AJ McCarron doesn’t bend that much. That’s what center Ryan Kelly had to say about the quarterback he’s been snapping this spring, and how he’s different from other quarterbacks.
Kelly is one of three new faces that will be in front of McCarron on the offensive line. D.J. Fluker, Chance Warmack and Barrett Jones – three fifths of a historic offensive line in 2012 – will all be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft. McCarron will be tasked with leading the new faces on the line and perhaps taking the offensive as a whole to new heights in 2013 – no small task considering what the unit accomplished in 2012.
“AJ’s leadership is critical to our team,” head coach Nick Saban said. “AJ has the capabilities of being a good leader, and he has to assert himself as that and impact and affect other people by the example that he sets. I think the players like AJ, I think they respect AJ, and I think the more he does things the right way, the more he’s going to be able to affect other people. He’s always done a good job of that, and I’ve been pleased with that in the past.”
Fans got a good glimpse of just how assertive McCarron can be during the BCS National Championship when he and Jones got in a shoving match during the waning minutes of the fourth quarter when the game was already well out of hand. The two players said after the game, however, that it was a sign of respect and of how much the pair wanted to win.
Teammates have already seen that similar, in-your-face behavior in McCarron this spring.
“He’s a very vocal leader. Him and C.J. Mosley, they get on you when they have to, they let us have it when we need it,” wide receiver Kenny Bell said. “Me being with AJ for so many years, he’s like my brother. So when he’s getting on to me, it ain’t nothing but brotherly love out there.”
McCarron will have to mentor a crowded group of quarterbacks, all of whom will be vying for his job in 2014. The Crimson Tide added three quarterbacks in January, in addition to the four that were already on the roster.
“He can do a lot to help with their development by spending a little time with them in terms of understanding,” Saban said. “Any time you’ve been through something and you have experience learning and growing with something, you can benefit somebody else who’s trying to learn and grow through it based on the experience that you have.”
McCarron also played a central role in an offseason team meeting that dealt with issues such as complacency and off-field problems, including the four players who were arrested and released from the team in February.
“You just have to be accountable for your job on and off the field,” McCarron said. “We’re getting an education at the same time, to do the right things not only because we represent this team and this university, but our last name, our families. We’re not here to make anybody look bad, so we have to be a man. You’re on your own, you have to held accountable.”
