Alabama Football’s Kalen DeBeoer Says Jalen Milroe’s Come a Long Way In Spring Practice

The redshirt junior looks to lead the Crimson Tide back to the playoffs under a new coaching staff.

April 9, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) drops back to pass | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA

The Alabama Crimson Tide football program has undergone quite an array of changes over the last few months. The program lost legendary head coach Nick Saban to retirement and hired an offensive centric head coach to replace him in Kalen DeBoer. 

DeBeoer orchestrated the top passing offense in the nation last season at Washington, leading to questions as to how the offensive personnel in Tuscaloosa will fit into his system in 2024. 

Jalen Milroe completed 34 passes last season traveling at least 20-yards downfield or more, third most in college football, behind only LSU’s Jayden Daniels and DeBoer’s Washington signal caller Michael Penix. 

So is the redshirt junior ready to take ownership of DeBoer’s system and take his game to the next level this fall?

“Yeah, I think he really came a long ways in processing, playing the game and moving the chains and so just when he hits fall camp I think just having 100-percent confidence in every concept we put in, especially in the first week or two that he’s had rep after rep after rep. Can you not just execute but also run the whole show, just telling every guy what their responsibility is and so it goes beyond your position and goes onto leading the rest of the offense,” said DeBoer on Wednesday at the Regions Tradition.

Milroe took all the starter reps in spring practice and will have plenty of help mastering the system as a number of Washington offensive transfers made their way to Tuscaloosa with DeBoer. 

He finished sixth in Heisman voting in 2023 leading Alabama to the College Football Playoffs. Milroe’s mastery of DeBoer’s system could take the Crimson Tide back to the playoffs and send the redshirt junior to New York as a Heisman finalist.