Welcome to another episode of the Bus and Spring Football Tour. Alabama Fans, the emotional maturity that you're about to hear from both Tyler Booker and Jalen Milroe does nothing but fire you guys up. Whatever culture building happens at Alabama, it's why they're one of the most premier schools in the country. Talking with Tyler Booker, we talked about being an IMG athlete growing up through that. What IMG offers
the head that this kid has on his shoulders. I don't know if he fakes it in the camera, it's a different off camera. It doesn't seem like it, but it's incredible. We talked to him and Jalen Milroe both about the culture differences between coach de Boor and playing under coach Saban, the new wrinkles that coach de Boors brought. Some fun stories about Coach Saban and Jalen Milroe as well. Talking to him about how he was committed to Texas,
the Committee and going to Alabama. That's a funny process some of his favorite moments. You guys are going to love these conversations. If you're an Alabama fan and you're new to Bus with the Boys, the Spring Football Tour, we sit down with coaches. Are we sitting with the head coach that will be on the episode tomorrow? And we sit down with players to talk about the ins and outs of their journey, why they chose their school, and a whole lot of fun inside. You guys are
gonna enjoy it again. Make sure you comment. Make sure your subscribed tour channel. If you're brand new here, subscribe door channel for us. The support means the world, big hugs, tiny kisses. Enjoy these interviews.
Do you guys play the team from Friday Night Lights seven?
That's far away? That's that's out the way.
We played seven hours. I looked it up on the drive over. It's a long way.
Yeah, it ain't near me.
Yeah what but why do I know the name? Katie Texas?
Like what I have any Doughton play that Katie High?
Oh yeah?
And then like Katie Katie High like a powerhouse in Texas and they play like nationally and like they they probably like one of the best teams in the country really and so that's where they like get the you know, like the yeah, a lot of light because like they play with really good and then uh, we played them actually in high schools. So when I was in high school, we lost in them freshman year, my sophomore year, junior
would be to my senior year of high school. But what's funny about it is that the last time they lost a district game, I was in kindergarten. The last time I lost a disc games. Like since then, they been underfeeding district. And then boom, like they take off from playoffs and like they either go to state or like losing like the fifth or fourth round. So like they're like they're like they're real good. Bro, yeah good, Yeah, that.
Is wild growing up in Texas.
Yep.
You obviously have the Longhorns there. I feel like everybody loves the Longhorns. And you're going through your entire process, wow, Obama.
Uh, I'm being honest. During the process initially, you know, the biggest thing you want to look out of your family and like, you know, what is the best decision for yourself but also your family, and you know, Texas was the option, and it was the option staying close
to home, which is Houston staying there. Uh. And I was committed to Texas for two years and the biggest thing I had to get out of my way was said in my next forty years in my life, not just run about the present and looking at the future. And when it came to it, you know, everyone's gonna sell your dream. I mean to come here, we're gonna develop you, and we're gonna put your position to do this, this and this. But like not the the hard questions are how you gonna set me to set up and
be provide for my family one day? Like that's the biggest thing, you know. And then of course, you know you talk ex's and o's and being developed and sometuff like that. But Coach Saving, you know, during the process with Coach Saving, I was committed to Texas, but I was taking calls. I was answering people, and Coach Saving
with one of them. The one thing that stook out to me was during the process of whatever, coach you know, we were FaceTime whatever, and he told me, hey, like during the draft when two gets selected, I'm gonna call you. I'm like, man, you ain't gonna call me. What you talking about? You anna call me? So what? So with the whatever pick, Savan called me and said, hey, you come here, this will be you the next So I was a junior high scho it would be you in
the next five to six years. So I'm committing like there's no question, Like I'm committing like nothing. Ain't gotta sell me nothing. That's what I want to do. And he's at the draft at the draft, so he's face right right his face time, so I've seen his face like he was like that. I'm like, man, I'm laughing, like yeah, that's right. Nah, he was serious, like talking about the bold face, talk about my next future and you know what all needed to be done, all this stuff.
Then gave me like his dad talked. Then he gave me the coach talking. I'm I'm like, man, like, this is the place I need to be at and so this is why I'm committed to Texas. So man like I signed and committed. No one know that, but I signed committed to Alabama like before I even posted it, so like I would commit for Alabama like for a while. And so shoot was like a little thing like that.
And then it was like talking about my future, talking about why is this the best option to being developed and stuff like that, and then the resources was wearing the a like there's nothing like greater than that a logo like like, I know you went to Michigan. I know, I know all that good stuff, but like dog like that a is special, or like you can be in Paris and someone see that he didn't know what it is like and then just the network and it comes
with it, you know. And so there's like there's a lot of things that took place to you know, committing here and being here. But I think that's one example that I have that always be special.
When you get sorry ahead when you I just wanted to talk about that silent commit for a second. Yeah, so you got you get that phone call from saving did you suldently go okay, I'm going to Alabama.
To him on the phone?
Oh no, no, no, no, it's like like you hang the phone. Oh yeah, most.
Definitely they wouldn't know. And then you had to go up to them and slightly.
When you get off the phone and you're talking to your family, what's that conversation taking place?
Well, well, the thing was that like to thinking through you know, you don't want to make an emotional decision during the process, and so you know, I'm talking to them and I'm telling you, hey, I'm committed to Texas,
but like my options are open. And you know, my biggest thing is when I decommitted from the school, I wanted to commit automatically, so like I I didn't want to decommit, and then I'm just I'm just sitting there, like knowing no option because during my time, like a lot of guys are committing quick, like every power you know, uh, you know, big school in the country all had to commit at every single school, and so like they were waiting for that next quarterback in each class, whether it's
taking two quarterbacks or one quarterback. And Alabama was one of the class the school that were only taking one quarterback. So like they needed no answer because they'll go right there at Louisana and go get them a quarterback. You know, so they needed a quarterback and uh, you know, they were vocal with that, but I think, you know, of course I thought it through. My parents looked at it,
and so like that. And what I mean by signing commit is like you tell the school you're committing to them and say I'll figure out the rest of it. So like my job is locked. Like when we look at the class, like you're gonna have twenty five class, Like twenty five people in the class all wanted them part of Alabama. I told them like, hey, like I'm thinking about coming here.
Like this, my Texas dropped the ball. The Texas dropped the ball anywhere.
Yeah they did, you know, yeah, yeah, it was it was. It was some things during you know, the process, that was that I needed to look at the you know that the best of my future. I think that was the best. Yeah.
Legit. Yeah sounds like you were just had a side check and you were like, all right, cool, I'm gonna date you.
Stay quiet here once I take care of that.
I look at me. I promise I'm gonna be with you.
Take us to your first couple of years of BAM. I like getting to learn from somebody like Bryce Young.
Yeah.
For me coming into college, it was a great opportunity for me to get better. I think that was. You know, people have different mindsets when it comes to cause me. I want to play trade right away. I want to be the best me when in any form of fashion. I want to be the best gentle of Mirrod I
can be. Whether it was academics, whether it was getting my body in shape to be in a position i am today, whether it was having more knowledge of football, I was trying to be my best me, and so whenever my time was right to be on the field, it was that time. And so I wasn't pressuring coach to hey, play me, play me, play me. That's not that's not my job.
You know.
I let my actions speak loud of my words, you know. And so to speak about my time here, I think it's been humbling, just the just the what all goes into being an outdown quarterback, you know, and every form and fashion. You know. We had different guys stepping in the row of a quarterback, you know, going from you know, Mac Jones, the two Jayalen Hurst, Bryce are all different. All those guys are different, and it's okay. And there's
no certain right way to play quarterback position. Everyone's different, you know. We look at the NFL. It's the same way. The top guy in the lead might be different than the thirty two guys, you know, and and it's and that's okay. But to speak about my time here, it's been great. It's been great to see what the resources of the A and what it has, the people that you meet along the journey. I met Michael Jordan there's a few days ago to look at that. That's like,
that's like, it's been great. So it's been a lot of positive more than the negatives I can say. And it's been humbling and it's been a great experience throughout the process. But for me, I just learned so much about myself and so learn so much more that I have in stored just being here and just mean a lot of great guys.
You said it was such a humbly experience, Like you know, if you're getting offers from Texas and Alabama and all these other schools, like you've been the man since you've put a football on your head, Like you've always been the star at the star of the showunds, but I see his shoulders, that's a warm upset. That's crazy. But you like, yeah, you're you're the man, Like you've been
the man everywhere you've gone. Now you get to Alabama and you're riding the pine for a little bit, you're on the bench, and you're like if these talking about the humbly experience, like at any point where you're like, i' might have to get out of here. Maybe I made the wrong mistake, Maybe I made the wrong choice coming here. Was there a feeling like that.
I could truly say that I wouldn't change anything by my time in college. I'm glad it happened. Everything that took place where I've been in college, I'm appreciative of it and it got me better. But to answer a question, you know, I gave a commitment to my parents before I left text and I told them I'm get my degree from Alabama. I don't care what care what happens. I don't care from the fourth string, third string, the starter,
no matter what, I'm gonna get my degree. And I was blessed and fortunate enough to do that this past December. So that's one of the accomplishments that I had. Now I'm working on my mass so my parents don't get my master from Alabama, and so it just little things that I have for myself, whether a short song goal, longsong goals. I know that I need to achieve to be where I'm at in the future, and so there's nothing that was going to take me away from that.
And so it just like little goals I have for myself and just being determined and just believing in myself.
I'll tell you what, you guys do a good job with your young men with aspirations beyond the football field. Congratulations on that too.
Appreciation.
Uh, you did have some adversity of you're on this past year, you have the USF game comes up, you're the starting quarterback. USF game happens, then you go to a backup role. Talk about your process, trying to because as athletes man, when you take an ego shot like that or an ego hit, it's hard to like, you know, it's the process, it's not the result. Staying and be
where your feet are. Hey, next opportunity is going to consantly talk through that adversity for us until you got your next opportunity.
Yeah. Absolutely, it was a process. I think that's one of the greatest things that could have happened, was that that that time right there, and I learned a lot about myself, and I learned about how to truly go get get through adversity. A lot of people can see adversity and fear from it, and I change my perspective and face everything and arise and throughout that journey, you know, all I did was lean on my supporting cast that's
around me and not any external factors. Because when you look at external factors, they can waver away from your goals. And that's something that I took pride in. It was not really looking at external factors and not worrying about, you know, things I can't control. And during that time, you can look at a lot of things that are uncontrollables instead of the things that I controllable. What I can control is my attitude around my teammates. What I can control is how how long I'm in the film room.
I can control what I'm eating in my body. I can control how prepared I am if I was going a game, I can control you know, how great of a teammate I am. Throughout the process. There's a lot of things I can control in set of the uncontrollables and the uncontrollable was the decision to benchment, and I look at the controllable and I look at you know, how can I benefit from from this situation? And to
look at it. You know, there's some things that I did to improve as a player, improve my mindset, strengthen my mindset, see who was truly for me and not against me. So I learned a lot through that process. But I can truly say that I'm glad it happened I'm glad it happened. I'm glad it it took place because they benefited me in the long run.
Blowing away, Yeah.
It is wild. You and booked the way you guys like set present yourself, the way you guys speak on everything. It's it's truly impressive to look at. But you're in a new offense. Let's keep with the with the interview going. You're a new offense. Coach, de board comes in. What do you see differently going in here? Because you have a very unique skill set, like you're you're in a very elite athlete. You see yourself slinging it a whole lot more going in this fall.
I think I can do whatever I want where they running throw it like I can do whatever I wanted to do offense. So if I want to choose to run the game, run the whole game, I can choose to run the whole game. I can choose to throw this game. I can choose to throw this game. And I'm just very you know, confident on our coaching staff, confident in what they see in the future as far as our offense. But speak about coach the board. Coach the board has been done a really good job in
the relationship aspect. You know, coach is going to coach, whether it's tech, talking about offense, talking about defense, talking about special teams. Coach is going to be a coach. You know, that's their job is to be a coach and influence us in a positive way, to get us to be successful in whatever form or fashion they see it as. But for me, I look at it as he comes here. He doesn't know us, He doesn't know
us at all. But he took an initiative to get to know every single player on the whole team, and then he figured out who the leaders leaders of the team was. In the same day that he got here, he sat down all the leaders on the team and he had a notebook, was writing taking notes of what we were, the comments that we had about what the standard is here, what is what is? What is? What what makes Alabama about us? As people? You know, where we're from, how many siblings do you have, you know,
what's your hobbies? All that stuff. On the same day he got here the same day and from there I said, maybe we got someone special. He truly cares about us. He truly cares about the program in itself, you know, and that was my initial thought process on coach to board, you know, talk about the coach aspect of it. He's offensive minded, so it's really good for me as a quarterback to be under him. He does a lot of
great stuff on offense. You know, for me, I'm a student of the game, so I like to look at where he's been at and whatever quarterback they have is really explosive in the passing game and does a really good job on offense and you know with the concepts and stuff like that and all the different things that take place and with the with the offense. So that's been great. And then also he's with he's withholding what
the standard is at Alabama. You know, it's a it's a big program to step into and it just shows who he is as a person to step in in this leader role as our head coach. So it's been great. It's been great to have him here and we're just in May and we just all believe in them.
Well, same question that we have for Book, like him sitting down and asking what the standard is here, asking about leadership. The spots you've been in, you seem like somebody who is very in tune with the you know, awareness and being patient in times of adversity. What are qualities to you that make a good leader.
I think the quality that you have to have is you can't withhold so on into a standard that you don't have a set for yourself. That's that's very important. I think number two, I think you have to be the same guy every single day. One day. He can't be happy one day, he can be mad one day. You can't be inconsistent of your habits and who you are as a person. And that's very important. And then you got to be driven. You got to be driven.
You got to be passionate. You know, It's it's hard to be the man that's passionate and has goal set for themselves because nothing that you can say, I can say that can take this man's joy and what he has set for himself and what he wants to accomplish. I think that's very important to any leader. They had to withhold themselves. So those three things or the fourth things I mentioned, I love that.
With coach the board like uh just I mean, you hear about saving and you know, intimidating guy. Everything was quiet, You were quiet when the meeting room happened comes in and they got music playing before meetings there. Doing music at practice like that had to be like a culture shock almost for you all. Did that takes for you guys to get used to that?
I will say that was different, I'm being honest with you. That was much different. You know. You know when Coach Saving came in the room and you're talking, be quiet, you see Coach Savings can come in here, you doing, You see coach Coach, You see coach. You know that's that's the initial thought. And so because the boy, I'm gonna be real, the boy came in, everybody kept on talking.
I'm like, what y'all doing?
Everybody kept on talking. I ain't gonna lie. Everybody kept on talking. They just laughed kiki ki uh and keeping on the conversation. But nothing nothing negative but that just you know, there's a difference. But uh, I'll say it's just modern. It's just modern to what it is now.
As far as influencing the guys now in this generation, is that aspect of the music that practice, allowing them to be themselves on an everyday basis and not being too tight, because when a guy is comfortable and free, that's when you can get the best out of that player. And so that's something that I'm seeing now is like, man, like we're just cutting it loose, not being so tight as we're on the field, as we're preparing, as we're all together, you know, we're just I'm able to see
Guy's personalitymore. I would say that I'm able to see that more. And now I'm able to see everyone really enjoy the process and not be so hard on themselves and not be on critical on themselves because all the coaches are given the critical which what we do need, but also the positive reinforcement behind it to get us to have the right mental state to be on this journey that' wrong.
What are some of your favorite memories with coach Saban?
My favorite memory, I'm being honest, Like my favorite memory, I remember that practice. Man, I drive back in the pocket there and over seven man they're covering. It's like nothing, nothing's open. I'm talking about this double covered. You know, they got the perfect call for our past concept down the field, nothing's open, got a nice pass for us from the defense, and I reverse out make a good
move when he falls down. I'm talking about you know, I dropped him dog like it was a good move, dropped him and be honest with you, spin out of it. Dog took off, took off I'm talking about I clocked. I ran afford to that play like I was. I took off, took off man. I took off man. I'm real. I was swinging the ball, swinging the ball like bad balls security, bad boss security took off man. And you know you can't hit the quarterback in practice. But I
kept on running. I kept on running, ran straight. I'm talking. I finished on the opposite goal line right. Everybody hyped up. It was like the end of practice, like at this time the backup. So the ones go and the twos go, and the twos get the last record every practice. So I take off man. Everybody celebrating on our sideline, everybody celebrating, everybody jumping up with me. Coaches, Man, what I get back? I see this short man red as can beat Coach
Savan where a hat at practice? I didn't even see his hat, Dog, I see his hair. Man, he ran down there. Man cuts me clean out, said the ball security for the boss Security, he said, could have discored. He said, I ain't gonna see what he said. I said, Wow, I said roll tired, I walk off. Yeah no, yeah, that that's probably my favorite, mamor because i'malking about it's the inder practice, you know what I'm saying. Everybody juiced up. You know, it's competitive at the end of practice. Man,
it's fun like ones go too, go work. We're man, it's competitive. You know, everybody's going hard balls at the wall, like everybody's ready to go. So it was a last rack and like it was good play because the last play, you know, we scored. It was supposed to play. And then man, he was hot. He don't care, but none of that, he don't care what move I made, great decision. I made details. Ball security. Ball security was key man because one thing we talked about is the ball is
the team. So coach g a running back coaches ball team. You're like, it's a simple thing, but it means a lot. Boss Kitty is very important when it comes to winning a football game. And we talked about the twelve percent rule here at Bama, and when you're on that opposite end of the sticks as far as turnovers and penalties
and stuff like that, you're less likely to win. And uh, when we harp on that with the Boss security turnovers and uh you know the penalty aspect of it at practice because all of it is documented at practice, and so it's very important. You know, that's me now mature because at the time I ain't care what he was saying.
I said I made a good play. Yeah, and uh so that you know, you got to mature in that stage to understand what coach is talking about because it's gonna, it's gonna you're gonna benefit from it with doing the right way in the game.
Yeah, with a Sabing Like every Bama player you talk to, he's just like they talk about how infamous he was for just the ass chewings he would give. Guys. You got to get example there, like what's the worst ass chewing you've heard Nick Saban given another player?
Okay, I will say this be real like initially like coming to college, right, I ain't know how hard coach saying what everybody talking about Harty was. But like one phrase he said that like never still with me was kiss my ass. That was just stuff like it was kiss my ass Like that was just that was just thing like you kiss my ass. Like I'm like, you know, I'm yeah, we'll talk about you know what I'm saying, yeah, talking about that's one thing that was that was his
favorite word. That's how you know he hat when he say that and slam his hat. Oh yeah, you got him today, Like he intens the rest of the day. If you hit you with that and walk through we walk through dog, we appear ad one and he say that, Oh yeah, he's gonna be honest the whole day, the whole day.
Have you guys ever had an ass shooting for missing class?
That's like one on one talk, Yeah, to get.
One because I always enjoy like you know you have like a you obviously you have a great coach, like I got to play for Coach bo Polini and I feel like the fellas now that were removed from it. You talk about all like the fun stories that you're telling now, but that helped mold us to be who
we are. And you think about times like Coach Bow would have us we had miss class and we're in a team meeting and he's staying in each guy up that a teacher wrote him an email on whether they were sleeping in class or being lazy and last ye and he would make each guy stand up and read the note and he took this water bottle. He's like, I didn't come here to go fucking nine and three. He's like, I'm not here to babysits. You're either going to do it all the time or you're never gonna
do it. You don't just show up on Saturday. So I appreciate you sharing these stories because I know people are probably watching, like, damn saved, it's crazy. Those are like the things that mold you into you know, who you're going to be and being successful like after.
Man, you know, I mean, everybody gets there asked you. Hope was always a guy like if you missed it, you'll have class checkers. Always when there's like probably one guy that it's probably five to seven white dude. Every every college has it. Every college has it, and he sits there really good to see it. Yeah, God, he's here again and he's always. We had the same dude in Michigan do that, but our coach wouldn't like chew us out in front of team. He's walking be like six am.
Walk away.
It's a six am you're out there doing what what kind of punishments y'all have to do here? Because we well we had to do log rolls. Just lay down.
Yeah, do that?
Play pushes? What else y'all do?
Bear crawl? Uh? Shoot sleg pushes? Uh? Pop ups like across the field each each five yard, like you do it? Pop up?
Yeah, that's brutal.
Yeah you got, you got, Yeah, you got. Yeah.
We had these Turkish gheit us. We're holding the forty five pound plate and you're just one hundred reps if you're late. Bro. Good time, yeah, good good times now yeah, good time, yeah, good times. We had a dirty locker room once after a game and he was coach Bo's pissed that we didn't clean up. So we had to do three hundred yards of pencil balls the whole team, and they're setting orange cones out where everybody's throwing up. Good times.
We used to have to wear red shirts if guys weren't like following the standard, and a bunch of guys they miss class or something happened, so we like my senior year, they put us all in the red shirts, every one of us. And I was full on drinking the kool aid of like Michigan or die. I'm not putting this on. So we let a revolt the seniors with a revolt. We put all the show.
Yeah, I can picture you leading a revolt. Yeah yeah, put these up.
We all take them off, and you're proud of us, you guys working like the team. Yeah that was that miracle. But who do you play for?
The United States of America?
And like, all right, okay, guys are good. It is crazy because some of the stuff you do now that you hate when your husbands like me and Will, you're gonna look back on and be.
Like, yeah, yes, take us to your last play of the season. Yeah, you obviously have a QB design run. Yeah, you come up.
Time out, we get a code act time out. Yeah, you guys go. Did you guys keep the same play from the timeout?
I can tell you that. Man.
It's a different office, brother, it's a different office.
Zero. Hey great, Hey, So it.
Was a it was a design quarterback run with the option to throw it out to the back. You had the back.
But he's a he's a gamer.
I'm saying, here's my question. I'm glad you brought this up because I really want to figure out a way to get here. If that snap is right at your stomach, are you throwing that out to the back?
I guess We will never know, all right, Kanye, But I will never know.
If you were to answered like a yes, and at the end of the day, you want to make a play, absolutely, what do you think about what goes through your mind when you think about that last play, because obviously you can see the emotion on your face.
I'll be real like that truly made me really love the coaching staff because to see how much they believe in me. It is probably one of the most impactful plays of our whole season. And the balls in my hands the last play a game that speaks a lot about our coaches that believe it in me, and so I took it as a positive although we came out short. But after that game and when I went back to the hotel room, I reflected on the season, reflected on the game that made me truly believe. That made me
like really see how confident they were with me. And from that, you know, I remember I actually called coach Reeese and told him a thank you, thank you. Yeah we lost, man, but like, thank you, Shay. And when when it went to the first conference after the game, I had my head up high because they believed in me. And that ain't the last snap, I'm gonna take up football.
So yeah, like, we want to win. We wanted to win the National championship, you know, we wanted to We had goal set for ourselves, of course, and this is me speaking after the game. Of course, I had a lot of emotion and I wanted I wanted to score. I wanted to push our team to where we all wanted to be at towards the end of the season. Unfortunately we didn't do that. Do that. But it's like the positive, you know, that's the positive that I saw from him. Man, they believed in me so much, the
whole team, not just them. You know, no one when Coach Reese gave us that play card one was like, man, what why are you calling that? Everyone said that bet. No one, not the off salon, at the receiver, at the running back. No one had any hesitation on that face. We just came up short. That's all it was because like no one, I looked at everybody eyes. I looked at everybody eyes, and I looked at him, and they all confident. And that's all a part of the game.
You know, you win something, you loose, and unfortunately lost that one.
It was a classic game.
Yeah, it was was Yeah, it was yeah what uh.
Yeah, I know, but we we asked. When I was at Michigan, we were asked, and so you guys were always so good, and so many times Derek would tell me how bad we were, and other Alabama guys can tell us how bad we were, and so that was a sweet moment. It wasn't instant classic.
It was a great game.
Everyone loved it. We were laughing because I was just kind of staring off in the distance for a second. Fee it was a classic.
It was absolutely it was done. I'm done.
That's good, okay, because it's all good and I respect it.
What can we What can you think Michigan cheated?
Huh? Do you think they won? They won? They won, they got it.
They had your calls.
Huh they won, No matter they won.
They won.
Yes, Will, Will, he's the worst best friend. Actually asked for congra.
We beat.
He would do the rasta. We played and we beat them forty two to seven. And then when the whole cheating scale came out, he goes, I knew something was up.
Yeah, hey, book the generation Michigan beat us this year. Not when not my senior year. Yeah, just when Taylor and I played against each other.
Don't pat my back like that. What happened to you before?
Yo? Y'all sved this? Yes? Yeah, yeah, we were terrible. Then what can we What can we expect out of the Alabama Crimson Tide this year?
I think really driven, we're starving, and we're really passionate about each other. That's how I can sympathy this football team is those three things right there. And you know, we have goal set for ourselves that we want to accomplish, but we we acknowledge those to take place right now. What we're doing right now? What are the habits that
we have right now? I think that's that's something that's super exciting because we're nowhere near where we want to be at and we acknowledge that, and we're excited for what the future hold because we have a lot of tests in front of us, and so we're just gonna embrace it and enjoy the journey.
Who's an NFL player you see out there that you would love to play with one day, that you love to throw the rock too?
I ain't really looked at that place. I think I don't really got one.
You don't got one, You don't got you don't got catch you watching the league.
I'm not watching everybody Like for me, like I respect game. So like every starting quarterback to start for each team, I respect the respect them because it was a journey to get them to word they or that. Nothing was given to an nothing was handed to them. They they had to earn it. And so for everybody that's the starting quarterback in the NFL, I look at their game and that's something that I want to be one day.
Who are your top three favorite quarterbacks in the NFL?
Uh Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Rogers.
Okay, Joey b Oh Yeah, I love Joey Bart.
I like I like them a lot. I like them a lot. I like Joey b swag take the football lot of I like his swag like different. I like that. I like how you move on the field like that a lot.
Who's the swaggiest dude on the team Swaggers?
I probably give it to the dvs. The DB's probably got the most swag, most drip, you know, they wearing unnecessary stuff like during the game, like what do you got that on for? They're talking about I put that ship on.
We got to we're on a mission with Duke Cannon there sponsor of ours to find the smelliest student the locker room. In your opinion, who would be the smelliest student in the locker room.
I'm gonna be real, like I look at I look at the blocks in the locker room. I'll block cleans. I don't know. Like we keep it nice and clean, smell good. We keep it nice and fabuloso around our lockers.
Would you guess?
Who?
Would you guess?
I don't hurt nobody feeling? On book?
You got thin skin? Who would you think.
What I'm saying? I heard nobody feeling? Yeah?
No, we we appreciate it. Man, Do you have anything else?
Book?
Was there anything that when we were talking to when he when he went back on the depth chart, a moment that you saw out of jailing during that time where either you guys are rallying around him or something that you saw out of him to keep him ready for the next opportunity.
Wow, if you were watching the game, if you if you only watched gentilely, you wouldn't be able to tell that he wasn't playing like his energy everything about him said that he was the guy and that's how he carried himself and he was supporting the other two guys that were in at the time. So yeah, you just that that was really defined a moment for him as quarterback.
And everybody was bought into him and believed in him before that, but I feel like that really just amplified our trust in him after that moment.
I love it, man, Thank you answer Fellas, Thank you man.
Appreciate you.
Yeah, Oky for the Michigan man.
You let me. Let me ask us some questions. Go ahead, what is your most memorable moment in college? Each of you, what's your best moment y'all had in college?
Pick six Georgia New Year, New Year's Day, they called the New Year six games, right, they named it that. They coined it that. After my pick six against Aaron Murray and the Georgia Bulldogs, we went up thirteen and thirteen to seven on at that point the end of the game, didn't you know, reflect what happened in that first quarter. But that was probably my favorite memory. I
could barely feel my body. Yeah, I read this screen, I picked it off, took it to the house, probably rant like yourself of four to two on the way to the end zone, and that was my most hype moment probably ever playing.
Twenty eleven, playing beating Ohio State one and three against the Hoto State them. Yeah, in twenty years we beat them twice. Yeah until his last three years. So that I got one, that's awesome.
What about yours most memorable? It's been your favorite moment? Oh, that's easy. For thirty one? Iron Bowl that's probably the most favorite one. I'll give that was a good experience. Is the Iron Bowl just crazy week of building up to it?
I will say like for me, I didn't really understand the Ironbol be real. I'm from Texas and I didn't really get into is my opportunity to take a snap in Ironbol? And like nothing, it's nothing that compares to that. I will say, like that's something that that that rivaly. I I could pete and say that's the that's probably the best rivaly in the country.
Yeah, it's a huge.
I'll say that because I mean to ask you this question, like, while you're at Michigan, how often do you see Ohio State fans as your neighbors.
They try to come try, they try a pretty good bordered area exactly.
But while you're here, you're in test Loose, Your your your neighbor might be an Auburn guy. And that's that's within because how far premiere uh two and a half, bout two and a half, And so that's that's the thing within the you know, the rivalry and stuff like that. And like even our professors like they might be an Auburn grad. Like it's so you're gonna see an Auburn
person throughout your time during the season. So like you're gonna it's gonna it's alway that competitiveness throughout the time. And then whether it's at Auburn or whether it's in Test Loose, You're gonna bring a great crowd. It's gonna be loud, it's gonna be rocking, and there's nothing greater than being victorious in the game.
Yeah, but you're not gonna see it high State grad. It's not gonna You're.
Not gonna see it into the game. On Saturday.
Dude, when you were talking with the iron Ball, I live it. Do you not remember the last player of the iron Ball? Oh yeah, Bro, it was crazy take us to that place.
Register you said balls.
Like, oh god, I was. I was in the airport watching that. I was like, oh my God, Auburn is gonna beat Alabama. This is gonna be nuts.
My wife's like, why are you so hype over this?
I'm like, if you just saw these last several plays, like you guys should have had no shot a.
Bro Like what four or five? How long ago was that when they returned the kick that was We're not gonna bring that up, but that was insane, Like there's insane games. What was that? Like? What was that play?
Gagger?
It's called Bigger, Yeah, that's crazy. You we talk about that play, but you were talking about four five play against Michigan. That's no But that that play though, were you just throwing up a prayer? You were throwing up a prayer? You practice it. You practice situational ball games. I'd look at the ball you said, God.
No, Like i'mna real with you. Like it might sound a cliche thing, man, but like we practice that thing every single week. Like Friday, we had walked through and we're very intentional when we do the walk through, so there's no talking on the sideline, there's no joking around if you're not if you're not on the field, you're on the sideline watching and you know, we take those walk through very seriously. We go through every scenario in
the game. If we don't do it right during walk through, we're gonna do it all over again until we perfected literally a perfect walk through. Every outcome of the walkthrough, where there were special teams, offense, defense, leaving the huddle, going substitutions. All that we work all that din the walk throughs, and that's one that played the grave Digger.
We worked at Durren walk throughs on Fridays, and you know, we didn't know when we're going to utilize it, when we're gonna have to use it, but everyone was prepared and it was just like the play against Michigan. You know, that fourth fourth down play was equivalent to that fourth and thirty one. You know, when we called that play, no one was fearful of the play. No one was like, man, why coach calling that play. Everyone was like, we were all locked in all bet this, We're gonna roll with it.
We're gonna do it at the best of our ability. And so when it came to fourth and thirty one, the same is the fourth and five player.
We just we just succeeded on this one fourth That's an NFL blitz numbers, everything of that verse and thirty dude, but you when you threw that up, what were you thinking?
I mean, yeah, just you're you're you've got to just be thinking, well, let's just see nah no, like hey, we'll find out.
Like I just see the field very well, and I saw he was one on one, and so I took a shot given given, you know, put it a great ball placement, because if I've put anywhere else, who's gonna go either out of bounce, picked off, not in the range that we can make a grab and beat him and allow I be to make a make a IB play. So I just put it in a place where he can make a play on the ball. And I had great time. They haven't. They didn't have a too strong a pass for us, So I had enough time to
make a play. So when we talk about like everyone doing their job, is that what happened?
What was the emotion in the locker room after that?
Insane?
Be real like like it was it was crazy, but like you based off your head coach, Like yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like if head coach happy jumping around, you're gonna do the same thing. Like it was cool. When it was like lock in all we got game next week. Yeah, yeah, it was exciting for like like fifteen seconds. You know, it was like boys, he was having fifteen seconds.
Happy for you guys that.
You won exactly. You know what I'm saying. We had Jordian next. Yeah, but we arbituation absolutely, yeah, we should.
There's a lot of correct on that.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's not okay thirty one, that's okay. Yeah, it's okay.
Always coaching the process, yeah yeah, yeah, exactly, not the result.
Yeah, man, we appreciate it, bro, appreciate it.
It's been awesome, even great. It's pretty lot fun.
Yeah, appreciate with us, Yeah, no doubt.
Subscribe, drop comments, Thank thank you, Jalen, thank you book and thank you coach the board.
Like Tyler Booker, how are we doing, sir, phenomen I'm doing out standing here in the great state of Alabama. Ended up very prestigious. You know, diversity with a hog life cannot be any better.
Face with the hall. Yeah, where else would you rather be?
Michigan?
That was these already shaking us. I went to Michigan.
That was that was goe that was yeah, yeah, I hear you.
You have you got to live through the new guys.
I do, no question. Yeah when I played there.
I don't know what you did there.
When you were in middle school. When I was playing, Bro, we were not good. It was tough deal.
Dela. We were walking in earlier this morning. I was like, yeah, you know we we we whooped Alabama or whatever. I was like, yeah, but you played Alabama too, right.
We played in twenty twelve Cowboy Classic. It was like forty two to fourteen. They came out, They're like Derrick Henry didn't play. I don't think Derek he was even there yet, but they had like d Heart, all these dudes. Yeah, it was just a slaughter fest.
And as a big ten guy, I was watching the game, like, you know, you're like, come on, Michigan, let's go like show them, show them that the big tall and then you guys just it was over started.
It was.
But you you've had You've played a lot of different teams. You've also played in high school a bunch of forty year old men. When you're at IMG Academy. Yeah, who was Yeah, Bro, Bishop Sycamore, this is Sycamore? What was that? How that happened? How did they get that past?
The officials. That's above my pay grade. But I knew something was up when I got out there. The guy was like five to four. He woon number twenty seven. He had like a full beard. I was like, okay, this is different. And then they had like you know how you put the quarters in the machine, you get stickers out. They had those on their helmets instead of decals, and I was like, okay, like like we're gonna run up the score.
It's whatever.
Like we were in Ohio. We were there for a week, so we were just looking forward to doing that. We had a game at the next school. It's called lasal that's where that's the that should have been an ESPN game. But everything happens for a reason. Because that bitch of the sycamore thing?
Did you know? But like before it came out, where was it? Basically it came out, y'all, weren't surprises? Are do you guys kind of know like why you're playing the game? Like, yo, these are grown men out here.
So I was on the way to see my family after the game and I was going to hug my dad and he was shaking his head. I was like, we just put up fifty on this team.
What's wrong? He said, I don't know.
I was listening to the ESPN broadcast and they said, like they can't verify any of these players, Like they're saying it was a fake school.
I was like what he was like, they're saying.
For forty year old men to relive a dream.
Yeah, pretty much. I don't know what dream they were living. I wouldn't want to get beat by high schoolers, especially right.
Oh man, I hear you have quite the relationship with our producer JP. He was your guy back at IMG.
Yeah, that's my guy JP. Like, whatever we needed, we hit JP. It was JP, Josh and it was two guys named So those those four like they held us down the whole time. The IMG is pretty rough. It's they keep you locked down. So whenever we wanted to escape JA, we hit JP one of those guys, and we'd be out all day do whatever whatever we wanted.
JP was your chauffeur.
Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I be bringing pulled the van.
Yeah, pulled the van, get the guys in there, and get out.
So getting the van was a hard part because they were there were scheduled trips at IMG and then like JP and all those other guys. They had a lot of trust from like the higher up, So if we could find a van, we were we were out.
What do you guys go do in Brandington? Because I trained there for the combine? There is nothing there.
So there's a movie theater about down the street. There's a mall about thirty to forty minutes away, and we would just go walk around because we're at IMG. We ain't had no time to have a job, have money, so just go people watch at the mall and then we get something to eat.
That was That was about it. But it was better than being stuck on campus.
Yeah, I mean the.
Campus is super nice. It's like five five hundred acres. It's massive.
Yeah.
Yeah, talk about the IMG because I mean i've only I feel like it's grown so much, probably since you were there. But what you got you just go is that like a high.
School you just go to. It's essentially all in one. Like Brandonton, Florida is like newly weds and nearly dead. It's like the slow there's nothing to do there, but like then there's all of a sudden, this amazing facility. We're like every sport like people literally come from all around the world to train there because it's like so nice. Everything's so high tech and beautiful, and they're like, literally when I was there, they're like, we're gonna put a
hospital right here, so everything's all in one. They had everything you could possibly need. And I think the football team is like just a year old or something like that. Yeah, we're about to have like the greatest football team, the greatest high school football team of all time. And they've really you guys are what number.
One every year?
Yeah, pretty much.
And we actually won our first national championship my junior year. And it was always pretty tough because like, not a lot of schools want to play us, and understandably so we picked the best talent from all around the country. But you look at some of these other local high schools, like this kid lives forty minutes away. This kid lives an hour away. So what's the difference between I amg us and y'all? So it got harder to find good teams to play. But whoever wanted to play us, we
played them. I feel like modern day that was before my time, so we always try to play them.
They didn't really want to.
Play us, but they're in Kelli right.
Yeah, they're on CALLI but just having that target on your back every week, it's just like playing here. And I felt like that's what made this this decision to come to alban with. So, just like I was at the pinnacle of high school football, why don't not come to the pinnacle of college football?
Yeah? What was that process like for you? Because I'm sure when you go to IMG, the minute they say, oh, this kid got an IMG to play football, they probably gonna throw a scholarship your way.
Oh for sure.
You had everybody who do like what he's a big boy too. Yeah, I mean you look fantasticuts the house. You could probably run like the wind. You're a specimen, my friend. But when you had Alabama and all these other schools, what's up with your top five? What were your top five?
My top five was Florida, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama obviously.
Was it? Was it an easy decision? Was this an easy decision for you? Did you always want to Was it always Bama or was it close?
It was really close.
I was kind of put off Bybama at first. It's because they they started to recruiting me a little later. So, like that the back of the my I always got, like the simple graphics that they send everybody. I always got the little camp in So I'm like, okay, I have better relationships with other schools. But when they was time to set up my official visits, Coach Gillespie he's still here. He was like, Hey, are you coming to visit us? In my head, I'm like, no, I'm not
going to visit Alabama. I'm going to go somewhere else. And where were you thinking about going at that time? I had a great relationship with Penn State, so I was going to go there, and I was actually going to visit them right before everything got shut down by COVID,
So I was like, I always wanted to visit there. Uh, some of my homeboys have already committed, but I decided to make that my last o V. And I felt like that worked out perfectly because I was able to compare all the other schools to the standard, which is Alabama, and I saw nobody else really compare it.
No one else compared. So when you came here, like what'd y'all do for your visit?
We just walked, we came around. I hung out.
That means he had a good visit, no doubt, no doubt.
I kind of can't remember.
Did Penn State know you were gonna comment? Did they have a good idea that you were gonna Like, Hey, did you tell any coaches like, hey, I might actually come here?
So Penn State like I kind of took them out after I decided to visit Alabama And it was funny and like the day I got offered by Alabama, the Penn State coach called me. He was like, hey, you were still around. I was like, yeah, of course, but he knew what was gonna happen. He knew it was gonna happen.
Yeah.
What was it like walking into this building? You see all the national championship rings? You see I walked into y'all's offensive line rope, and there's all American after all American? Like that standard is so high here, Like, what was the intimidation factor for you walking in as an eighteen year old kid?
I don't think there was an intimidation factor, just because I had already been through a lot. I've already seen this kind of environment on lower levels. So just taking you through my football journey. I was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. I spent my freshman year at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey just to get a higher grade of football, and then I went to IMG. So
I'm used to change. I'm used to being put in the fire, So coming here, I knew it was gonna be a challenge, but ready to embrace it.
Being an upper classman. Now, what responsibilities do you feel like you take on now being the young guy, having those years behind you, and being more of a leader in the locker room.
I feel like I stepped into that leadership role last year when Bryson Will left, So that's something that we really focused on spreading that the weight of leadership throughout the team, and I feel like that's why we were so much better. So being able to lead and know I have guys that have my back like malachaim or JC Latham, Dallas Turner, Jayln Menroe, all those guys, knowing that they have my back, leading as a younger guy,
but still being a leader. Just going and going into this year, I'm trying to develop some of the other younger leaders on this team, because Alben was only going to be as good as I leave it, you know what I mean. So just like Taylor could talk about how good Michigan is now and how they weren't that good back when he was there. I want to be able to brag like him, so making sure I'm developing the next class.
So that's why I'm very big into recruiting, very good.
That's a good way to put it. I was a big recruiter too. It did not pay off.
You got to you gotta respect it. He's abste What are some of those small things you feel like, you know, trying to mentor those younger guys. Is it being more vocal, is it more like one on one time with guys? Like what do you feel like you've been trying to develop being a leader.
Trying to balance out like being like in your face and then like pulling guys to the side, making sure like making sure I praise guys as much as I correct them. And that's something I've really focused on this spring, and just working with some of the younger guys, Like you know what it's like working with a younger guy and he's making the same mistakes over and over against Like all right, bro, like you messed up on this four times in a row. You're obviously not paying attention.
So I get on them and then I pull them aside after and just make sure to be like, hey, are you good?
Is everything good with you? Okay?
So now that everything's fine, I need you to tighten it up. So just really making sure that they understand before you lead other people, you have to lead yourself and the man that you would want them to imitate you.
What do you?
Where do you?
Where did you learn that? IMG Academy imgcame? It was it guys older than you, Like.
It was guy it was it was guys older than me.
But we actually had like a leadership class, Like this is stuff that we did on a daily basis. So we had like we had leadership sessions. It was called ADP, right JP, It's called ADP. So there was like leadership sessions and mental training things like that. So like something I took from mental training at IMG is like visualization.
So like before every game, I put a towel over my head and I emerged myself into the game that I'm about to play, So like I think about what my gloves feel like, how tight my paths are, what the what's gonna spell like, what's gonna sound like? So like I'm really in the game, and then I just look at the script, see the play, run the play on my head, next play, and I just go through the whole script just so I essentially played the game mentally. Now I just have to go out and do it physically.
So little things like that just helped me become the player I am today.
You gotta get a had on your shoulders, bro.
You know, like the development you don't understand this, but the development you have right now, as far as from a mental mental process, is above and beyond right now. It's very impressive. With Nick Saban, you came here, he was the head coach, yes, when you heard the news that he was retiring, Like, how did that affect you? Because everybody came here to play with the greatest college football coach of all time.
Of course I was hurt, obviously, that was my initial reaction. I was just like, oh my gosh, Like I was expecting him to come in there and kind of rip us about the Michigan game, not so much RiPP us to be like, Hey, this is why we lost, and here's how we're going to correct it. Here's how we're going to get back there and then get further. That's what I was expecting, so for him to go up there and retire, it was just it was really a.
Shock to me.
But I've just been embracing it because I'm I've always been been big on legacy, Like how am I going to leave my legacy here? And I feel like there's no better way to leave my legacy than win the national championship with coach Bowler.
When when coach Chapin does retire, does your intendance go up on? Thinking, Hey, who's going to be the next guy in here? Maybe I hit the portal? Now that we're in the portal generation, the portal era, Well what was that process like for you? I was just sitting back and kind of observing he was going to be next.
Yeah, sit back and observe.
But to be honest, the portal was never it was never an option for me just because I've i have too many roots playing it here as far as like my teammates and everybody in this.
Building and then this community as well.
So like I'm, like I mentioned earlier, like I've been moving all around the place, all around since I was even even in middle school. I didn't mention this. I went to middle school an hour and a half away I woke up at five o'clock in the morning. So I've just been moving my whole life, and Tuscu Luise has given me the first real sense of community in my life, and I really wasn't willing to let that go.
Talk about your foundation, like, it seems like you have good parents, good support if you're waking up at five am, travel the middle school and kind of jumping around high schools and then trying to get to IMG because in their mind, your mind, this is the best These are the best moves for success to have in your future.
Yeah, my foundation is really my immediate family. So I grew up in a two point household, my mom and my dad. I have a older sister and a younger brother, and they like, just as how much I'm committed to this that I'm living out right now, everybody else in that house is committed to it as well, because it wasn't just them. It's me doing the physical work, but it's my mom also waking up at five o'clock, having to change her work schedule to pick me up from
the bus stop. At bus stop at four o'clock, my dad getting off a third shift, waking up early, taking me to school sometimes taking me to workouts and then my brothers and sisters having to sit in the car all day waiting for those workouts to finish. So it's just the commitment to this dream by my whole family. That's that's what makes it so easy. That's what makes that that's my why. They're my why.
That's amazing. That is amazing.
Yeah, from an offensive standpoint, how much has changed from next shaving to coach the board.
I feel like it's gonna be a lot more explosive. You're gonna see the ball in the air a lot more, and it's gonna be like real complimentary football. So that, I mean, that was the goal last year, but you could see it in the way that close the board
costs his offense. So as soon as I heard that he was the he was going to be the guy, went back and watched the Texas game because that's a mutual opponent that we had, and I saw how he called the game and the and the rhythm of what he called it and how he helps the office of line out.
So we're not dropping back forty to fifty times a game.
We have run action, we have play action, we got power, and we're going to throw the ball out of a power set. So just how he switches things up, I'm very excited to playing this offense.
His culture too, seems crazy, Like you look at Washington last year and they played like I think more than half of their games there were underdogs and they obviously won all but one. And it's like to have that kind of culture of like being underdogs consistently and coming and winning. And now he comes to a place that just constantly has talent, like you gotta think you guys are gonna crush.
It this year, Oh for sure.
Just his energy is just everything that he brings, like what makes him him is what makes him perfect for this job. So the first thing that he told us like he had non negotiables, and the first one is like, we're gonna be a family, We're going to grow closer together. And I feel like that was the biggest improvement from my freshman year to my sophomore year, and there was a bigger provement. I feel like we were a much better team. And that's why coach Saban Ray is about
that team house. One of his favorites is because of how close we were during the off season and how close we grew together during the season. What times were tough, like sef game was ugly, but instead of turning on each other and pointing a finger, we all decided to come together and be like, look, let's put that, let's put our egos aside and understand how how great we can be.
And we did that. From there on, we.
Just took off What what wrinkles do you feel like, Coach the world is brought to Alabama from Washington, give back into the uh the couple the wrinkles he's brought because we talked about him bringing up the music and everything else. What are a couple of things that he's brought from Washington?
So music and practice and then like music before meetings too. So I remember like it was his second meeting here and I walked in they got they got a little baby playing.
I'm like, what is going on?
Just coming from Coach Saving where everybody walks in you So it's funny there there is just a big white board and there's.
A little space so you can see Coach saving loie six.
Loafers walking in. Everybody goes to now coach the board like hey, hey, hey, coach, how's everybody doing? So it's just it's just the coach is different.
Yeah, polar opposite situation, size six loafer starts squeaking by the door, everyone gets scared of. Oh ship, that is a bit of a deal. How is from the blocking scheme standpoint, is it different?
No, it's pretty much the same.
So I feel like the biggest difference this year is going to be like the cadence of the play calls because up front things are called differently just because every officers line coach has a weird way of calling stuff. But it's the same. It's still the same. It's on our side on you'll do the.
Thing when you look at the board and then you look back and you go, or somebody calling something.
No, we so since they have the mic in their headphones this year, which is gonna be doing a little sugarhod.
On getting straights of the ball?
Oh for real?
Yeah, because everybody's helmet.
No, not everybody, just the quarterback, just a quarterback, which I think is a great.
Yeah, certain schools picked up on those boards, so we thought it wouldn't be a good idea to do that anymore.
Certain this guy, Yes, certain schools picked up on some things.
Now he can't ring and being nasty.
I'm a big way though. You give it. You do give some good juicy quotes with the media. Yeah, I'm gonna explain. I'm gonna quote what you said, and I want you to go into this mentality. We want to physically dominate you. We want to intimidate you. We want the third quarter to roll around and the defense to be like, oh my gosh, we can't stop the run. How are we going to stop this run? We want
to we want to physically impose our will. Talk about cultivating that mentality and being confident enough to speak on all like that, especially to the media.
So that quote was really just me challenging myself and the rest of the office with Lineman to be like, hey, like I put this president out here, we have to go live up to it. And Taylor can tell you that's every office of Lineman's creed like you want to go out and do that. We were just bold enough to go out and say it, like I said, JC said it so like we were just making ourselves live up to that standard of playing office of line like that, and that's that's how Alabama has been so successful in
the past. They just had a dominant office of line.
Do you have a favorite post game meal, favorite ritual.
I have a favorite post game ritual.
So whenever we're home, they have buses driving back here to the facility, But.
I like to walk.
I like to walk back just so like all the fans who came to the game, Like I can interact with the fans, you know, like just like some people spend their last to come to an Alabama football game, and I know this thirty second interaction I can have with some family that's gonna last than thirty years, Like they're never going to forget that interaction I have with them after the game.
So I just love walking back.
Yeah, I see what you like right over? See why you like this? Yeah? Real, he say, hey, we got to get book on, Like he's he'd be great.
When you're walking back from one of those games, how long does it take you to get back to the stadium or get back to the facility.
So it's not it doesn't take that, I probably say because I'm stopping and signing stuff and talking to people as well, So like probably say it takes like fifteen twenty minutes. After the spring game, it was wild because it was a free game, so so many people were there. It got it got to the point I was like, look, guys, like like listen, I'll walk and take pere, but like we just got to walk because I still have my knighbrases on. It was a spring game, so I still
have my neighbers on, still have my clissong. Like, man, I gotta get back walking back like that.
Yeah, I was, I was.
I just love doing that, and then I get to like talk to my family after too, you know what I mean.
I just I just love being around there.
I feel like that's my favorite part about being that a beam of that community, in that family with n I l is.
The offensive line like as a group sponsored by anybody.
Not yet, but we're open.
Yeah we did. We did the beef jerky that that did pretty well. We're gonna try to boost that up. But looking for other stuff too.
What do you feel like sets this culture apart from everywhere.
Else under standards of excellence.
You have guys that you have a lum that will come back here and tell us like this, this is what the standard is. And they're alum that work in the building, so you're always being reminded of what the past was like and how you have to live up to that and it's not. We don't see it as pressure. We see it too. We see it as a challenge and we want to create our own ligacy here, like we want this team to have his own legacy here, just like how their team had a legacy here and legacy.
Well, there are so many NFL guys that went to Alabama. Of all those guys that are still in the league, who's one dude you'd want to play with.
One dude that I want to play with, probably Evanil And just because he's an IMG guy, we had a very similar path. He was at IMG for three years. He's in New York right now, so that's close to home for me. So just playing with him and then I pick his brain every now and then as well, So just having that relationship with him and just looking up to him, like I are really looking up to him.
What do you like when you pick his brain? What does he tell you about the NFL con part to college?
He just tells he talks about the speed of the game and how it becomes even more of a business. So you just have to be prepared for that and just make sure you have everything in order before you get there, so nothing catches you off hard.
With everything you've experienced, with the support of your parents, going to IMG, taking leadership courses, mental courses, visualization, all that stuff, and being at a place like Alabama. In your opinion, what qualities make a good leader?
Never ask anybody to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. And I learned that before even was at IMG. I learned that from coach Nunzio Capanelli. He was at Burghn Catholic, so he recruited me to go to Burgon Catholic and then I think he took a job at Ruggers. He might be at Syracuse right now. But that that has always stuck with me, just about being the leader, Like how am I? How am I going to ask my center to do something that I'm not doing myself? Like
how am I gonna tell him to play harder? And I'm not even playing that? My heart is so just like because you're you're you're holding yourself to that standard and people are gonna follow.
I love that.
Do you read books on leadership at all?
Yes?
I did what you what you in Right now I'm reading the book by Tony Dunge.
I forget the name of it. I just started it, but just meeting him. I actually met him at my.
Official physic in Oregon, so then he's just a legendary coach. And my my dad's a huge football fanatic. So just meeting him and just getting into that book.
Is is it the one where he's transitioning to Tampa Bay.
No, it's it's called Uncommon that book.
Okay, a couple, Dude, does your family still live up north?
They do?
How often do they make it down all the time? Yeah?
So, my my little brother, he's playing football right now, so my parents will alternate weeks when they so somebody will stay at for his game and somebody will come out here. But yeah, we make it work. And that's that's the thing about us. So I don't think I mentioned this earlier. My dad and I used to come here for the Alabama of Football camps, the Next Tame of Football camps when I was in middle school. So we've always been committed to the dream, no matter what it tooks.
They're always here, always.
Been committed to the dream.
Yeah, that is awesome. I literally I don't think i've ever met a kid that's in college. You're a kid, you're an adult. But a guy in college that has had a head on their shoulders like you do use you seem like you really could.
Be smoke screens, you know what I mean. The you know what I mean, but.
You can believe like a scout, you find they're gonna look like we don't. Character and leadership not a problem, an easy combine. Yeah, that's awesome. We appreciate you.
But on, man, I got one more question for you at I m G. What's your favorite soccer field?
M hm hm.
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Yeah, great, stars, Thank.
You for coming on. It's been a lot of fun, bro. Appreciate you.