Joshua McMillon couldn’t hang up his crimson helmet just yet — not after the season he had to endure on the sidelines.
After tearing his ACL last fall, the veteran linebacker was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA this offseason. According to McMillon, the decision to return to the team was an easy one.
Two-loss seasons and trips to the Citrus Bowl don’t sit well with Alabama players.
“It was just a bad taste left in my mouth, from the past year,” McMillon said. “Going 11-2, I don't want to end my college career on a bad note like that. I don't think anyone who came to the University of Alabama would want to end like this. Being here, being a leader, seeing other guys in the past and not living up to their standard, it didn't feel right leaving.”
Last year was Alabama’s first two-loss regular season since 2010 when the team finished 10-3 with a win in the Capital One Bowl, now named the Citrus Bowl.
For most teams, the New Year’s Day bowl is an achievement. Alabama beat a college football blueblood in Michigan in last year’s Citrus Bowl. However, the oranges tossed out by players following the game still tasted a bit sour.
Alabama measures itself on championships, and last season was the first time in six years that the Tide ended its season without a title on the line. Following Alabama’s second straight titleless season — tied for the second-longest drought in the Nick Saban era — there has been plenty of talk about returning to the Alabama Standard, the team’s ethos centered around discipline and accountability.
Those discussions have only intensified following what several Tide players are referring to as a shameful season.
“The Alabama Standard is something we talk about every single day,” linebacker Christian Harris said. “Workouts, meetings, practice, we’ve got to approach everything with that mentality that we want to be the best.
“I mean especially last season, you know being 11-2. At Alabama, that’s not something that we would look back at and be happy about or be proud of. Of course, we want to go undefeated. We want to win national championships. That’s the Alabama Standard. We’re working each and every day, coming in every day since we got back from that bowl game against Michigan. We’ve been working and talking about it every single day. I think it’s really been a really big motivating factor for us to keep us pushing and wanting to get better.”
This offseason, Alabama seems to be harnessing the motivation caused by last season’s disappointment for good. McMillon is one of a handful of stars who have stated last year’s result as a primary reason for their decision to return for another year. While several of the nation’s top stars have elected to opt out of the coming season, Alabama has yet to have a player publicly declare his intention to sit out.
When asked about his team’s lack of opt-outs last week, Saban said he was excited about his players’ decisions, stating, “I'm hopeful that everybody will stay very much committed.” With the sting of last season still permeating throughout the locker room, he has every bit of reason to believe that will be the case.
“This camp we’re just really, like I said, locked in on getting back to the Alabama Standard, no matter how long it’s going to take,” Harris said. “I think if anything, having more time helps us really focus in on the things that we need to work on and we saw last season that we lacked on. We’re really focusing on all of those things during camp, everybody coming in competing, trying to get better each and every day."
