After Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, critics have been flying out of the closet left and right and that includes former Crimson Tide players.
AJ McCarron, a former Alabama quarterback who is now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, called out Alabama head coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide offense claiming that Saban put ‘handcuffs’ on new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
In McCarron’s opinion, Alabama was “very bland” on offense against Ole Miss. In an interview with the radio station Tide 99.1 on Tuesday evening, McCarron said, “I don’t know if that’s Lane doing that, or if Coach Saban has kind of put the handcuffs on Lane — like I’ve known Coach to do in the past on his offensive coordinator.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how they bounce back … and what type of offense comes out this week.”
McCarron also claimed that Alabama does not have “true leaders like we had last year.”
“Guys that, when things go bad, [say], ‘Hey, let’s calm everybody down, pick it back up and go back to work and get back on the right track,’” McCarron told Tide 99.1. “I feel like when things go bad, this team struggles a little with bouncing back and making good plays.”
Saban responded to McCarron’s criticism on the radio station saying, “I don’t think we played real well last week for whatever reasons. I don’t know that that’s all leadership. I’m sort of responsible for all that, as we all 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.”
McCarron’s comments did not go unnoticed. Fran Tarkenton, a former NFL great with the Minnesota Vikings who attended Georgia, went on radio station WJOX-FM in Birmingham on Wednesday and unloaded on McCarron for his comments.
“Oh gosh, it’s AJ McCarron,” Tarkenton said. “Did he go to class? Did he make the league or not? He needs to be quiet. He was so fortunate to play in that program. He’s an average quarterback at best. He played fine, but he couldn’t have played anywhere else but Alabama.
In the end, Saban says the most important thing is how his team responds this weekend against Arkansas after their loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.
“The big thing with us is how’s our team going to respond to a loss,” Saban said. “What’s your adversity tolerance? How are you going to fight back? What are you going to do to try and get better? … This is going to be a real challenge for us playing on the road.”