Nick Saban has his first true quarterback competition on his hands since 2016, when true freshman Jalen Hurts beat out redshirt freshman Blake Barnett (no relation, I've checked), and junior Cooper Bateman for the job.
This time around, it's sophomore Jalen Milroe against redshirt freshman Ty Simpson against transfer Tyler Buchner, with freshmen Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan hanging around the table.
On Tuesday, Saban was asked if, in addition to the coaching the players receive on the field and in the film room, he gives the quarterbacks any feedback on how they perform off the field as it relates to winning the QB1 job at Alabama.
His response was short and sweet.
"What I tell the quarterbacks is, it's not up to the coaches -- you're looking over your shoulder to see if the coach is going to do this or that -- how about you forcing me to play you? Force us to play you. When you get your reps, you play so good we don't have any choice but to play you, rather than worrying about all this other stuff."
So, no, Saban does not provide feedback on how quarterbacks speak to their teammates in the locker room and get the offense lined up to run each play. That all factors in, of course, but if he could give one piece of advice to each of them it would be: Be so much better than the other dudes that you make my decision for me.