Greg McElroy feels there is a misconception about the Alabama standard

Greg McElroy feels there is a misconception about what the standard at Alabama really means.

McElroy started at quarterback for the Crimson Tide for two seasons, and he led Alabama to its first National Championship under Nick Saban. The now ESPN college football commentator recently discussed his thoughts on what the standard of Alabama football means on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.”

“But this whole the standard is the standard thing, to me, is a bit misleading,” McElroy said. “Like, the standard is just do your best. Like, be the best version of you, and not worry so much about 2016 or ’15 or ’12 or ’11 or ’09, or any of the teams that went on and won championships before you. Just be you.”

McElroy came to this conclusion while discussing recent comments made by former Tide linebacker, Reggie Ragland, on the “Bama Standard.” Ragland expressed he felt Alabama was not physical against Indiana while talking to departing Tide linebacker, Nikhai Hill-Green.

“What I saw, at times, I felt like y’all weren’t physical a lot during the game,” Ragland said. “The Indiana game, I’m like, what the hell is going on? Even if you work your ass off and you missing plays, at least you can be physical out there and let them know you still there. I felt like once they got up, guys just said, shit, I’m cool. I’m gonna go get in my Benz and I’m gonna go home. That’s how I felt and that’s what I felt like I saw.”

Former Alabama player grills departing linebacker on Tide’s lack of physicality vs. Indiana

McElroy responded to Ragland’s statement by stating he felt this was not the first time he saw a team break Alabama’s will.

“I like Reggie,” McElroy said. “I’ve always had a good relationship with Reggie. I think some of his criticism, especially as it pertained to the Indiana game, was fair. I also think when you look at what that team had to go through last year, and whether it’s starting week one with Florida State, the gauntlet they ran, the comeback against Oklahoma at the end, being beat up in the SEC title game, just not having your best stuff and playing against a good, physical Georgia football team. I think they were just out of gas. I think they were just dead. I really believe that. The emotional toll and the weight of the season kind of collapsed upon them there in the second half of that football game. And frankly, it probably started with the fourth and one getting stopped there, the fumble that turned into a touchdown right before half. I think it was just a broken will. But here’s the thing, I’ve seen some of the best Alabama teams on planet Earth that also had their will broken in a game.
It happens. People don’t wanna remember the 2018 National Championship against Clemson. No one wants to remember that. There were defensive backs taking dives in the game. It was like, “What are we doing?”

Alabama recently invited McElroy back to talk to its team.