Robert Gillespie Details Philosophy on Jam Miller, Justice Haynes Splitting Snaps

Alabama running backs coach Robert Gillespie explains why both the explosive and short carries from Jam Miller and Justice Haynes are important.

Alabama running backs Justice Haynes and Jam Miller /

The 1-2 punch at running back has been a tool that the Alabama Crimson Tide has utilized several times over the past couple of decades. Some examples include Mark Ingram sharing with Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy with T.J. Yeldon and Bo Scarbrough sharing time with Damien Harris. Each of these players won at least one national championship when splitting a backfield.

Fast forward to today, it appears that the Crimson Tide have yet another 1-2 punch emerging in the backfield between Jam Miller and Justice Haynes. In the season opener against Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers weren't able to shut down these two as in a small sample size of nine combined carries, they totaled 156 yards and two touchdowns. Each of their touchdowns were their longest runs of the night as Miller scored from 35 yards out and Haynes broke free and went 85 yards to the house.

On Wednesday, Alabama running backs coach Robert Gillespie spoke on his position room's performance as a unit against WKU, stating they "made the most of the opportunity" in all facets of the run game, including blocking. But now, Gillespie has turned the page from last week, as the Crimson Tide will host South Florida on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Ahead of the rematch, Gillespie detailed that splitting the snaps isn't necessarily his ultimate game plan, despite Miller and Haynes each tallying 15-20 snaps apiece last week.

"It doesn't matter who starts or who goes out there first," Gillespie said. "It's about whoever gets hot and is making the plays, that's the guy who will play more and I think they know that. It's all about winning and that's why you have those [national championship years] on the [facility's] wall. It's about depth and having the next guy ready to play. I try to see whoever's in a flow and those guys will continue to play."

Gillespie is one of the very few members of last year's staff retained by new head coach Kalen DeBoer, who was hired from Washington 48 hours after legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement on Jan. 10. Gillespie has been with the Crimson Tide since 2021 and explained that he's been using this same philosophy throughout his tenure.

"It's the same thing I've been doing three to four years," Gillespie said. "If you have a talented room, you've got to let those guys play a bit and let them get flowing because it's a long season. We're trying to play 16-17 games. It's not about keeping someone happy, it's about playing the best guy that helps us win."

While some of Miller and Haynes' runs against the Hilltoppers were explosive, a decent chunk of their carries were short gains. Gillespie detailed why each of these types of runs are important, starting before the ball is even snapped.

"You have to go into games with a mindset of 'get my alignment, get my pre-snap read and when I get the ball I just have to react,'" Gillespie said. "Obviously, we want to pound it and do the things we have to do to get the nasty 3-4-yard gains. Then when the opportunity comes to become explosive and get 1-on-1 in space, we got to make a guy miss then we have to have breakaway speed."

"I think that both of those guys show that they do have the speed, but there were also some tough and physical runs where when the offensive line gives us half a man, we got to get the pads low."

Gillespie's conclusion: to be a great running back at Alabama, you have to excel at both of these types of gains, and Miller and Haynes are off to a great start in these areas.