Over the past four years, Alabama has gone through a well-documented metamorphosis on the offensive side of the ball particularly at the quarterback position. The program has now helped produce three NFL starting quarterbacks in Mac Jones, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts with current starter Bryce Young likely to break into that group once he becomes draft-eligible.
Young has been the bedrock of a Crimson Tide team that’s now on its way to defend its 2020 national championship on Monday against Georgia.
In his first season as the starter, Young has seen the success that no other Alabama quarterback has as he became the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. Part of what’s helped Young’s performance was the knowledge he gained waiting behind Jones last season which he acknowledged earlier in the year.
Even today Jones is still helping Young out as the two have shared conversations throughout the season and recently discussed the national championship game a few days ago.
“I’ve heard from, I talked to Mac not too long ago, a couple days ago,” Young said to the media on Saturday. “And him just telling me to keep going to the finish, to lock in, just to make sure that we finish everything off right. And to hear from Mac really on a regular basis, just to have that respect from the other guys in the past, for me that means a lot.”
Young will not only have a chance to help Alabama repeat as champions for the first time since the 2011 and 2012 seasons, but he’ll also have the opportunity to carry on a legacy from the team’s previous quarterbacks. Over the past five seasons with Hurts, Tagovailoa and Jones, the trio has aided Alabama to four national championship game appearances and two wins.
It’s an impressive run of dominance from the position let alone what Nick Saban has been able to build since 2007, but Young is well aware of the history preceding him and looks to lean on what he’s learned.
“Coming here, I understood the rich quarterback history,” Young said. “Being able to watch Mac last year I really got to see what it was like being right next to him. So carrying on that legacy and doing what I can to improve it, that means a lot to me and I take a lot of pride in that. I think everyone, all those quarterbacks understand being here and what our goal is as a team. So kind of being able to tap into that and feed into that, knowing that winning this game is always a goal for us at this program. So just being able to feed off of that, that means a lot.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
