Milroe, despite QB jab, taught ‘a lot’ by O’Brien

Chris Low, ESPN Senior WriterDec 30, 2023, 05:02 PM ET
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- College football reporter
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee

PASADENA, Calif. — Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe said Saturday that he probably could have been more coachable when Bill O’Brien was the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator but reiterated that he never considered changing positions.

Milroe said Thursday that O’Brien once told him that he shouldn’t play quarterback. O’Brien, now the New England Patriots‘ offensive coordinator, was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022 when Milroe was a backup.

“You can always soak up more information. That’s the biggest thing that you learn in a situation like that, that you can never quit learning and quit listening,” Milroe said at media day for the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, where No. 4 Alabama will face No. 1 Michigan on Monday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Milroe was the key to Alabama’s transformation this season and the 11-game winning streak that landed the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff. He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting and has accounted for 28 touchdowns and just five turnovers in Alabama’s past 10 games. That’s after being benched against South Florida in Week 3.

Milroe wasn’t happy about O’Brien’s suggestion to switch positions but said his experience playing under O’Brien wasn’t all bad.

“I learned a lot under Coach [O’Brien],” Milroe said. “He had NFL experience and also college experience. He’d been around a lot of great quarterbacks, so the biggest thing I could be was a sponge for information and try to learn as much as I could from him while he was there at Alabama.”

Milroe was more caustic about it all on Thursday when discussing O’Brien and the proposed position change.

“How would you feel if I told you [that] you suck?” Milroe told reporters. “He told me a bunch of positions I could have switched to, but look where I am right now. Who gets the last laugh?”

Milroe, a redshirt sophomore, has said he plans to return for the 2024 season. He has the third-highest passer rating (177.5) among Power 5 quarterbacks.

After throwing a pair of interceptions in a Week 2 loss to Texas, Milroe didn’t play the next week against South Florida. He met with coach Nick Saban the day after the South Florida game — where Alabama completed just 10 passes for 107 yards — and was assured that the quarterback job was his.

Milroe told ESPN last month that Saban was honest about what he needed from him as the starting quarterback and he began to play more freely after that. But being doubted as a quarterback was nothing new to Milroe, who said “even some people in this building [Alabama’s football complex] doubted me” after he arrived on campus.

“I was told I would never be the starting quarterback at Alabama,” Milroe told ESPN last month. “I’ve been told I was not smart enough to play the position. I’ve been told everything. Even when I was named the starter at the beginning of the season, I don’t think a lot of people thought I would keep it, and if I did, that we were going to have a bad season. So yes, I’ve faced a lot of obstacles. The main thing is the right people believed in me, here at Alabama and within my family, and I remained grounded in believing in who I am. That takes you a long way.”

Alabama outside linebacker Dallas Turner said once it became clear to everybody that Milroe was the guy, that’s when he took off and played his best football.

“And that’s when we really took off as a team,” Turner said.