Alabama QB Jalen Milroe noticed something wonderful during the last training…. Get to know
Why Alabama QB Jalen Milroe called Nick Saban’s retirement crazy, awesome and wild
Six months later, Jalen Milroe used three words to describe Nick Saban’s retirement: Awesome, crazy and wild.
Milroe appeared on CBS Mornings Thursday from the network’s Times Square studio for an interview with the show’s hosts, including former NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson. Just like everyone else in college football, they wanted to know what it’s been like for the program this offseason as it transitions from Saban to new Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.
“I would say it was awesome. It was crazy,” Milroe said. “Initially, to see the retirement, Coach Saban’s the greatest coach of all time and he recruited me to Alabama. So to have the years, three years, being around someone, to now the retirement, it was wild for us, as a whole. But when you talk about life after football, you’ve got to talk about life after coaching. So what a great opportunity for him to now step into a different role as a head coach now getting into what he’s doing now. That’s awesome for him. … That’s his passion, his drive, so I’m a supporter of that. But the transition has been awesome with having Coach DeBoer just lead us and just getting to know him.”
Saban, of course, is serving as an ESPN analyst to begin his post-coaching life and will appear regularly on College Gameday in the fall. He was featured prominently during ESPN’s coverage of SEC Media Days last week in Dallas.
Milroe, who emerged as Alabama’s starting quarterback last year, will begin the 2024 season as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. He threw for more than 2,800 yards and had 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2023. He also rushed for more than 500 yards and 12 touchdowns.
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Alabama was picked to finish third in the SEC’s preseason poll and Milroe was voted preseason all-SEC third team behind Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
“The biggest thing we have to do initially is flip the page from 2023 and now the 2024 season, set short term goals and long term goals,” Milroe told Burleson. “Once you have goals, that’s how you can really push towards something in a direction. And so, as players on the team, we seek advice from the head coach, from Coach DeBoer, who’s leading us in a great position to be successful this year.”
“Coach DeBoer talks about relentless pursuit to continuous improvement,” he added, “and once he put that into position, I said, ‘Man, what a great opportunity each day to seize every opportunity that we have because one thing about time, you can’t get it back.”
Milroe, when asked why he decided to stay at Alabama after Saban’s retirement, noted that he accomplished a goal last year to get his college degree in business management in three years. He’s now pursuing a master’s degree in sports management.
This prompted a question from Burleson about the impact of name, image and likeness on the current college football landscape.
“NIL is a great introduction to being financially literate,” Milroe said. “I think that’s very important as athletes, to understand the money, and we have an introduction to that with NIL. It’s all about building your brand. Athletes do a really good job bringing in a lot of revenue to universities, so now (you) have the opportunity to build a brand for yourself and make the most out of name, image and likeness, and what a great opportunity, and players have been doing a really good job.”
