Jalen Milroe reveals why he stayed at Alabama after Nick Saban’s retirement

Alabama football has gotten used to benefiting from transfer portal exoduses. This year, they were on the wrong side of one.

The retirement of Nick Saban opened the door for key players to depart the program. Safety Caleb Downs left for Ohio State. Offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor went home to Iowa. Rivalry hero Isaiah Bond headed for Texas. But not everyone jumped ship.

Holding onto quarterback Jalen Milroe was a victory for new head coach Kalen DeBoer. It doesn't sound like it took too much convincing.

Jalen Milroe stayed true to Alabama despite transfer exodus

"What’s for you is for you and for me, it's to stay at Alabama. I’ve got a lot of stuff at Alabama I still want to achieve. I signed my letter of intent to come to the University of Alabama. So, it’s all about staying here and building. With the guys were have in locker room we have a really good group. Super excited for what’s ahead of our football team. We’re excited to have Coach DeBoer in and the coaching staff that’s here because they're going to allow us to grow as a football team.”

Milroe understood the assigment. He believes in what Alabama has to offer, even without Saban running the show.

He may also recognize what DeBoer can do for him. The former Washington head coach worked wonders with Michael Penix Jr. Even before that, he got the best out of Jake Haener at Fresno State. Just about every quarterback who has been mentored by DeBoer has been better for it.

Milroe had ups and downs in his first season as a starter. He threw two costly interceptions in the loss to Texas. He was benched against South Florida. He engineered wins over Tennessee and LSU. He pulled off stunning heroics against Auburn and took down Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

DeBoer can take him to the next level and Milroe can help keep Alabama at the top of the sport because he's sticking around.