Manager shade: Alabama turns Bo Nix's pregame comments into prime social media fodder
The pregame comments by Auburn QB Bo Nix really struck a nerve with the Alabama football program. In fact, the Crimson Tide were still sharing their retort on Monday, two days after a 29-point win in the Iron Bowl.
Before the game last week, Nix shared these thoughts about Alabama QB Mac Jones:
“He does a great job managing the game, getting the ball to his players around him,” Nix said. “Obviously he’s got a great running back, great offensive line, great receivers. That helps a lot. But he does a good job of managing the job, taking completions and knowing what to do with the ball.”
Alabama WR DeVonta Smith was among the players who used it for motivation, and he admitted that in the post-game, and offered a comment which Jones nodded in agreement to after the win.
“It was just funny just seeing that,” Smith said after the rivalry game. “But I mean, at the end of the day, people are gonna talk, they’re gonna do what they want. At the end of the day, we’re just gonna show up, execute the game plan and do what we’ve gotta do.”
With all of that, the Alabama social media team came with this zinger on Monday, “No Coach, but we still managed” before a “Manager Material” poster with a picture of Jones.
No Coach, but we still managed.
🐘: 42 🐯: 13#BamaFactor #RollTide pic.twitter.com/JpIEyzdr4D
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) November 30, 2020
Don’t think Bo was taking a shot at all. That’s just his style of talk and he’s not the person who’d take shots.
Clearly these were back handed compliments. Now Bo gets to eat crow.
Bo isn’t that person. He has respect for other athletes. He wasn’t taking a shot. If you watch more press conferences of Bo, you’ll see that his vocabulary can be weird sometimes, and make you think harder about what he’s saying.
Maybe you need to think harder… and more objectively. When asked about Mac Jones, Bo Nix twice mentioned Mac “managing” the game while avoiding any mention of Mac’s talent as a QB. “Game manager” has negative connotations regarding a QB’s talent and Bo Nix was certainly aware of that. It was deliberate diss.
He’ll learn to choose his words more carefully.
Nix was openly insulting his own teammates.
That too, he seems to be saying: “I don’t have a great running back, great offensive line and great receivers. If I did, I’d be a Heisman frontrunner too.”
probly not. lol.
Almost certainly not. Bo Nix has yet to develop the discipline, good decision making, and consistent accuracy to have a 90+ QBR.
Bo’s got something greater than talented teammates, he’s got the greatest play caller in college football with that giant waffle house menu play sheet on his sidelines. That’s invaluable.