A negative tweet here. A discouraging post there.
That was all he needed for a historic season.
A lot can be learned from viewing social media, but head coaches in college football warn their student-athletes to not get distracted. Upon opening his mouth, everyone knew external factors never bothered him. He is not heavily influenced by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, etc… In fact, the last post he made on a social site was during fall camp on August 10.
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When it comes to football, three things move him: his coaches, his teammates and winning.
At the end of last season and with Tua Tagovailoa going to the NFL Draft, many fans of the Crimson Tide were truly concerned about who would take over at quarterback. They witnessed Tagovailoa change the perception of Alabama football, as he matured from being the freshman who rescued the school to a national championship to instituting the phrase “joyless murder ball.”
It was a style people never saw before, and fear crept in as a result of the native Hawaiian leaving.
Of course, the Tide had another signal caller on its roster.
He was not as highly recruited as Tagovailoa, but there was something unique about him.
When the right moment came for yours truly of Touchdown Alabama Magazine to have a conversation with three coaches that trained him, all three were angered by the criticism toward their protege. Despite having three pages filled with information, the one statement they all shared with me was he is capable of having a ‘Joe Burrow type of season.’ His accuracy, ball placement and arm strength all earned strong reviews, however, the coaches spoke more on his leadership, toughness, ability to process the game (mentally) and his ‘dog mentality.’
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Regardless of the information presented, most saw him as the quarterback that tossed two pick-sixes in the 2019 Iron Bowl against Auburn.
People viewed him as a player that would send Alabama back to its archaic offense under Nick Saban. It is fun to run the football and play great defense; nevertheless, it’s not a popular scheme when one has seen better.
He dominated A-Day games and had the trust of the team, but the rebuttal from people was “that means nothing, even Jalen Hurts had the ear of the team and he lost to Tagovailoa.” Before we were introduced to the Coronavirus pandemic, Alabama recruited and signed a five-star, dual-threat talent from California. Bryce Young was unbelievable at Mater Dei High School.
He was a state champion, an Elite 11 competitor, and the Most Valuable Player (Offense) at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl among other accolades. Fans fell in love with his highlight tape and game film, and comparisons to Tagovailoa started being crafted because of it. The idea was Young would be the player to continue what Steve Sarkisian was orchestrating offensively, especially when it came to consistently scoring points. Even with COVID and not having spring football, the needle-moving topic was Alabama will not win a national title if Young is not the starter. Most predicted him to win the job in fall camp, while others thought he would take over by midseason. It did not matter if the other signal caller had more experience of the system or if players felt like he gives the team its best chance to win, he was always faced with “No one wants to see him. He is not Tua.”
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He was not Tagovailoa, but Mac Jones knew the value he carried. A native of Jacksonville, Fla., he could have taken the easy route.
If you let his parents tell it, Gordon and Holly Jones would respond with that has never been his style. In an odd, yet special way, Jones is fueled by competition. He came from a small school and won championships, but no one respected his game. He had a scholarship offer from Kentucky and it was mutual respect there, but Jones wanted a challenge. His desire was to be developed, so he came to Alabama in the same top-ranked freshmen class (2017) as Tagovailoa — despite the Tide having an established quarterback in Jalen Hurts.
Jones learned behind both guys, operated the scout-team offense with precision, and took last summer to add nine pounds of muscle to his frame.
After having 1,503 passing yards with 14 touchdowns in 2019, Jones entered fall camp at 6’3″ and 214 pounds.
He looked like a prototypical NFL quarterback, yet the attention was on Young. The masses just could not envision a guy in the same mold as Greg McElroy, AJ McCarron and Jacob Coker leading the Tide to a national championship in today’s college football, regardless of those three each winning a title.
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“He can’t read good defenses.”
“He’s not athletic enough.”
“He cost us the Iron Bowl.”
“Young can take Bama to the next level.”
All of these statements came from fans in moments where Jones’ name was talked about for the starting job. He was arguably the most verbally ridiculed quarterback in Alabama history, but Jones channeled all the energy into having one of the most historic seasons in an unprecedented time. With each matchup, he has dropped jaws, raised eyebrows, made hairs stand up on arms, and has caused a lot of people to admit they were wrong. He has gone from preseason criticism to NFL Draft pundits projecting him a first-rounder for 2021.
He has gone from Alabama cannot win with him to leading an undefeated team at 9-0, and having the Crimson Tide back in the SEC Championship Game. He has gone from being the player that people assumed could not score points consistently to running an offensive attack that’s totaling 49.2 points per game — the most of the Nick Saban era.
Jones is the leader in the Heisman race, he is a semifinalist for multiple national honors, and his individual statistics rank in the top-five nationally among quarterbacks. When it comes to facing elite defenses, he tossed at least four touchdown passes against Georgia, Auburn and LSU.
He accounted for 417 passing yards versus the Bulldogs, and it came at a time when Kirby Smart’s group was one of the top defensive units in the nation. Listed below are some of Jones’ biggest statistical feats in nine games.
Mac Jones’ statistical feats in 2020 at Alabama
-Six games with at least 300 yards (Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU)
-Five games with at least 4 TD passes (Texas A&M, Georgia, Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU)
-Eight games with a total quarterback rating of at least 95
-Seven games with a 70 percent completion rating
-Guided Alabama to eight straight 40-point games, including two 60-point finishes
-Has the Tide’s offense at Nos. 3 and 4 nationally for scoring and total offense.
Jones is the fifth quarterback under Saban to have 3,000 passing yards. His output of 3,113 yards joins McCarron, Coker, Tagovailoa and Blake Sims on the list. He has 4,739 career passing yards and 42 touchdowns, which places him at Nos. 10 and 5 all-time respectively for Tide signal callers. If one looks at this season, his amount of yards and touchdowns (27) rank at Nos. 3 and 6 for single-season excellence in school history. Jones is performing this level of greatness with a conference-only schedule, having players around him test positive for COVID, not having a wide receivers’ coach (Holman Wiggins) last week, having an offensive coordinator that had open heart surgery, and Saban not being on the sideline for the Iron Bowl (COVID symptoms).
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Alabama has not needed Young and while his time will come, many people owe Jones an apology. If he would have transferred prior to the season, the Tide would not be on a push for a national title.
He has been unbelievable, and those who did not see it coming have to admit it. His focus is on taking care of Arkansas and advancing Alabama to the College Football Playoff, but Jones was the quarterback the Tide needed the whole time.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
