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Jalen Milroe appeared on CBS Mornings Thursday to talk about his fourth season at Alabama. The redshirt junior is helping lead the Crimson Tide into a new era.
Legendary coach Nick Saban is gone, surprising the sports world with a retirement announcement after last year’s trip to the College Football Playoff. Kalen DeBoer hopes to fill his shoes fresh off a national championship appearance at Washington.
While Milroe is certainly sad to see the man who recruited him and trusted him with QB1 duties go, he called Saban’s retirement decision “awesome.”
Take a listen.
.@JalenMilroe, one of the top college quarterbacks in the U.S., is preparing for his first year with @AlabamaFTBL without the legendary Coach Nick Saban.
Milroe tells CBS Mornings about the transition and why he decided to stay at Alabama. https://t.co/o8lfPY8XoO pic.twitter.com/utIKVq25zD
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 25, 2024
“It was awesome, it was crazy,” he said when asked about hearing the retirement news. “Coach Saban is the greatest coach of all-time, and he recruited me to Alabama, so to have 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. What a great opportunity for him to now step into a different role… That’s awesome for him… I’m supportive of that.”
We often hear of the importance for players to prepare themselves for life after their craft, because it won’t last forever. That’s the same for coaches, and Jalen Milroe seems to understand that.
While he’ll now finish out his college career under new leadership, he’s happy for his former coach.
Jalen Milroe talks about why he stayed at Alabama.
The quarterback says his decision to stay in Tuscaloosa didn’t involve football at all. Rather, it centered around academics.
“Beyond any stat, beyond any play on the field, was getting my degree in three years,” he said. “And I was able to achieve that this past December… and now I’m pursuing my Master’s degree.”
Again, back to that ‘life post-football’ theme.
Keeping with it, he offered a very business-minded response when asked about NIL in college football.
“NIL is a great introductory to being financially literate,” Milroe replied when pressed on the subject. “I think that’s very important as athletes – understanding the money. We have an introduction to that with NIL. It’s all about building your brand… What a great opportunity.”
Milroe answered every question as you’d want from your starting signal caller, representing the University of Alabama in incredible fashion.
The quarterback’s offseason is soon ending, and he’ll look to follow-up his impressive 2023 season with an equally productive ’24.