Jalen Milroe shares Nick Saban memory after Iron Bowl win

Nick Saban and Jalen Milroe certainly had their share of bumps in the road during the latter’s first season as the Alabama starting quarterback. But through it all, the duo were keenly aware their success in 2023 was dependent on growing and improving each week —  they needed to stay the course.

And all that growth culminated in what turned into Milroe’s favorite moment with the now-retired Saban, shortly after Milroe delivered a miraculous, last-second touchdown pass to give Alabama a win in the Iron Bowl over bitter rival Auburn. After the initial furor, Milroe wanted to seek out his head coach.

“So I get off the field, to head off, and I’m trying to find coach Saban, trying to figure out where he’s at,” Milroe said in an interview with Adam Breneman. “And we was like, he was like, ‘So, what was that?’ I was like, ‘Coach, I don’t know, I just executed the play.’ So he had a stern face, like red as can be, like looking at me, staring into my soul. I’m thinking I did something, I got in trouble. I’ve never seen him look at me that way. He stared in my soul, mad. I just froze. And he started smiling and give me a big ‘ole hug. That was my favorite moment. I was just like, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s finna go down.’ And then he just smiled and gave me a big hug.”

It’s a postgame moment reminiscent of another one Saban shared with one of his quarterbacks after a different massive win.

Following Alabama’s walkoff, overtime national championship win over Georgia in the 2018 title game, then-freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa joked with Saban after the game that the sack he took on the play preceding his touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith was to give himself more room for the pass. Though this time, Saban put the shoe on the other foot, giving Milroe a moment where he wondered if he was in hot water.

“Coach Saban never smiles during a game,” Milroe said. “It don’t matter much we beating an opponent, he’s always the same guy the whole game. And you’ve seen clips, we’re up however much in the game and he’s still yelling, coaching, stuff like that. So you never see Coach Saban smile during the game. And if he does, it’s quick. So for me, being a junior that season, my third year in college and seeing him smile during the game, I was like ‘Woah, that’s crazy.’ That was probably my favorite moment, sharing that moment with him.”