Junior Colson on former position coach joining Alabama ahead of Rose Bowl: 'Just different'
The Michigan Wolverines have a former friend on the other end of the matchup with Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day after the Crimson Tide hired George Helow as an assistant last week. Helow spent the 2021-22 seasons at Michigan, which raised some eyebrows about the timing.
Helow, who got his start with Alabama as an intern in 2012, and Michigan parted ways this past winter after the program hired Chris Partridge in an undisclosed role. After Helow left the program, Partridge took over officially as linebackers coach.
“George [Helow] has been here before. He was with us for a long time and he knows our system,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said on Monday. “I think every year that we’ve been in the playoffs, we’ve tried to bring somebody in primarily because we spent two weeks really on the road recruiting. So, it’s somebody to do a little extra work that has a good experience.”
Third-year backer Junior Colson was asked about the Helow move to Alabama on Monday afternoon, and admitted he was taken aback by it, but not in the way some may think.
“Mike [Barrett] sent it to me, then Ernest [Hausmann]. But just different. Just different,” Colson said, smiling. “It’s like, they might be a little scared, you never know. But he’s got a job, I’m happy for him. So, I’m excited for him. I’m happy — I’ll probably say what’s up to him after the game. So you just gotta go out there and play ball.”
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Some have questioned whether or not Helow joining Alabama would give them a competitive advantage over Michigan given his experience and knowledge of the program’s operations. To that, Colson says bring it on.
“You can’t really have an advantage in football,” Colson said. “It doesn’t matter if you know somebody’s whole playbook, you’ve still gotta stop it. So you can’t really have an advantage in football. You’ve gotta go out there, play ball, and let the dice roll how it rolls.”
Partridge wound up being fired prior to the Maryland game due to reportedly interfering in the NCAA’s investigation into Michigan, which Colson said was a big hit to the linebacker room. However, plenty of knowledge has been gained from Rick Minter, Partridge’s interim successor.
“It was difficult,” Colson said. “It was difficult. I built such a bond with him, you know, so losing him halfway through the season was hard. But I know what he would want me to do, which is just keep playing ball, so that’s what I’ve been doing. And coach Minter, he’s coached so long. He knows so much about football. You know, he’s a great guy to have in here, a great guy to learn from, so just always learning and always growing.”
