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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
DALLAS — Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting a year ago and was one of college football’s hottest players down the stretch, but there could be more coming under new coach Kalen DeBoer.
Teammate Tyler Booker, Alabama’s veteran offensive lineman, said Tuesday at the SEC media days that Milroe would “go to a whole new level” in DeBoer’s system.
“I feel like it will allow Jalen to be himself, especially the way I’ve seen coach DeBoer and Jaylen interact,” Booker said. “He wants to do what Jalen can do well, build on that, and the other playmakers on offense as well. Letting Jalen play his game is the best thing that we can do. Toward the end of the year when Jalen started playing his game and felt more comfortable running, that’s when he was at his best.”
Milroe accounted for 26 touchdowns and turned the ball over just five times in his final 10 regular-season games after being benched in Week 3 against South Florida. His transformation was the driving force in Alabama winning the SEC championship and making the College Football Playoff.
Milroe said the biggest difference for him is the confidence DeBoer has shown in him from the time DeBoer walked into the football complex.
“It’s the confidence level,” Milroe said. “Coach DeBoer is super confident in me and speaks that every single day I get to see him. You love to hear that, player to coach. And when it comes to X’s and O’s, he’s helped narrow down things I can be great at and the things I can improve on.
“But all I want to do is master the game of football. That’s when you can branch out and make plays in every part of the game.”
Milroe was not one of the five quarterbacks projected to go in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft in the mock draft from ESPN’s Matt Miller. Of course, there were real doubts inside the Alabama football complex a year ago that he would even be the starter. And even though it’s DeBoer’s system, DeBoer said offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan would be the primary play-caller.
“It’s been great to have coach DeBoer and coach Sheridan and learn from them, and their knowledge has allowed me to be a better quarterback,” Milroe said. “My biggest goal was to be better Game 1 this year than I was in Game 1 last year. Coach DeBoer pours into his players.”
Milroe’s ability to throw the ball down the field should help him blossom in DeBoer’s system.
“He did that on a high level, so we need to make sure we continue to tap into that strength,” DeBoer said. “But I think to continue to develop all the things he can do, and he’s done a great job of improving his footwork and understanding pocket presence, is learning from the past and taking in what we’ve been really emphasizing here over the first six months.”
And what separates Milroe, according to DeBoer, is what Milroe can do running the ball.
“That can come in different ways,” DeBoer said. “That can come when you are pushing the ball down the field and everyone’s dropping underneath those routes, and now there’s even more room for him to run. Or it can just be designed runs or reads that keep a defense on their heels and give defense coordinators nightmares.”
Milroe was sacked 44 times last season (Alabama gave up a program-most 49), and he said many of those sacks were his fault. He’s also well aware that DeBoer’s last quarterback, Washington’s Michael Penix, had the second-lowest sack rate in college football a year ago.
“This system gives our whole offense a chance to be explosive, and lot of that is on me to know when to hold onto the ball a little longer and when to take off,” Milroe said. “That’s been an emphasis without coach DeBoer taking away my freedom to play my game.”