The Alabama Crimson Tide sneaked into the College Football Playoff thanks to a win against the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship. Former Alabama star Jalen Hurts seems to believe that a big reason for their recent success has come from the improvements of quarterback Jalen Milroe throughout the season.
Milroe battles his fair share of adversity this year, being benched briefly early on in the year after an early season loss to the Texas Longhorns where he struggled heavily.
The benching didn’t last long. He was quickly able to regain the starting job and hasn’t looked back since. His improvements throughout the year played a big role in Alabama rattling off ten straight wins.
His recent stretch of impressive play has seemingly caught the attention of Jalen Hurts, who praised him while talking to the media during a press conference on Wednesday.
“He’s had a great year,” Hurts said of Milroe. “He’s always been a very special player. He’s a Texas kid. And he’s just continued to grow and grow and grow and it’s been really, really nice to watch. So I’ve been supporting him from a distance, and I’m happy to see him getting into the Final Four. I’m happy to see him have the opportunity to lead his team and hopefully get a national title, so all my support goes to him.”
If anyone knows about the ups and downs that come with being the starting quarterback at Alabama, it is Jalen Hurts. Hurts was the starter for Alabama in 2016 and 2017, only to lose his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa in 2018.
This of course prompted Hurts to transfer to Oklahoma for the 2019 season, which he parlayed into his success in the NFL with the Eagles.
Hurts’ story at Alabama is actually a pretty great example for a player like Milroe to follow. And Milroe will look to write his own story, which begins with a CFP semifinal matchup against Michigan on New Year’s Day.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.