Jalen Milroe explains what Nick Saban means to him as a coach

To Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, there’s no better coach to play for in college football than Nick Saban. Milroe wrapped up his first season as the Crimson Tide’s starter after leading Alabama to the College Football Playoff, where it fell in a semifinal game to Michigan on Monday.

With his season now over, Milroe reflected on what it has meant to him to have the opportunity to lead this team and play for Saban. He explained how the coach’s belief in him and the rest of the team helped Alabama to reel off 11 straight victories to close the year and reach the CFP.

“Coach means a lot to us,” Milroe explained. “We play even harder knowing that coach has the belief system in us. Just listening to him talk, he talks about how proud he is of this team. We have a lot of things we can be proud of from this season.”

Milroe finished the year 2,718 yards passing, 23 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He was also a big threat on the ground to finish with 468 yards rushing and a team-high 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Alabama had several close calls during the regular season, but Milroe always found a way to get them out of the bind. That included in the final game of the regular season against Auburn when he completed a touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal from the 31-yard line to win the game.

The Crimson Tide then earned a trip to the SEC Championship to face Georgia. Milroe managed 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions as the Crimson Tide won 27-24 to snap a 29-game winning streak for the Bulldogs and punch their ticket to the CFP.

The season unfortunately ended with a 27-20 loss in overtime to the Wolverines as Milroe was held to just 116 yards passing and did not score a single touchdown. It was a heartbreaking end to the year, but it still leaves the Crimson Tide plenty to be proud of.

Jalen Milroe knows that without Nick Saban, that wouldn’t have been possible.

“We could’ve easily lingered and past mistakes could have went in the tank when things weren’t good, but the biggest thing we did was continue to improve,” he said. “Continue to have singular focus in our approach when it came to preparation and when it came to attacking the task at hand. So there’s a lot of things to be proud of, but one thing I am proud of is how much coach Saban harped on his belief system in us.”