A connection has formed between Jalen Milroe and Nick Sheridan that Milroe had not received from any other Alabama offensive coordinator in his collegiate career.
Milroe, a native Texan, is ready to take off as a complete quarterback. He’s produced a fantastic spring, which included touchdowns in two scrimmages. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder looks a lot better in the short to intermediate passing game and processes his reads faster.
Milroe, a redshirt junior, is surrounded by an offensive coaching staff that has pattered its scheme around him. He is finally free to be himself, and it has allowed him to mature into a quarterback that will be dangerous.
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Sheridan, a former signal-caller at the University of Michigan, has helped Milroe tremendously. The 35-year-old has given his quarterback the confidence to pick apart defenses on the field.
Milroe had Bill O’Brien (2021-22) and Tommy Rees (2023), but he sees Sheridan as someone very special. He told Alabama reporters on Tuesday that this season will be ‘very special’ for him.
“With my time of playing football, this is a special moment for me,” Milroe said about working with Sheridan.
“Coach Sheridan truly believes in me, and he speaks it every day. It does not matter if I make 10,000 passing attempts that are completed or whether I miss a ball, he is saying how proud he is of me. He comes with positive reinforcement behind the coaching. This is a special moment for me because of who he is as a person, and I am steadily learning and growing because the trust factor we have with each other. I love our relationship because it is constantly growing, and I am appreciating that.”
Milroe said the most exciting thing for him about this offense is his ability to learn.
“The day that I stop learning and growing is the day I need to stop playing football,” he said.
“There are a lot of people around me that allow me to be the best quarterback I can be.”
He is talking with confidence, but Milroe is now playing with confidence. He needed an offensive staff around him, and now he has it with Kalen DeBoer, Sheridan, JaMarcus Shephard, and Mitch Dahlen (offensive analyst, quarterbacks).
Milroe has an opportunity in the fall to have a Heisman-caliber season.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
