Alabama QBs in 2024

[BamaSully]

Not true. He was more than likely the best of the worst. None of the quarterbacks going into the season were very good or prepared to play on a high level. Sure, we got "glimpses" of Simpson, but I'm certain the more he played, we would have seen his warts as well. Our quarterbacks were severely unprepared to play on an SEC level going into the season. The coaching job done by Saban and Rees was award worthy.

Touche. I see your point.

 

[BamaSully]

An attitude adjustment doesn't fix certain types of flaws that a player has wrt the mental side of the game. I'm glad it fixed your golf game, but that is very rare across the spectrum of sports. The mental side of the game is the most frustrating aspect of most sports and the hardest to fix in most cases. Physical flaws have concrete solutions such as drills, but mental flaws/blocks do not. It is a mystery as to what corrects mental flaws/blocks in players and the solutions are nowhere near as concrete as solutions to physical/mechanical flaws.

All true but still doesn’t mean CKD can’t get in JM’s head and bring out a much better version that we haven’t seen before.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

All true but still doesn’t mean CKD can’t get in JM’s head and bring out a much better version that we haven’t seen before.

That's what we're hoping, trust me! But many people on this board played competitive sports for a large portion of their lives and KNOW how hard it is to fix something that roots between the ears. It is very, very hard. I've coached and still coach kids who struggle with a mental aspect of the game and my staff does everything under the sun to help the kid, and it doesn't work. I told one of my coaches the other day that if I could find the answer to fix "between the ears" issues, I'd bottle it and be a billionaire. I can fix a physical fundamental flaw in almost any player. It's the mental part that is hard.

 

[TiderJack]

This simply is not true. The mental part of almost any sport is the hardest. I can attest the mental aspects of baseball (especially baseball), football, and basketball are harder than the physical. You can rep a physical flaw out of your game, but it is exponentially harder to do the same with a mental flaw of the game.

My point was it is much easier to coach the mental part of the game than the physical part. Our college baseball team scorekeeper knew everything about the game even to the point he would tell others how to do certain things like relays, pick-off plays, bunt coverages but he could not hit, throw or catch a baseball.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

My point was it is much easier to coach the mental part of the game than the physical part. Our college baseball team scorekeeper knew everything about the game even to the point he would tell others how to do certain things like relays, pick-off plays, bunt coverages but he could not hit, throw or catch a baseball.

I think the you all are talking about 2 different things. I think they are talking about things like footwork while you are talking about born with physical tools. I could be wrong here but I think that's where the disconnect is.

 

[TiderJack]

I think the you all are talking about 2 different things. I think they are talking about things like footwork while you are talking about born with physical tools. I could be wrong here but I think that's where the disconnect is.

You may be right. I will stop since it really does not matter and we are not going to agree.

 

[davefrat]

That's what we're hoping, trust me! But many people on this board played competitive sports for a large portion of their lives and KNOW how hard it is to fix something that roots between the ears. It is very, very hard. I've coached and still coach kids who struggle with a mental aspect of the game and my staff does everything under the sun to help the kid, and it doesn't work. I told one of my coaches the other day that if I could find the answer to fix "between the ears" issues, I'd bottle it and be a billionaire. I can fix a physical fundamental flaw in almost any player. It's the mental part that is hard.

With all due respect, how many people posting here played or coached sports at any where near the level similar to the coaches and players at a program like Alabama?

I played soccer and tennis in high school, and I was pretty darn good, even finished 3rd in the state in my group in tennis. I played men's club soccer (not intramurals but the actual university-funded men's club program that traveled to other universities for games and so on) at the university level. I also have a coaching license in soccer and coached at the high school level.

I can watch a soccer game and a tennis match and see things that the vast majority of the general public doesn't see. But my experience as a competitive high school player, collegiate club player and high school coach does not make me any kind of expert on anything relating to playing or coaching at an elite university level such as what exists at a school like Alabama.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the vast majority of people posting stuff about the intricacies of playing and coaching the QB position at an SEC level are more similarly situated to me than a Jalen Milroe or Coach DeBoer.

I go to my son's high school soccer games and my wife (who was a scholarship soccer player at Alabama back in the 1990's) and I are simply appalled at the stuff a lot of the parents (and even the coaches at times) say during the games. Many of them act like they're Pep Guardiola when in reality most of them wouldn't know him if they ran him over in the parking lot and know as much about soccer as I know about quantum physics.

 

[BamaSully]

That's what we're hoping, trust me! But many people on this board played competitive sports for a large portion of their lives and KNOW how hard it is to fix something that roots between the ears. It is very, very hard. I've coached and still coach kids who struggle with a mental aspect of the game and my staff does everything under the sun to help the kid, and it doesn't work. I told one of my coaches the other day that if I could find the answer to fix "between the ears" issues, I'd bottle it and be a billionaire. I can fix a physical fundamental flaw in almost any player. It's the mental part that is hard.

Are you available to work with me on my swing?

 

[gtgilbert]

My point was it is much easier to coach the mental part of the game than the physical part. Our college baseball team scorekeeper knew everything about the game even to the point he would tell others how to do certain things like relays, pick-off plays, bunt coverages but he could not hit, throw or catch a baseball.

but telling someone how to do all those things is way different from someone being able to take being told and then actually doing it in a situation where they're having to read and react to the other team. I can tell a bunch of lacrosse players how we are going to run a certain set, what they need to be looking at in each scenario to inform their decisions/actions etc, show them film of others running it, draw it up on the whiteboard or in an app, then create drills that simulate what they are going to see and how to react. All these guys can throw and catch, protect the ball and run, etc. Some of the guys can run it right after they see it once, but some of them take a lot longer to 'figure it out' and actually do it. Some, frankly, never completely get it no matter what we try to do and a lot of that goes back to the visual cortex processing and field and depth of vision, which aren't super trainable or coachable. I've had a couple guys who totally got everything on the whiteboard on doing install then be the ones least able to actually process all of it and do it on the field even though at least one of them was one of our higher individually capable skills guys. Again, it's just not universal - different athletes have different floors, ceilings, ability to absorb, ability to recall and execute and abilities to process the inputs.

Also, baseball is extremely low on the complexity of what players have to process, react and adapt to relative to football, especially at the QB position. It's not really even in the same universe.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

With all due respect, how many people posting here played or coached sports at any where near the level similar to the coaches and players at a program like Alabama?

With all due respect to you, I played college baseball and have been a part of sports my entire life. Outside of talent level, speed of the game, and competition level, there are aspects of the game in all sports that don't change regardless of level of play or age. The fundamentals of youth football still apply on the D-1 and NFL levels. There are pillars of the game that do not change and are still taught and emphasized on all levels. If you don't believe me, go ask a coach or former player on those levels.

I have several friends who played professional baseball, three made it to the show and spent several years in the league (one pitched in and won a WS ring with the Marlins). They all will tell you, the fundamentals of the game they were taught at 9-10 they still work on at the professional level. The same problems they encounter at the professional level fall into the same category they did on the youth level. It is just harder to fix because you're facing a much higher level of talent and competition. The fundamentals of all sports do not change just because the level of play changes.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

All true but still doesn’t mean CKD can’t get in JM’s head and bring out a much better version that we haven’t seen before.

No one is saying he can't. What people are saying is those types of "fixes" are very hard and a lot of times don't get fixed. That's all people are saying. I have no idea if some on here ever touched a field but by some of the comments about this topic, people have no idea how sports actually work. Some of the comments lead me to believe there is a lack of experience in playing organized sports.

Trust me, I would love nothing more than for CKD to bring out the best in Milroe and have him get to the point where we're not having to grossly simplify the offense because he can't process the game fast enough or make the proper pre and post snap reads. Milroe doesn't have any enemies on here. I just think many on here don't realize how hard it is to fix the issues he has at this stage of a career.

 

[davefrat]

With all due respect to you, I played college baseball and have been a part of sports my entire life. Outside of talent level, speed of the game, and competition level, there are aspects of the game in all sports that don't change regardless of level of play or age. The fundamentals of youth football still apply on the D-1 and NFL levels. There are pillars of the game that do not change and are still taught and emphasized on all levels. If you don't believe me, go ask a coach or former player on those levels.

I have several friends who played professional baseball, three made it to the show and spent several years in the league (one pitched in and won a WS ring with the Marlins). They all will tell you, the fundamentals of the game they were taught at 9-10 they still work on at the professional level. The same problems they encounter at the professional level fall into the same category they did on the youth level. It is just harder to fix because you're facing a much higher level of talent and competition. The fundamentals of all sports do not change just because the level of play changes.

I accept your stated credentials for what they are.

What about the multitudes of other people on here talking mechanics, development, coaching and all that stuff.

Fundamentals may stay the same, but the ability to execute and coach them is what I'm talking about.

I know the fundamentals of soccer and tennis, but I'm not going to claim to know as much as a major D1 player or coach in those sports.

Moreover, I suspect there's a lot more than basic-level fundamentals in terms of reading defenses and stuff like that for a QB at the SEC level and developing players to do that kind of stuff.

 

[TiderJack]

The fundamentals of all sports do not change just because the level of play changes.

I agree but how you are coached and who coaches you fundamentals is critical. I played little league with some good parent coaches and I was coached by the greatest HS coach ever in Alabama IMO and when I showed up as a freshman I knew as much fundamentals and rules of the game as most of the seniors and definitely more than the other freshmen who were from different states and high school programs. The fundamentals do not change but how and who you learn from is huge.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I know more than everyone in the world so...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I accept your stated credentials for what they are.

What about the multitudes of other people on here talking mechanics, development, coaching and all that stuff.

Fundamentals may stay the same, but the ability to execute and coach them is what I'm talking about.

I know the fundamentals of soccer and tennis, but I'm not going to claim to know as much as a major D1 player or coach in those sports.

Moreover, I suspect there's a lot more than basic-level fundamentals in terms of reading defenses and stuff like that for a QB at the SEC level.

Correct, and this is the mental part that I'm talking about that is very hard to fix. Athletes like Milroe have all the physical tools to execute every play in football. He is so good physically that even with his bad mechanics, he can still physically make plays. However, his issue (as with many others) is processing the mental side of the game correctly and on time so that his physical traits can execute the plays. Physical execution and mental execution are two completely different animals.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I agree but how you are coached and who coaches you fundamentals is critical. I played little league with some good parent coaches and I was coached by the greatest HS coach ever in Alabama IMO and when I showed up as a freshman I knew as much fundamentals and rules of the game as most of the seniors and definitely more than the other freshmen who were from different states and high school programs. The fundamentals do not change but how and who you learn from is huge.

Agreed on the coaching side, and I hope CKD can develop Milroe into being able to execute the mental side of the game to match his elite physical talent. No one (or at least I'm not) is saying he can't. I'm just saying correcting it isn't the same as correcting a mechanical flaw. It isn't anywhere as easy. You can rep a mechanical flaw into muscle memory within three to four weeks. That isn't the case with the mental side of the game. That part is more complex and much harder to fix.

 

[davefrat]

Correct, and this is the mental part that I'm talking about that is very hard to fix. Athletes like Milroe have all the physical tools to execute every play in football. He is so good physically that even with his bad mechanics, he can still physically make plays. However, his issue (as with many others) is processing the mental side of the game correctly and on time so that his physical traits can execute the plays. Physical execution and mental execution are two completely different animals.

It would be interesting to know what the staff's thoughts were on Milroe as a recruit.

Did they see him as needing tons of development in those areas, or did they simply flop on evaluating him.

It wouldn't surprise me if Milroe, like many superior athletes at the high school level, simply dominated his opponents on physical ability alone.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

My point was it is much easier to coach the mental part of the game than the physical part. Our college baseball team scorekeeper knew everything about the game even to the point he would tell others how to do certain things like relays, pick-off plays, bunt coverages but he could not hit, throw or catch a baseball.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I've never heard anyone say it was easier to coach the mental side of the game than the physical. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone affiliated with sports say that.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

It would be interesting to know what the staff's thoughts were on Milroe as a recruit.

Did they see him as needing tons of development in those areas, or did they simply flop on evaluating him.

It wouldn't surprise me if Milroe, like many superior athletes at the high school level, simply dominated his opponents on physical ability alone.

My guess is his youth and HS coaches played him off talent alone and didn't do their jobs of properly developing him. That is my uninformed opinion, seeing I do not know that as fact. But he has every physical tool to be a dominant QB. It just appears he was never coached the mental side of the game and yes, he more than likely played the majority of his career on talent alone. If this is true, SHAME ON his previous coaches.

 

[TD7]

With all due respect, how many people posting here played or coached sports at any where near the level similar to the coaches and players at a program like Alabama?

I played soccer and tennis in high school, and I was pretty darn good, even finished 3rd in the state in my group in tennis. I played men's club soccer (not intramurals but the actual university-funded men's club program that traveled to other universities for games and so on) at the university level. I also have a coaching license in soccer and coached at the high school level.

I can watch a soccer game and a tennis match and see things that the vast majority of the general public doesn't see. But my experience as a competitive high school player, collegiate club player and high school coach does not make me any kind of expert on anything relating to playing or coaching at an elite university level such as what exists at a school like Alabama.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the vast majority of people posting stuff about the intricacies of playing and coaching the QB position at an SEC level are more similarly situated to me than a Jalen Milroe or Coach DeBoer.

I go to my son's high school soccer games and my wife (who was a scholarship soccer player at Alabama back in the 1990's) and I are simply appalled at the stuff a lot of the parents (and even the coaches at times) say during the games. Many of them act like they're Pep Guardiola when in reality most of them wouldn't know him if they ran him over in the parking lot and know as much about soccer as I know about quantum physics.

I played college football and coached in high school for a number of years. My son was a starting D1 wide receiver who just graduated, and both of my older brothers were starting D1 quarterbacks. I guess I know a little bit. I'll clue you in on something. Just because some of these posters on this board didn't play major college football doesn't mean they don't know anything about the sport of football or the basic fundamentals of how a position works.