Nick Saban's message to Alabama QBs: 'Force us to play you'
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Asked once again about Alabama’s quarterback competition, only this time about the communication between coaches and players, head coach Nick Saban shared a message for the trio of signal-callers battling for the starting spot for the Crimson Tide.
“What I tell the quarterbacks is it’s not up to the coaches,” Saban said after Tuesday’s practice. “If you’re looking over your shoulder to see if a coach is gonna do this or that – how about you force me to play you, force us to play you? When you get your reps and you get a chance to play, you play so good we don’t have any choice but to play you, rather than worrying about all this other stuff.”
Three players are currently competing for Alabama’s starting quarterback position as the start of the 2023 season inches closer. Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner are the Tide’s three contenders behind center, and Saban said they all received reps in the team’s first of two closed scrimmages this past weekend but did not share any of their stats or further thoughts.
Alabama will kick off its 2023 campaign against Middle Tennessee in 18 days and one of Milroe, Simpson or Buchner will trot out for the first snap inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. But that will not signal the end of this competition, Saban said earlier in camp of the highly-debated battle.
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“I told our quarterbacks, ‘Fall camp is not the beginning of the end,’” said Saban at Alabama’s Media Day. “‘You’ve got an opportunity to separate yourself, to show that you can play with consistency and play winning football at the position.’ But that competition goes on and on and on, and we need all of the quarterbacks to continue to improve and continue to compete, compete even far beyond the time that we name a starter.
“I mean, we’ve had circumstances around here where quarterbacks have changed during the course of the year. You know what they are, you understand the history of what’s happened at this place. So that’s going to be the way this situation is. Somebody needs to separate themselves, and then I want all the players to continue to compete so they can improve so that if they do get an opportunity to play, they’re going to be ready to play and play well.”
Alabama will return to the field Wednesday, Aug. 16, for its final night practice (7:30 p.m.).
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