A Crimson Tide Quarterback's Advice to Tommy Rees and Jalen Milroe
Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Scott Hunter has experienced every facet in a quarterback room.
He knows exactly what current quarterbacks Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner have been experiencing. Not only has he been in attendance for each game already this year, but he lived it.
As an ineligible freshman from Mobile in 1966 he watched Kenny Stabler guide the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season. In 1967 he redshirted while Stabler took the team to the Cotton Bowl and an 8-2-1 record.
He found himself in a quarterback competition in the fall of 1968 with senior Joe Kelley and didn't hit the non-existent transfer portal when Kelley initially got the nod to start the Crimson Tide's opening game against Virginia Tech.
Instead, Hunter kept his focus, Kelley struggled versus the Hokies and the redshirt sophomore seized the moment and the starting job. He went on to start for the Tide for three seasons, only yielding the role part-time to Neb Hayden due to injury in 1970.
"We're all on the same team here. You've got to realize that if you're the starting quarterback you've got to get ready to play, and you've got to play well. But you've also got to realize that if you get your leg broke on the second series against LSU somebody's got to come in and play well," Hunter said. "So the other guy had better be prepared, just as prepared and ready as you are, because it's a team game at that point too."
In 1971 the Green Bay Packers drafted Hunter in the sixth round to backup fellow Alabama quarterback Bart Starr. Hunter led the Packers to a division title in 1972 but spent the majority of his nine-year NFL career in and out of the lineup with the Packers, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions.
Hunter, appearing on "The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral" on Tuesday discussed his thoughts on the Alabama quarterback room as they all compete to replace a Heisman Trophy winner and lead the Crimson Tide to a successful season.
Throughout the week Alabama head coach Nick Saban has offered the public a clearer picture of the pecking order under center, naming Milroe the starter on Monday and declaring Simpson the immediate backup on Wednesday, leaving Buchner as the third option three games into the 2023 season.
Saban also added on Wednesday that he doesn't anticipate going back and forth anymore, and the Crimson Tide hosts the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday to open SEC play.
Hunter will be honored as one of the Tide's honorary captains in Bryant-Denny Stadium as he has a special connection with the Rebels having out-dueled Ole Miss legend Archie Manning in Birmingham in 1969.
Hunter passed for 300 yards while completing 75 percent of his passes and led the Tide to a 33-32 victory in the nation's first nationally televised college night game on ABC while calling his own plays, something Crimson Tide head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant had his signal-callers do at the time.
So what would Hunter do with the current Alabama offense?
"Well, let's go back to Tommy Rees. If Tommy were to ask me 'what can I do to get Milroe really performing a very successful rate?' Rate meaning play after play after play," said Hunter on "The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral". "I would say to Tommy, have a lot of three-step, two-and-a-half to two-second throws, in space with posts and other kind of routes to the tight end and so forth.
"Things that he can quickly read and quickly get the ball out of his hand. If he does a good job with that his confidence level will grow and grow. He's not going to be able to sit back there for three and four seconds and take on the rush and deliver strikes very successfully and if you can't then your confidence goes down hill.
"It's kind of like playing the Pittsburgh Steelers back in my day. You had Plan A and you had Plan B. Plan A was 'everything's working fine, we can go back five steps and hold the ball three seconds'. Plan B was 'hey we better get rid of that ball in two, two-and-a-half seconds because these guys are coming'. That's the way I would try to prepare Jalen. Give him a lot of quick reads, quick throws that he immediately hits and he picks up his confidence and says 'Hey I can do this'."
However, the Crimson Tide is 2-1 and holds its lowest regular season ranking since 2015, a season when Alabama also rode an early quarterback carousel. That team was able to bounce back and eventually won the national championship, but following its example won't be easy as a tough schedule looms and there's no margin for error.
Saban has determined that Milroe will lead the team forward just as Alabama faces the most critical part of its season as SEC play is officially at hand. Should the Crimson Tide find a way to win the SEC West it'l be right back into the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion, despite losing to Texas and haphazardly defeating South Florida.
Hunter left the Alabama faithful with words of encouragement as this year's team can still meet all the expectations set out before them in the offseason, reclaim the national championship after a two-year drought, reestablishing the "Bama Factor".
"This team is in its infancy," he said. "It's being born now. I know a lot of people out there - oh no, the wheels have fell off and Coach Saban this and the quarterbacks that. This team is just being born. I was on a team in 1972 at the turn of the 14-game season in the NFL we were 4-3. 4-3! We won six of the next seven and went 10-4 and won the Central Division championship so this team is just now getting underway."
See Also:
Former Alabama Quarterback Scott Hunter on The Joe Gaither Show
