players chosen in last weekend's National Football League draft would cause problems for recruiting in the future.

'Why would it be a problem?' Saban said. 'In our first year at LSU we had two sixth-round draft picks. Did you see how many of their players were picked this year? We'll have players drafted next year, and as we continue to recruit well we'll have a lot more drafted.

'At the same time everyone has to understand that what they do counts and that your actions have consequences.'

Although Saban referenced recruiting, he said one of his themes to the various Crimson Caravan gatherings was to temper expectations about the incoming class, which was ranked by various services as the best in the nation.

'You win with people, and recruiting is the lifeline of the program,' he said. 'We're just trying to build the depth we need in order to have success on a sustained basis.

'I'm not bothered by expectations. They don't affect me. The realistic expectation for me is to get every player in our program to play to his full potential.'

Saban was asked about this year's recruiting efforts and his use of video-conferencing technology to talk to prospects in the wake of a new NCAA rule prohibiting high-school campus visits with prospects in the spring.

'These are new circumstances, a new time, so we came up with a new solution,' Saban said. 'I enjoyed going out to see prospects.'

Saban said that when he left Michigan State to take over the program at LSU, he took advantage of the spring training rules for schools in Louisiana and visited prospects extensively.

'I went to see the five or six best players at every position,' he said. 'I was like the cross-checker for our staff. I also thought that was part of what we needed to do to promote high school football and show the players that what they did was important.

'The video-conferencing came up because it was something we'd used in Miami [with the NFL's Dolphins].'

He explained that he used the technology to confer with doctors regarding a player's medical condition.

The Crimson Caravan will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Thursday.

Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0225.