Terrion Arnold: Jalen Milroe 'changed our whole season' during players-only meeting after USF game
Following Alabama’s loss to Texas, questions swirled about the quarterback position. Jalen Milroe had an up-and-down performance against the Longhorns, and he wound up on the bench the following game against USF as Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson got the reps.
According to Terrion Arnold, Milroe used that decision to light a fire under his teammates. Suffice to say, it worked.
After Texas beat Alabama 34-24, the Crimson Tide rattled off 11 straight victories to win the SEC Championship over Georgia and return to the College Football Playoff in what turned out to be Nick Saban’s final season. Even though Alabama beat USF 17-9, there were still some questions about whether the program had the answer at quarterback. Saban later announced Milroe would re-take the starting role.
At this week’s NFL Scouting Combine, Arnold confirmed the Alabama players held a meeting. As they spoke, he said Milroe’s speech was a key part of the turnaround.
“After that Texas game, man, you gotta think – [Milroe’s] from Katy, Texas, so that game was very personal to him,” Arnold said. “After that game, man, we went into the whole USF game and we had our struggles. We go through that. After that game, on Sunday, we had a stretch and stride. We called a player-only team meeting. Jalen Milroe got up there and said, ‘Hey, man, we’re saying LANK. We’re preaching LANK – Let All Naysayers Know. But we’re not doing that.’
“He said, ‘How do y’all want to be remembered? How do we want to be remembered?’ And he said, ‘I just got benched, man.’ He said to us. He said, ‘I just got benched. And I’m the type of person, I’m rooting for the next guy who’s ahead of me, man. I want him to go out there and execute.’ He said, we all have to be unselfish and buy into that. And that’s a testament to Jalen Milroe’s character. I mean, the guy’s my best friend, my brother. I love him to death. But that right there, that changed our whole season.”
Milroe finished in the Top 10 of the Heisman Trophy voting as part of his impressive season. He threw for 2,834 yards, ran for 531 yards and totaled 35 touchdowns with both his arm and his legs. Now, he’s entering a new system under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan.
It sounds like Milroe and DeBoer are hitting the ground running. Based on his comments last month, they’re already building a strong relationship.
“It’s been great. It’s been great to have him here with the transition, it’s been big having him here and all that he’s done,” Milroe told reporters. “He’s very personable and he’s bringing good energy to the locker room. So we’re all excited to have him here.”