Alabama QB Jalen Milroe Looking Ahead to 2024 Season

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe foresees a season of growth in 2024.

Jalen Milroe takes questions at SEC Media Days. / Southeastern Conference

DALLAS— One of the players who stuck with Alabama and new coach Kalen DeBoer was none other than standout quarterback Jalen Milroe. From the moment he shouted, "I'm staying!" to a crowd of onlookers outside the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility in Tuscaloosa on January 12, he's been all in leading up to the start of the season against Western Kentucky on August 31.

"These guys have just been special from the beginning," DeBoer said in Dallas on Wednesday of the players he brought with him to SEC Media Days: Milroe, Tyler Booker and Malachi Moore. "Probably three of the guys that when I really look at it and all the craziness with the transition and coming into the program myself, three of the guys that just never wavered from the beginning." Indeed, the landscape almost couldn't be more different in many ways than it was when Milroe arrived back in 2021.

Milroe had a memorable 2023 season, with its share of ups and downs, and enters the fall of 2024 as the presumptive starting quarterback, a position that was his last year, save for one game: an ugly 17-3 road win against South Florida quarterbacked by Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson. From then on, Milroe steadily improved, and Alabama won the SEC Championship Game against Georgia and made the College Football Playoff, falling short to eventual national champion Michigan on the final play of overtime in the Rose Bowl. Milroe finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting and helped orchestrate a slew of moments, including an Iron Bowl game-winner on 4th & 31 inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. By all accounts, he was a much better player at season's end.

"There are a lot of things that you can reflect on from past seasons and number one for us was last year. We were blessed and fortunate to be in the college playoffs, one game away," said Milroe. "What burn do you need more than being that close to the championship? And so for us, we're passionate about each other and also passionate about achieving short-term goals and long-term goals in this process. We shared the same experience from Coach DeBoer with failing to achieve a national championship so now it's about refocusing and focusing on our spring 2024 football season."

He finished with 2,834 passing yards and 531 rushing yards, accounting for 35 all-purpose touchdowns. Booker, who leaned on Milroe during the transition between Nick Saban and DeBoer, said he expects a great season from his quarterback. "As for the offensive line, we're going to give him the time he needs, the holes he needs and whatever he needs in order to be great and do his job to the highest of his abilities."

Saban, whose sudden retirement in mid-January after 17 seasons at the helm in Tuscaloosa brought about the hiring of DeBoer and subsequent transition, said Milroe's pocket presence improved in 2023, as did his decision making and processing. Milroe excitedly greeted Saban moments after being interviewed on Wednesday.

"He’s got great ability with his feet as well as all the throws," Saban said on SEC Now. "I think he’s going to have a great year this year. The one thing about Jalen Milroe that a lot of these other quarterbacks can’t do is make you play different on defense.”

DeBoer had similarly high praise for the dynamic signal caller, who is a potential Heisman candidate in the fall. There's no doubt that the buy-in on Milroe's end from day one onwards was instrumental in DeBoer finding his footing as he takes on the unenviable task of following Saban. Six months on, DeBoer was also quick to note not only Milroe's accountability, but also his positivity. "He [Milroe] does a great job of balancing that," he said. "I think he's grown in a lot of ways when it comes to that area."

"He's got a skill set that is special. With his arm, he can make you pay, and he can make the throws, and I think he's continued to grow in that area, building confidence in himself, just tirelessly working with the receiving corps, actually all the skill players," DeBoer said, adding that Milroe has been working on expanding his game. "He just dives into it. There's no one that's going to beat him into the football facility from the players' vantage point. He's there 4:30, 5:00 for sure, every single day. I know there's guys that have tried to beat him into the facility, and they can't."

DeBoer has had great success with quarterbacks, notably 2023 Heisman runner-up Michael Penix Jr. DeBoer and Penix, an eventual top-10 draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons, worked together both at Washington and Indiana. One of Penix's great strengths was accuracy, something Milroe wants to improve on from the intermediate standpoint. Milroe is one of the best deep-ball throwers in the nation, with sheer arm strength rivaled by very few. He's also part of a conference that includes other quarterbacks that are among the nation's elite, including but not limited to Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers.

Milroe, who remains focused on the mental aspect of football, still hopes to use the opportunity of the upcoming season to continue to get better. He described mental strength as a must-have to be successful, and he ultimately wants to be the best quarterback in the entire country. "You might not realize it until you hit a tough moment on your journey," he said. "It's all about being around the right people that uplift you and also being around people that want to see the best from you and in you. That's all what it came down to."

"I think it's the same [mindset], being the best version of myself, being the best quarterback in the country, learning, growing as a player, seeking all information from my coaching staff, being a student of the game," Milroe said. "Each and every day that you have the opportunity to play the game of football, seize it. Try to do what's best for the football team in a sense. So I say, you know, for me, and my development, it's all about getting better... it's all about attacking the task at hand which is being the best version of myself."