Jalen Milroe makes it seem like Kalen DeBoer is already doing what everyone hoped

If all goes according to plan for Jalen Milroe, he should be able to place himself among the greatest quarterbacks to have ever played at Alabama. Recent history has given us Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe has next. After a strong first season as the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback, Milroe looks to take his game to an even higher level under a new coach.

Enter Kalen DeBoer. The former Washington head coach comes to Alabama to replace the greatest coach of all time in Nick Saban. Keen on offense and quarterback development, he helped turn Michael Penix Jr. from an often-injured southpaw to being the No. 8 overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons. The sky is the limit for Milroe, but he only has this season to really figure it out under DeBoer.

Milroe spoke about his working relationship with DeBoer while on Next Up With Adam Breneman.

“It’s been great. You know, everything’s a process. So you know, initially, with having him here, you know, whenever he got here, and then until now, it’s been great for us. Great as a team. One thing I can say about having Coach DeBoer here, just the personal aspect of it with him, and as a quarterback, he’s offensive-minded. I’ve been able to grow, each and every day, with him as our head coach. Love being around him. He’s been a great person around me. You know, he speaks belief into me every single day. He speaks about how confident he is in me."

Milroe said it perfectly on everyone wants to play for DeBoer: He is a coach who believes in you.

“As a player, that’s awesome, to have a coach that believes in you. That makes you want to play even harder, for him and the team. So he’s been awesome thus far. Super excited for what the future holds for our program.”

Milroe then explained a subtle difference in how DeBoer coaches vs. how Saban did before him.

“It was funny because at practice, you know, I threw a really good ball. I threw a really good deep ball down the field and a really good pass and everyone was celebrating. I was looking at the sideline to get the next play and the next signal. I get done with my rep and coach DeBoer comes to me like, ‘hey, what happened?’ I look down and he’s like, ‘I thought you was celebrating running down the field.’"

Milroe expounded on the great ball he threw in question; DeBoer wants him to play a little more loose.

“I was like, ‘Coach, I was just worried about the next play.’ He’s like, ‘well I want you to celebrate. I want you to be excited. That was a really good pass.’ I was like, ‘all right, this is different,’ He gave me a pat on the back and said, ‘that was a good play, be excited.’ I was like, ‘wow, this is different.’ That just changed my perspective. I was like, ‘all right, bet.’”

Here is the entire episode of Next Up With Adam Breneman in which Milroe appeared to talk ball.

We should know right away if Milroe is going to take the next step playing in DeBoer's offense.

Jalen Milroe sounds like he is going to level up at Alabama this season

Look. I may be slightly biased here, but Milroe was my pick to win the Heisman Trophy next year long before I came across this interview he had with Breneman. I watched him in person beat my beloved Georgia Bulldogs to win the SEC Championship last year without even having his best stuff. There is just something about him, the way that he directs traffic and commands the line of scrimmage, etc.

One of the things I am most excited about this season is for Milroe to learn everything he can from DeBoer before turning pro. I have five quarterbacks going in the first round next spring, and you better believe that Milroe will be one of them. To me, he will get every benefit of the doubt to be the reason Alabama wins more than 10 games next year. I expect that he will grow even more as a passer.

Ultimately, Milroe has the potential to be what Jayden Daniels was last year at LSU. While both were excellent players in their first seasons as SEC starters, Daniels absolutely leveled up. He became the latest Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at LSU, earning his way to being the No. 2 overall pick by the Washington Commanders this past spring. If Daniels can do it, then why can't Milroe do it, too?

There are other outstanding quarterbacks in the college game, but Milroe offers something different.