This upcoming season will be quarterback Jalen Milroe‘s second as a starter for Alabama but his fourth with the program. Milroe spent the first two years of his college career sitting behind Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young but is now the main quarterback for the Crimson Tide.
Young sits atop nearly all of Alabama’s single seasons records for a quarterback and earned himself the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But what Young did off the field is what stood out to Milroe and helped him the most ahead of his turn to lead the Crimson Tide offense.
“I think for me, gotta be a student of the game and one thing Bryce did well was being a great teammate,” Milroe recently told Adam Breneman. “Everybody sees the clips on the field and sees the Saturdays, but not the work he’s done during the week. He does a really good job of just being a great leader, being a great person, friend for me.”
Being a good teammate off the field along with consistency would wind up being key for Milroe last season. This became even more true after not playing in Alabama’s Week 3 matchup against USF after starting the first two games of the season before being named the starter ahead of SEC play.
“And I’d say one thing that Bryce did really was he’s the same guy every single day. Same guy every single day, prepared the right way, did things the right way. He showed what was the right way to play the position and upheld the standard here at Alabama,” Milroe explained.
Milroe may not have met the standard early last season but would turn things around in a major way. Milroe ended the year 3,365 total yards and 35 total touchdowns between the air and ground to help lead the Crimson Tide to an SEC title and College Football Playoff appearance. That was an expectation within the program that was met and set by several other quarterbacks before him including Young.
“You know this is a big standard that’s placed for this program, but most importantly, the quarterback position,” Milroe admitted. “And he did a really good job at the position here for us and he just did the right thing at the playing position. And so I’m just grateful to be in the position I am now, having him for two years as a teammate, so it’s been great because I was able to learn and grow as a quarterback.”
Milroe will now look to learn from a new head coach as Kalen DeBoer takes over the reins of the program. Milroe hopes the learned lessons can continue passing down the line of Alabama’s quarterbacks of the future as they look to maintain their high standard at the position.
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