Bill O’Brien wasn’t the first coach to ask Jalen Milroe to change positions. Instead, Milroe learned years prior about the indignity Black quarterbacks face. It came as a warning.

Heading into eighth grade, Milroe attended a 3 Kings Quarterback Competition, the first specialty event of his burgeoning career. Milroe worked against high schoolers and afterward, a white male coach stopped them in the parking lot, Jalen’s dad Quentin Milroe recalled to AL.com.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were the youngest here,” the coach started. “One thing I’ll tell you is do not let them see you run, no matter what you do. As soon as you do, they’re gonna try to switch your position. But you are a true quarterback.”

Before Milroe could play a junior varsity snap, he would learn the impact Black quarterback stereotypes would have on his future as a thrower.

Though recent years have brought more diversity to the sport’s most important position — three Black quarterbacks were drafted in the first round two months after Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes competed for a Super Bowl in two watershed moments — Milroe entered the spotlight this fall under the microscope of racially-charged critiques. For example, Black quarterbacks have been accused by pundits and coaches for decades of not being smart enough to read a defense and rely on natural running ability.

Eventually, Milroe would shed those labels, using them as a motivating tool and acronym for No. 4 Alabama: LANK, or “Let A Naysayer Know”. After winning an open quarterback competition in fall camp, losing it in three weeks before regaining it for the rest of 2023, Milroe has earned his stripes.

Using his biggest platform ahead of the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Michigan, he openly discussed the doubt he’s faced from high school to even with the Crimson Tide when his former offensive coordinator asked Milroe to cut his goals short.

“How would you feel if I told you you suck? He told me a bunch of positions I could have switched to, but look where I’m at right now,” Milroe said this week. “Who gets the last laugh?

“They say I can’t throw, then they said, ‘OK, what else can’t he do?’ It’s a lot of things that are contributing factors (to) what’s different for a Black quarterback to thrive (to) where I’m at right now. Biggest thing I had to do was embrace hard. It wasn’t going to get any easier.”

At Tompkins (Texas) High in Katy, head coach Todd McVey built an offense to display Milroe’s strengths as a passer and runner as a read-option quarterback. Milroe didn’t bail the pocket early looking to pick up yards with his legs. Milroe was known for his arm strength. McVey implemented a short-distance catching drill that let wide receivers prepare their hands up for the zip Milroe put on the ball.

Meanwhile, as Milroe built a four-star recruiting profile, he would face similar questions at showcase camps. Was Milroe a defensive back or a wide receiver?

Ahead of Milroe’s senior year, which came during the global pandemic and a depleted Tompkins roster, McVey told Quentin Milroe to encourage his son to run more. Quentin responded that Milroe wasn’t against scrambling or leading the ground game, he was just weary of the optics. According to McVey, at least one major college program met with Milroe and asked him to consider a switch to safety.

“That was it. That meeting was over,” McVey said.

Even at the professional level, quarterbacks are subject to ridicule. Hall of Fame NFL executive Bill Polian said Lamar Jackson, a Heisman Award winner, would be better suited as a wide receiver when the Baltimore Ravens drafted him out of Louisville. Polian later retracted the statement but still said Jackson, an NFL MVP, still needed improvements as a thrower. An unnamed NFL source told The Atheltic in 2022 Mahomes is prone to “streetball” and not a ‘Tier 1 passer.’

Quentin Milroe likes to point out that coming out of high school, ESPN rated Milroe as the No. 17 pocket passer in the class of 2021. But when he enrolled in Tuscaloosa, the glimpses the fanbase saw were impressive weight-lifting videos. Then, last fall in a comeback win over Arkansas, which featured a 77-yard touchdown run and a sloppy, turnover-filled start against Texas A&M. (O’Brien left this past January for the New England Patriots.) A culture that identifies, ranks, scouts and analyzes kids didn’t have a comprehensive tag for Milroe, especially after a sub-par, two-interception showing against Texas.

Milroe is conscious of public perception, angling to be more than a “pure athlete” and other dog-whistle terms that minimize his mental acumen. Multiple times this season when asked about his skills as a runner, Milroe has made it a point to direct the answer to his ability to distribute akin to a point guard in basketball. Milroe even clarified in October that he dedicated “zero (offseason) training” to the ground game.

Quentin Milroe notices social media chatter about his son but refrains from commenting, especially after a fan approached Quentin Milroe in a bathroom following a road game asking why Milroe wasn’t throwing it more. Milroe’s parents, Lola and Quentin, have accepted they can’t change everyone’s opinions. But Quentin Milroe still chuckled when he saw someone on Facebook say Milroe wasn’t being a “good Christian” when he dropped a couple of expletives running off the field after beating Tennessee.

Milroe has completed 65.5% of his passes as a starter this year, throwing for 23 touchdowns and rushing for 12 more. He’s scrambled at key moments, like a 16-yard gain to set up a key conversion in the Iron Bowl shortly before fourth-and-31 or multiple pick-ups to ice the Southeastern Conference Championship against Georgia. A knock entering the year, Milroe has thrown one interception since October.

Said Quentin Milroe: “The first thing they said was ‘He couldn’t throw the ball at all. All he is is a runner. Start of the beginning of the season, ‘Oh, the only thing he is is a deep-ball thrower. He can’t read coverages or he can’t throw intermediate.’ People try to put him in that box and he keeps showing you what he can do.”

To be clear, Quentin Milroe said he’s overwhelmingly grateful for the support the program and the city have given his son. First-year UA offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is the first play-caller Milroe has had that played quarterback at the collegiate level. Rees, known for his ability to relate to players, cited Milroe’s humility, especially following his Week 3 benching at South Florida as a driving factor in the turnaround.

The “unconscious bias” remains though, as Quentin Milroe noticed while Alabama took the ball to start its Nov. 18 game at Kentucky. ESPN commentator and former Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers credited a surging UA offense “because of Milroe,” noting how Rees had fit the offense to Milroe’s strengths like flood concepts that “(simplify) the passing game.”

The latter portion bothered Quentin Milroe, especially when Ty Simpson checked in an injured Milroe for a snap and Rodgers said the plan of attack would change under a “pocket passer.” Simpson, a five-star from the class of 2022, was lauded as a dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school. Later that day following the blowout win, one Alabama fan cheering the team onto the buses shook Quentin Milroe’s hand and thanked him for his son.

“I feel like Jalen Milroe is a very good example of a young Black man defying odds, recently graduated, leading his team to the Rose Bowl, it’s inspiring,” Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner said. “Everybody is not doing what he’s doing and everybody can’t do what he does. I’m just blessed and excited to be around a guy like that.”

So is the 2023 journey for Milroe and Alabama football, which continues in Pasadena with a New Year’s Day audience getting a chance to see Milroe play quarterback.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].