How Tommy Rees and Alabama's Offense Have Grown Over the Season

LOS ANGELES — It didn't take a rocket scientist to come to the conclusion that the Alabama offense wouldn't be entirely polished as the 2023 season began.

The Crimson Tide was replacing a whole lot on the offensive end, including offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young, and top-15 NFL Draft pick Jahmyr Gibbs.

New faces typically means growing pains in college football, and Alabama experienced a plethora of them.

The Crimson Tide lost in Week 2 at home to Texas, largely due to the two interceptions that gave the Longhorns a massive field position advantage down the stretch. Starting quarterback Jalen Milroe was benched in Week 3, and the Crimson Tide struggled to score points against South Florida, a non-Power Five school.

Alabama was near the top of the nation in sacks allowed, had an unsettled quarterback situation, and had already suffered a loss before mid-September.

"Obviously we had a relatively young offense and new faces, trying to figure out who we were," Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. "A lot of the credit goes to the staff that we have, they've worked tirelessly to continue to improve our roster, to continue to make our players better. Our players have continued to work to get to what they've become."

The Crimson Tide offense now ranks No. 17 in scoring offense at 35.1 points per game, No. 15 in 3rd down conversion rate at 46.7 percent, No. 5 in passing yards per completion, and overall has improved tremendously across the board from quarterback play, to offensive line play, to overall balance.

"I think each week we're kind of able to stack things on top of each other and add wrinkles offensively and really expand on the system that was in place," Rees said. "It takes a whole effort from a lot of people, we have a tremendous staff that have worked really hard and bought in to what we're trying to do."

Rees said that early-season struggles truly helped mold this group into what they have become today.

"Everybody kind of just kept going. There were some hard times, and that's a part of this game, but ultimately we've become better for it," Rees said. "Our players kept working, never really dipped in their belief of what we could become, and without that adversity I don't think we're in the spot we're in now."

The players continued to grow in all facets over the course of the season. Milroe went from being benched to finishing top-10 in Heisman Trophy voting and winning MVP of the SEC Championship Game. The offensive line went from allowing sack after sack to blowing Georgia defenders off the ball by the end of the season. Alabama's receivers emerged as true outside threats that had their skillsets fully utilized.

"Coach Rees, I love him, great coach. He's definitely schemed up our offense to definitely have its strengths," Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond said. "I've liked what he's doing with the offense, so I can't have any complaints."

For Milroe, one of the greatest benefits of Rees' tutelage came from the fact that Rees himself is a former quarterback.

"It's been really great, especially with who he is, with his background. He's the first offensive coordinator I've had that played the quarterback position. So I see football through the lenses of him," Milroe said. "Experience is the best teacher. Playing at a high level, there's a lot of information he has from playing the position. For me, I just try to be a sponge for all the information. He has a lot of things that he's been through, and the biggest thing I can do is learn from him."

One of the biggest points of emphasis for Rees and the offense as the season progressed was molding the offense to fit the strengths of Milroe in order to give them the best chance to be successful.

"I think when we made the decision after USF, of 'hey we're going to build things around what we do really well, build it around Jalen,' that took a couple weeks to transpire," Rees said.

Rees mentioned the Texas A&M game, Milroe's highest passing output of the season, and the LSU game, Milroe's highest rushing output of the season, as two points where the offense was able to find and exploit matchups to put the entire offense in the position to succeed.

Over the final month of the season, the offense executed at an extremely high level, and that didn't go unnoticed by Alabama's opposition in the Rose Bowl: Michigan.

As they've gone, tailored the offense to his skill set, his ability to throw the ball downfield, his ability to make those plays, his ability to get involved in the run game, I think in key moments this year they get him involved in the run game when they need to, and that's their ability to create an extra hat in the run game," Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said. "It shows up in big moments and big games."

Minter continued to cite a major decrease in Alabama's tendency to turn the ball over down the stretch of the season as a major area of improvement for both the offense, and Milroe specifically.

"I know it's like 28 to 1 over the last — his touchdown-interception ratio recently, so he's done a great job taking care of the ball," Minter said. "They've run the ball well. They've helped their O-line a little bit more in certain situations. Yeah, just done a great job getting better as an offense, which is what you want to do. You want to get better as the year goes. I think they're a test of that, and they've peaked at the right time and played really well against Georgia when it mattered most."

While Minter may be complimentary of Rees' unit ahead of the game, Minter's own unit will be one of the best Alabama has faced to this point all season.

Michigan ranks No. 1 in multiple major defensive categories, and hasn't allowed more than 24 points in a game all season long. The progression of Alabama's offense has brought it incredibly far, but this hurdle is one that will truly test its growth and evolution.