Crimson Red Sports

In the past, Alabama Coach Nick Saban, like most modern coaches, has been in theory and in practice a “one quarterback guy.” There are good reasons for that philosophy regarding leadership and continuity.

Older Alabama fans remember legendary Coach Paul Bryant going with more than one quarterback, but that was primarily in the wishbone days when the quarterback was often as much running back as the halfbacks. When he had Joe Namath or Pat Trammell or Kenny Stabler, Bryant was more likely to be a one quarterback guy, too.

This spring Alabama has what players and Saban describe as a good competition between two quality quarterbacks, upcoming sophomore A.J. McCarron, who has been the back-up the past two years, and redshirt freshman Phillip Sims, who is going through his second spring practice.

Following Alabama’s Wednesday practice, Saban said that in Saturday’s scrimmage “both guys are going to get equal reps. They get equal reps every day in practice. Both are doing a good job, both making a lot of good throws, and also having some learning opportunities in things that come up that maybe they weren’t quite ready for. I’m pleased with the progress both guys have made. We’re looking for those guys to show leadership and their understanding of how important leadership is at that position, how they affect other people, and that’s going to have something to do with how they get evaluated and we’ll go from there.”