Alabama football is breaking in a new starting center, James Brockermeyer, for the 2024 season to go with quarterback Jalen Milroe.
Brockermeyer and Milroe took reps together on the second team when Bryce Young was the starting quarterback during Brockermeyer’s freshman year in 2021. Now, in his junior year, they are back taking reps together, this time on the first team.
With the departure of Seth McLaughlin, who transferred to Ohio State this offseason, much has been made about the cadence of Milroe. Meeting with the media on Friday, Brockermeyer talked about getting reps with Milroe and his experience with him.
NATE OATS: Inside Nate Oats’ long-winding journey to the Final Four
MARK SEARS: How Alabama basketball landed Mark Sears, putting Crimson Tide on path to Final Four
“It’s been really good, getting to play with Milroe is always fun, really exciting athlete you get to play with. Definitely been getting more reps with him this year compared to last year. Even freshman year we get a lot of reps together, obviously he was behind Bryce (Young), my freshman year. We’re familiar with each other and its been a joy to work with.”
The issue with Milroe’s cadence came to light when Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was addressing McLaughlin’s errant snap issue and placed at least some of the blame on the cadence that was being used, saying at least some of it was due to the quarterback. McLaughlin had been the Alabama starting center for three seasons, but the snap issues popped up in 2023 and continued through the Rose Bowl loss to Michigan.
“Seth’s snaps have been great,” Day told reporters last month “I know that was a little bit of a concern, I think it had a little bit to do with the (quarterback’s) cadence or whatever. He’s been doing great.”
Also last month, in response to Day, Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer told media members that they “haven’t had any problems there” with the cadence used by Milroe and the Crimson Tide quarterbacks.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Alabama football James Brockermeyer talks about Jalen Milroe’s cadence
