Alabama Football: 7 Truths Why AJ McCarron Is the Quarterback Alabama Needs

The seven things that make A.J. McCarron the quarterback that may be able to take Alabama back to another championship.

1. Confidence

2. Follows orders

3. Bravery

4. Decision making ability

5. Leadership

6. Arm strength and Intelligence

7. A great relationship with Nick Saban

In covering Alabama football this season, I have been called an A.J. Homer and worse because I've always known and written that McCarron would be the starting quarterback.

In reality, I have no more affection or interest in McCarron than Phillip Sims, Blake Sims or Phillip Ely. I just have a better handle on what's going on than most people because I have talked to the players themselves and simply knew what would happen.

I reported two years ago that Greg McElroy would surprise a lot of people and go on to be a great and winning quarterback at Alabama.

I am telling you now that A.J. McCarron will do the same and have just explained why.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)

He Has Confidence

He has confidence and when he first got to Alabama, maybe a little too much of it. He showed up at Tuscaloosa wanting to show the coaches and players that he could throw the ball 40 yards down the field with a velocity they hadn't seen in a while, through double coverage and just past the outstretched hand of a defender.

Little did he know at the time that this was something that no one on the coaching staff wanted to see.

Alabama quarterbacks don't throw a ball into tight double coverage unless there's less than two minutes to go and you're down by four. He wasn't impressing the coaches at all, but simply upsetting them that he would even attempt that throw.

Clearly this was a young man who came in as a wild stallion, used to running unbridled, playing as a man among boys and unaware that this kind of thing won't work in the SEC where the speed of defensive backs here and the usual high school boy, vary as much as go karts to NASCAR.

Still, underneath all the yelling directed at him early on for poor decision making, they loved his confidence, but they had to get it under control, and they think they have.

He's a Good Soldier and Follows Orders

McCarron played under a different coaching style and tempo in high school. He was told if he had a shot, take it deep, force one in, or check off to something you see that may be better.

That didn't fly at Alabama.

To be a starting quarterback there, you have to learn to follow the script and follow orders, be a good soldier and do what is best for the mission, than for yourself.

McCarron has the maturity not to let the people who are saying he isn't doing anything great not to bother him and last week's game was the perfect example. They are saying his numbers were just so so and he did nothing himself.

A.J. has learned to ignore all that.

He accomplished exactly what Nick Saban had "ordered" him to do.

1. Don't turn the ball over

2. Avoid sacks, throw the ball away

3. Move the chains

4. Make drives result in scoring opportunities

5. Be a leader, instill confidence in others

Saban said after the game that he was happy with the way A.J. managed the game.

So McCarron is content, or faking it well, to follow orders and not worry about his own numbers.

He Won't Back Down in the Face of Danger

McCarron is one of those "fiesty" quarterbacks that coaches almost love and hate on an equal basis.

They love how he will stand in pocket as it is collapsing and concentrate on throwing the ball correctly instead of worrying about being hit.

They hate how he sometimes refuses to slide after a run and instead lowers his head and shoulders for a final collision that he hopes will result in another two or three yards.

They love how he isn't intimidated by the jawing and insults hurled at him by opponents during a game.

They hate how he will jump into the face of a huge defensive lineman and tell him to bring it on as he did with one of Florida's 300-pound players this past Saturday.

That kind of courage however, makes him a favorite with the other players on the team, and makes them evermore ready to make the extra effort to defend him.

He Doesn't Make Bad Decisons

One of the reasons Phillip Sims sits on the bench with equal or better talent is that McCarron has been in the system long enough to have learned how to stop making bad decisions.

What kind of bad decisions does he not make?

1. He avoids sacks with pocket presence. Unlike Sims, he feels when the pocket is collapsing, and a decision has to be made that millisecond, either tuck it and run for what you can get or throw it to someone on the bench. Don't take a sack.

2. Throwing silly interceptions. McCarron doesn't force the ball to the primary receiver, he will look over the field and go to the second, third or safety valve receiver, who is usually a running back. If that fails, then sometimes the best throw a quarterback makes in a drive is the one he doesn't throw into play, but throws away.

3. He secures the ball. A.J. does not fumble. His pocket presence means he's not going to get a ball slapped out of his hands as he prepares to throw.

4. He knows the defenses well enough to understand what they've planned to do on the play about to happen and can check off at the line of scrimmage to a different play.

Receiver Marquis Maze said McCarron is doing a wonderful job, just like McElroy did, in reading the defense and checking off to a better play against that lineup.

He Is a Leader

After the Capital One Bowl Game in Orlando, A.J. told me that he had gotten assurances from all the receivers that they would stay in Tuscaloosa over the summer and work out together.

When I interviewed the receivers, they all acknowledged that was true.

Now this was all before the so called "quarterback competition" and when I asked them what they thought about next season, all of them to a man said that they thought A.J. was ready to lead them and that they expected the team not to miss a beat with him in charge.

Not one receiver ever said one word about Phillip Sims or any other quarterback.

Darius Hanks told me he trusted A.J. and had all the faith in the world that he could lead them back to a championship game.

So when people asked me why I was so sure A.J. McCarron would be the starting quarterback, it was simple. The players who knew the contenders in a way none of us in the media possibly could, had already chosen A.J. in their minds.

It's always been said that people are drawn to a natural leader and all the receivers I interviewed were all clearly drawn to A.J.

He's Got the Arm and the Intelligence

Receivers have told me that McCarron can throw the ball hard enough to make catching it tricky and you better be ready for the heat.

Can McCarron throw the 40 yard out pattern on a rope? Yes.

Can he throw the deep ball? Yes, but it's about time he proved it.

Does he have the same kind of mental game that McElroy had?

Yes, and you can thank McElroy for most of that. Greg McElroy taught him things like another coach would have. And McCarron's told me in interviews that the things he picked up from McElroy were just as important to his development as what he got from some of the coaches.

At 6'4'', with added weight and muscle, a cannon arm and great intelligence, he certainly has the right tools to be a top quarterback.

All he needed was experience and he's getting that quickly. With that under his belt, the future certainly looks bright.

The Relationship with Saban and the Buying into

Now that the quarterback battle is officially over and done, I can tell you a story that A.J. told me during an interview at the end of last season.

He said that as a new freshman, he was just wandering around the athletic office one Sunday and found Saban in his office alone. He said that Saban told him he liked to come in on Sundays when it was quiet and spend time doing things he couldn't get to during the week.

But instead of leaving, he stayed and the two talked.

He said it became an every week event and that he and Saban would spend three hours together almost every Sunday ever since that first encounter.

He said they've talked about all kinds of things, watched film together or just hang out. Kirk McNair was overhearing all this and asked, "Is there anyone else with you or is it just you and Coach Saban?"

And A.J. said no, that this was "their time" and it was just the two of them.

He went on to explain that he and Coach Saban had a very close relationship that was hard to describe. It is much more that just coach and player, sort of like a father-son kind of relationship, but also like a good friendship. He said he couldn't explain it any better but it was just a very special relationship.

I warned A.J. not to tell this story anymore, that I was afraid it would give people the idea that if he was the starting quarterback, people might think it was only because of that relationship and not on merit.

So maybe, since that cat got out of the bag, Saban wanted to prove to everyone, and maybe especially Phillip Sims, that this wasn't the case. Saban wanted everyone to see for themselves that the best quarterback got the starting job and a very fair job fight.

One thing that Saban can't hide however, is his own emotion when dealing with A.J.

A father is always tougher on his own son than the other players if he coaches his son's team, and Saban fits that profile. Remember him swatting A.J. on the bottom after an ill-advised throw? Or what about last week when A.J. got in the face of a big defensive lineman and told him to bring it on?

Saban got noticed by the camera yelling at the top of his lungs and gesturing wildly to calm down with perhaps a strong swear word in there too.

It's clear that there is a great relationship there and that can only help McCarron and Alabama.

And There You Have It

The seven things that make A.J. McCarron the quarterback that may be able to take Alabama back to another championship.

1. Confidence

2. Follows orders

3. Bravery

4. Decision making ability

5. Leadership

6. Arm strength and Intelligence

7. A great relationship with Nick Saban

In covering Alabama football this season, I have been called an A.J. Homer and worse because I've always known and written that McCarron would be the starting quarterback.

In reality, I have no more affection or interest in McCarron than Phillip Sims, Blake Sims or Phillip Ely. I just have a better handle on what's going on than most people because I have talked to the players themselves and simply knew what would happen.

I reported two years ago that Greg McElroy would surprise a lot of people and go on to be a great and winning quarterback at Alabama.

I am telling you now that A.J. McCarron will do the same and have just explained why.

(Larry Burton is a syndicated writer whose work appears online and in print. If you'd like to keep up with all his articles, follow him on Twitter and sign up as a fan on his Bio Page.)