Kalen DeBoer was worried about facing star QB. Now he coaches him

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe is tough to miss, standing at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds. He’s also tough to miss on the field, where his combination of athleticism and talent has made him one of the best college football quarterbacks in the country.

Milroe is a must-watch player, even for opponents and coaches on the other sideline. Don’t believe it? Just ask Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who had a chance to watch Milroe play last season when DeBoer was the head coach at Washington. His Huskies were playing Texas in the Sugar Bowl while Milroe and the Crimson Tide took on Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

“When we were playing and getting ready to play the Sugar Bowl, and he was obviously on the field in the Rose Bowl, I remember walking by a TV just going to the locker room,” DeBoer recently said on “The Triple Option” podcast (h/t On3). “And I was with a couple other coaches and seeing him make one play, just passing and seeing it on the TV, one of our coaches goes, ‘Man, (if) we face him, that’s going to be a problem.’ I told Jalen that, that’s kind of the visual that I had from afar really not having dissected and watching him play.”

Of course, Milroe’s head coach for that Rose Bowl game was Nick Saban, who ended up retiring after the 27-20 overtime loss to eventual national champion Michigan. The big quarterback could have left Tuscaloosa when Saban retired, as many did, but DeBoer sensed that Milroe had “unfinished business” at Alabama.

“I do remember just even a short interaction with him and in a meeting with the leadership group where you could get a sense very quickly of what he was all about and how important it was to him to stay,” DeBoer explained. “To see things through along with many of the others who did the same. They had some unfinished business to do, it was important to get the train rolling as quick as you could.”

Since that interaction, Milroe has led Alabama and more through the first few weeks of the season. The Crimson Tide are 3-0 and he’s thrown for 590 yards and eight touchdowns while also rushing for six touchdowns so far.

“He’s done nothing but help lead the charge in every way both as a player, as a leader and as a person who represents our program every single day,” DeBoer said.

Alabama’s leadership and talent will be tested this weekend as the No. 4 ranked Crimson Tide clash with No. 2 Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium.