TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Former University of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron backtracked some and said that his comments from a radio show the night before were not reflective of how he felt or what he was trying to say.
Making another appearance on Tide 99.1 FM in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, McCarron stated that what he said on “The Game” was “Taken on out of context and blown up and more than what it was intended for, and that’s the bad side of media.”
Although McCarron had openly wondered if Coach Nick Saban was “putting the handcuffs” on offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and his play-calling, the comment that caused the most controversy came when a caller asked about the penalty problems the offense has had this season.
“I think one of the things that this team is lacking that hurts them the most is not having the true leaders like we had last year and guys that, when things go bad, ‘Hey, let’s calm everybody down, pick it back up and go back to work and get back on the right track.’” McCarron said. “I feel like when things go bad, this team struggles a little with bouncing back and making good plays.”
McCarron backed away from that on Wednesday.
“I miss-worded that, and I’ll admit that,” McCarron said. “What I meant, because I gave an example right after I said that, was a vocal leader example. So that’s what I should have said, vocal leader. And I mentioned last night that they have plenty of leaders on this team. I named numerous ones last night. Ryan Kelly. I knew that he was one of them.
“I asked with him being out, ‘Who was going to be that vocal guy that steps up now?’ And I asked, ‘Is that Blake Sims? Does he need to step up into that role?’ That’s not a negative in any way.”
Nevertheless, just days before No. 7 Alabama visits Arkansas (6 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN). Saban was asked about it and if the offense was lacking any true leaders during the weekly SEC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning.
“I don’t really think it’s really true,” the coach said. “Leadership is something that … we have several guys who have played a lot of football around here who do a good job. I think sometimes people look at the quarterback position as the guy who has to be the leader and think sometimes when you have a new quarterback that guy’s really concerned with trying to do what he’s supposed to do. Maybe he doesn’t look to be perceived as a guy who’s effective by other people, but I actually think that Blake does a pretty good job of (being) very well-liked by his teammates, he’s a very positive, high-energy guy and has shown leadership.
“I don’t think we played real well last week, for whatever reasons. I don’t know if that’s on leadership, I’m sort of responsible for all that as well all are as coaches and players, to make sure that we’re ready to play our best against good teams in tough environments on the road. I don’t know how AJ would really know, but I don’t necessarily see that as the case.”
However, this wasn’t the first time that Saban has responded to a comment made by McCarron about the Crimson Tide’s leadership. A couple of weeks after Alabama lost to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl in January he told CBS radio that some of the younger players on the team didn’t “buy in” enough last season.
“We had a lot of young guys,” McCarron said. “In the end, success was our killer. Too much success and a lot of young guys coming in who didn’t know what it took to get back to that point to win. They thought we’d just show up and we’d win.”
He pointed to the feeling of entitlement that a lot of players have coming out of high school, especially those who are highly recruited, as the primary cause.
“When they don’t play off the bat, they get a little ticked off and they don’t want to work,” he said.
McCarron, arguably the most successful quarterback in Crimson Tide history and won two national championships as a starter, also said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that: “A lot of people don’t realize I wasn’t healthy at Alabama. I sacrificed a lot to play for Coach Saban and that university; I played through a lot of injuries and we never leaked it because that’s just the way it is.
“I’ve played through a lot, just try to fight through for my teammates and my team.”
Although Saban showed a lot of public support for McCarron through the NFL Draft, when he fell to the fifth round and was selected by Cincinnati Bengals amid reports that he rubbed teams the wrong way during his pre-draft interviews.”
After the draft, though, Saban said before a Crimson Caravan event: “I think a senior player — and I love AJ — but I think a senior player has a responsibility as a leader on the team to understand that when younger players come into the program, they are not going to necessarily have all the right stuff or understand the right stuff to be a part of the team. There has to be a tolerance and a commitment on the older players to sort of embrace the younger players to try to get them to where they need to play, even if they don’t play.
“It should not be something that upsets an older player. It should not be an issue with an older player because I can take some of these same older players and tell you about them when they were freshmen and they needed older players to help them get where they needed to be and they had to learn lessons along the way to help them develop into what they became.”
McCarron’s comments Tuesday drew harsh criticism in social media, both locally and nationally, including former Georgia and NFL quarterback Fran Tarkenton saying on the morning show for WJOX-FM in Birmingham that: “AJ McCarron, he needs to be quiet.”
Former teammate Ha Ha Clinton-Dix tweeted Wednesday night: “Can’t believe he said that about his former team.”
“That’s just the way it goes,” McCarron said about being in the spotlight as a former Alabama quarterback.
“It’s tough, when I feel like I’ve been a big supporter of this year’s team, and not just this year’s team but Blake Sims, who is one of my good friends. We talk all the time and I try and help him with whatever I can.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
