Kalen DeBoer vouches for Jalen Milroe's 4 a.m. arrivals at Alabama facility

Former Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold revealed at the NFL Scouting Combine that he and quarterback Jalen Milroe had a “Kobe Bryant competition” last year to try to beat each other to the facility. Arnold said he would get to the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility at 5 a.m. before the team’s workouts at 6:30 a.m., only to find Milroe had been there since 3:30 a.m.

“I love the game of football, but I need sleep,” Arnold joked.

Could it have been a case of Arnold exaggerating? Kalen DeBoer vouched for Milroe, saying he is at the Crimson Tide’s complext off of Bryant Drive by “at least” 4 a.m. every day.

“Yeah, that’s pretty consistent,” said DeBoer in an appearance on The Audible with Stew & Bruce. “Shoot, there might have been a couple days early on when I first got there where I might have even just missed him when I was leaving and he was coming in. There was a little bit of that going on the first couple weeks especially.

“You can’t beat him in. We do get strength staff that will get there around that time, and they’re with him, as well. The guy’s taking advantage of every minute in the day, and you love guys that want it that bad to where they’ll make those sacrifices and the commitments at that level.”

After leading the 2023 team to an SEC championship and College Football Playoff berth, Milroe is back and opened spring practice last Monday as the first-team quarterback. He has the most experience of the four signal-callers on Alabama’s roster after throwing for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns in 13 games last year. But is still looking to improve his game.

Much like last season, Milroe said after the team’s third spring practice that he is “not a finished product” and is constantly striving to improve, and his new head coach has noticed that and has been impressed with the returning starter as he learns a new offensive system.

“What you see is a guy who is hungry, is looking for just more things to be coached up on,” DeBoer said. “He’s been great just listening, trying the things that are little tweaks here and there that we think he can improve on, open to. Now, I think this would probably be at least his third offense or different version of a coordinator and kind of what we’re doing. 

“He’s open to kind of relearning. He was as quick as anyone with understanding some of the base concepts when we were installing them, and that wasn’t just coming through the moments in the meeting room. That was coming because he was putting the preparation and work in when he walked out of the facility, as well.”

Milroe finished the 2023 season ranked second in the SEC in both yards per attempt (10.0) and passer rating (172.17) and finished among the top five in the nation in both categories – he was third in yards per attempt and fifth in passer rating among all FBS quarterbacks.

The now-redshirt junior also rushed for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns on 161 attempts, and his 12 scores on the ground were the sixth-most in the SEC. He was one of seven players in the league with double-digit rushing touchdowns and had the most for a quarterback.

“Physically, he’s got tools both with his arm and his legs,” DeBoer said. “That showed up already in the first three practices, whether it’s making throws down the field or throwing with some zip from one to the opposite sideline. And then just his mobility, whether it’s keeping plays alive or really like hitting home runs where he escapes or maybe even a designed quarterback run. 

“He’s just got a lot of tools that are gonna be fun to be a part of, and now, it’s just keeping him healthy, keeping him upright, continuing to grow in the offense. Him building that trust in the people that are around him, whether it’s the offensive line or the receivers. He’s doing a great job through three practices, for sure.”

With a new coaching staff, competition is at every position, and quarterback is no different. But it’s apparent to DeBoer and company that Milroe is putting in the necessary work.

“He’s just all in,” DeBoer said. “You talk about being in the present, take advantage of the moment, he’s doing exactly that. He’s not doing it to say look at me or anything like that, but our team recognizes how important this is to him and how important the team is to him, as well.”

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