Former Tide quarterback Coker sees bright future for DeBoer, Bama football

Former Alabama quarterback Jake Coker participated in the recent Kevin Turner YMCA Memorial Golf Tournament at the RTJ Capitol Hill course in Prattville. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

PRATTVILLE -- Jake Coker thinks Alabama football is in a good place.

The former Crimson Tide quarterback, who was in town a week ago for the annual Kevin Turner YMCA Golf Tournament, watched the transition from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer last year and said it went about as he expected.

“I think it’s gone about as well as it could have,” Coker said. “I know before the season started, I thought nine wins would be a heck of a year, with (DeBoer) coming in and with the transfer portal, having to replace somewhere around 26 guys. I thought those guys did a heck of a job, coming in and keeping the program together. Jalen Milroe, Tyler Booker, those leaders stuck it out and gave their time and dedication to Alabama when I know they had some dollar signs (offered) at other places.

“We had good leadership, a lot of character in that locker room. Kalen DeBoer, I think people respect him and enjoy playing for him and I think,  long term, he’s going to do really well at Alabama. I think Kalen DeBoer had a solid future prior to all this NIL stuff. I think it’s going to be far more delicate moving forward and I think he’s going to do a good job adapting and making the most of it.”

Coker, who lives in Mobile with his wife and two young daughters and sells commercial insurance for Gallagher Insurance, can certainly understand today’s college football world of name, image and likeness and the transfer portal. After all, he was in a similar situation as some of the players who transfer to other programs looking for more playing time or a better environment.

“Look, I transferred from Florida State to Alabama,” Coker said. “I had Jameis Winston come in. He was younger than me and he was named the starter. When I left Florida State, I came to Alabama. I would not have left Florida State had I not loved Alabama and the thought of winning a national championship as the quarterback at Alabama. I loved my teammates (at Florida State). It was very hard to leave Florida State. At the same time, I knew what my goal was. I just really wanted to win one at Alabama. I would have sacrificed anything to play at Alabama at that time.

“I just hope that these kids, when they pick a school, that they commit to it and love that school and really will do whatever they can to win. I understand NIL has kind of thrown a wrench in some things and the transfer portal has kind of done the same but I think over time things are going to play out.

“You see Nico Iameleavea, I hated watching that situation. I don’t think he got what was best for him, I don’t think Tennessee got what was best for Tennessee. I think there’s going to be a huge learning curve for these kids, understanding both sides need to be transparent and you need to get to where both sides are comfortable in a world where money is going to dominate.”

Coker didn’t put up a lot of big numbers in a run-oriented St. Paul’s Episcopal offense and initially committed (and later signed) with Florida State in 2010.

“When I was coming out of high school, (then-Alabama assistant) Jeremy Pruitt was recruiting me,” Coker recalled. “My initial meeting with him, he told me Alabama wasn’t taking a quarterback. I grew up an Alabama fan, loved Alabama. When he told me that, I didn’t even go to a camp in Tuscaloosa. I did the camp circuit and I was at Florida State for a morning workout and Jimbo (Fisher) offered me a scholarship as soon as we walked off the field.

“They told me if another guy committed, they only had one scholarship for a quarterback so I went ahead and took it. I had one or two offers, but it meant a lot to me that Jimbo took a risk on me. I wanted to be loyal because of that. I like Jimbo a lot.”

He was redshirted in 2011, then was the backup to EJ Manuel in 2012. In 2013, when the quarterback job was open, Fisher gave it to Jameis Winston.

“If I was younger than Jameis, that would have been one thing, but I was older,” Coker said. “I also had knee surgery that last year at Florida State, after playing Wake Forest. I had a lot of time alone during that period in rehab and I just thought a lot about what I wanted out of football. The more I thought about it, all I could think about was winning a national championship at Alabama. When you’re in high school, you think about the NFL and all that stuff, but I really started thinking about it and a national championship at Alabama, that was it. That was my ultimate goal in football.”

It was Florida State, not Alabama, that won the national championship in 2013, but Coker’s mind was made up. Now, he needed to see if there was a way he could convince Alabama coaches to offer him a scholarship.

“There was some communication there and I knew Alabama was interested,” Coker said. “As soon as we won the national championship at Florida State, I got in contact with Coach Saban and it was pretty much a done deal. I had some other calls from other schools, but I told those guys I wasn’t interested as long as Alabama worked out. Thank God Alabama did work out.”

But not at first. For the third consecutive year, Coker was a backup, this time to Blake Sims as he entered the 2014 season. Alabama was upset by Ohio State in the College Football Playoff semifinals and Coker went back to work, earning the job -- and a national championship -- in 2015.   

“It’s hard to believe, growing up and watching Alabama football and being such a big fan,” Coker said. “I remember taking that knee in the national championship game. I think about it, how many times my ultimate goal in football was to win (a national championship) at Alabama and I’ll be damned if it happened.”

A lot has changed since that memorable win over Clemson in Glendale. His old coach is now a college football analyst for ESPN GameDay. Some have been surprised at Saban’s personality on the air, but Coker isn’t one of them.

“He was always like that,” Coker said. “He was hilarious. When he’s locked in and giving speeches, he’s maybe a little angry. But your every day Coach Saban is pretty hilarious -- real dry, old-school humor. He was always hilarious to me.”

The college football world has changed as well, with recruits now wondering how much money they can get and players transferring to other schools in search of better NIL deals.

“To me, I had the best possible scenario as a backup at Florida State,” Coker said. “Loved my teammates, absolutely loved playing there, loved my coaches. Felt like they gave me more than an opportunity. Just a scholarship back then meant the world to me and to be able to play there in those circumstances. And I had the best possible scenario at Alabama, ultimately being able to win a national championship as the starter.

“When I turn the TV on, especially when I’m watching Alabama, you just hope those guys get to experience something like that where you have a completely selfless team that didn’t care about stats or anything else individually, you just wanted to win as a team. I hope they get to experience that. I don’t know how possible that is right now, given the circumstances. You don’t know how long guys are going to be there or if a price tag is going to change the way they think about where they should be.”

Saban’s name has been linked to a possible commission on college athletics, something the former coach shoots down but Coker, like many other former Alabama players, think is an ideal situation.

“That’s exactly where he needs to be,” Coker said. “A few years ago, I said he needs to be the college football warden, he needs to be making the rules. If you look back on his career, he was always ahead of the curve in every aspect, whenever new rules came out, whether it was on the field or off the field. I think he’s probably the most forward thinker and the most capable thinker in the college football landscape. I think he’s going to put college football back on the right track.”