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Former Alabama quarterback and current SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show Thursday afternoon and was asked about AJ McCarron's recent comments during a radio interview. McElroy gave his opinion regarding what McCarron said earlier in the week, and the Crimson Tide's former signal caller didn't agree with his former backup.
"When I looked at what AJ said, one thing you should never do, you never criticize the person that helped get you where you're at," McElroy said. "Nick Saban, I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. AJ McCarron owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Every Alabama football player that has put on the crimson jersey in the last eight years should be very grateful for the experience of having played for Nick Saban.
"A lot of people have looked at this Alabama team and everyone's pressing the panic button. They lost one game. They scored 17 points. That (Ole Miss) defense, they've only allowed 8.5 points a game, leading into that game. That's double their season average. I know they had the defensive touchdown, but still. That was a very good football team that (Alabama) played last week. They lost by six points. They allowed a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They had the lead in the fourth quarter and everyone's panicking. There's no need to panic. Alabama's lost games in each of the last few years and they've still been very much in contention at the end of the year. So you cannot look at this one game and say 'This is a huge loss. This killed us. The dynasty's over.' Everyone's making all these assumptions and it's unnecessary."
McElroy went on to address McCarron comments that Saban was handcuffing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and Alabama's offense.
"Alabama still has one of the best offensive coordinators in the country in Lane Kiffin," McElroy said. "You can say that the offense was bland, you can say he was handcuffed. I don't believe any of those things. This guy has done a tremendous job with Blake Sims. He's done a tremendous job with that running game and he's done a great job puttingAmari Cooper in places to make plays. They just had a game where the offense didn't play quite as well. The execution wasn't at the same level. It's not a reason reason to press the panic button and get concerned. They just have to go about their business. They're going to have another tough road challenge this weekend up in Fayetteville."
McElroy also spoke about the Crimson Tide's leadership, which McCarron said was lacking in the Ole Miss game.
"When I looked at it, it's always difficult to comment on leadership when you're not in the locker room," McElroy said. "You can have your assumptions, but I don't think this team has a problem when it comes to leadership. It has a problem when it comes to experience. The quarterback is inexperienced. Blake Sims is going into his sixth start this week. On the defensive side of the ball, Landon Collins in the secondary is a guy that everyone would look to as a leader, played a lot of football games, had some experience, had some success. He's trying to get guys organized on defense. So necessarily, when you look at things on the defensive side of the ball, you would assume that Trey DePriest and Landon Collins would be those guys. They've been those guys.
"We're not in that locker room, Paul. We can't assume what's going on behind closed doors. We don't know. It's not our right to say. So for that reason, you should never comment on leadership unless you're on the team itself. I think this team has a much more difficult time trying to deal with the experience lost. C.J. Mosley was an incredible player. AJ McCarron was an incredible player. Both were very demonstrative personalities, both established themselves in the locker room. This team is very young. It's inexperienced and those guys are doing a tremendous job. What they were able to do for the first four games was nothing short of fantastic. They just had a tough game last week on the road in their first difficult road environment against a very good football team. There's no reason to get overwhelmingly concerned with anything in Tuscaloosa. They're going to be just fine."
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"When I looked at what AJ said, one thing you should never do, you never criticize the person that helped get you where you're at," McElroy said. "Nick Saban, I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. AJ McCarron owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Every Alabama football player that has put on the crimson jersey in the last eight years should be very grateful for the experience of having played for Nick Saban.
"A lot of people have looked at this Alabama team and everyone's pressing the panic button. They lost one game. They scored 17 points. That (Ole Miss) defense, they've only allowed 8.5 points a game, leading into that game. That's double their season average. I know they had the defensive touchdown, but still. That was a very good football team that (Alabama) played last week. They lost by six points. They allowed a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. They had the lead in the fourth quarter and everyone's panicking. There's no need to panic. Alabama's lost games in each of the last few years and they've still been very much in contention at the end of the year. So you cannot look at this one game and say 'This is a huge loss. This killed us. The dynasty's over.' Everyone's making all these assumptions and it's unnecessary."
McElroy went on to address McCarron comments that Saban was handcuffing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and Alabama's offense.
"Alabama still has one of the best offensive coordinators in the country in Lane Kiffin," McElroy said. "You can say that the offense was bland, you can say he was handcuffed. I don't believe any of those things. This guy has done a tremendous job with Blake Sims. He's done a tremendous job with that running game and he's done a great job puttingAmari Cooper in places to make plays. They just had a game where the offense didn't play quite as well. The execution wasn't at the same level. It's not a reason reason to press the panic button and get concerned. They just have to go about their business. They're going to have another tough road challenge this weekend up in Fayetteville."
McElroy also spoke about the Crimson Tide's leadership, which McCarron said was lacking in the Ole Miss game.
"When I looked at it, it's always difficult to comment on leadership when you're not in the locker room," McElroy said. "You can have your assumptions, but I don't think this team has a problem when it comes to leadership. It has a problem when it comes to experience. The quarterback is inexperienced. Blake Sims is going into his sixth start this week. On the defensive side of the ball, Landon Collins in the secondary is a guy that everyone would look to as a leader, played a lot of football games, had some experience, had some success. He's trying to get guys organized on defense. So necessarily, when you look at things on the defensive side of the ball, you would assume that Trey DePriest and Landon Collins would be those guys. They've been those guys.
"We're not in that locker room, Paul. We can't assume what's going on behind closed doors. We don't know. It's not our right to say. So for that reason, you should never comment on leadership unless you're on the team itself. I think this team has a much more difficult time trying to deal with the experience lost. C.J. Mosley was an incredible player. AJ McCarron was an incredible player. Both were very demonstrative personalities, both established themselves in the locker room. This team is very young. It's inexperienced and those guys are doing a tremendous job. What they were able to do for the first four games was nothing short of fantastic. They just had a tough game last week on the road in their first difficult road environment against a very good football team. There's no reason to get overwhelmingly concerned with anything in Tuscaloosa. They're going to be just fine."
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