CFB AM: AJ McCarron criticizes Nick Saban, says Alabama has no 'true leaders'

Published Oct. 8, 2014 9:00 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

Former Alabama star quarterback AJ McCarron, now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals, is injured so he has some time on his hands.

To fill some of the void, he watches a lot of Alabama football and appears on a weekly radio show in Tuscaloosa to talk about the Crimson Tide.

After Alabama’s loss to Ole Miss last weekend, McCarron had a couple, albeit respectful, criticisms of head coach Nick Saban and the Tide’s leadership.

McCarron said Saban tends to “handcuff” his offensive coordinators and might have done that to Lane Kiffin last week, and he mentioned that one of Bama’s problems is there are no “true leaders” to step up when things are going wrong.

Here are McCarron’s comments in full from al.com:

"I don't know if that's Lane doing that or if coach Saban is kind of putting the handcuffs on Lane like I've known Coach to do in the past on his offensive coordinator and we're going to be very bland and run this play and do this and we'll throw it on third down if we have to. It's going to be interesting to see how they bounce back against Arkansas this week and what kind of offense comes out this week."

…

"I think one of the things that this team is lacking that hurts them the most is not having the true leaders like we had last year and guys that, when things go bad, 'hey, let's calm everybody down, pick it back up and go back to work and get back on the right track.’ I feel like when things go bad, this team struggles a little with bouncing back and making good plays."

And here is audio of McCarron's interview with more context and extended comments on leadership and the offense.

On his weekly SEC teleconference on Wednesday, Saban was asked about McCarron's comments and disagreed. In Saban's words:

"I don't know how AJ would really know, but I don't necessarily see that as the case."

...

"I think that leadership is something that we have several guys that have played a lot of football around here that do a good job. I think sometimes people look at the quarterback position as the guy that has to be the leader and I think sometimes when you have a new quarterback and that guy is really concerned about what he is supposed to do, maybe he doesn't look to be perceived as the guy that's affecting other people.

"But actually, I think Blake (Sims) does a pretty job of (being) very well-liked by his teammates. He's a very positive, high-energy guy that has shown leadership. I don't think we played real well last week for whatever reasons, I don't know that that's all leadership. I'm sorta responsible for all that as coaches and players to make sure we're ready to play our best against good teams in tough environments on the road."

Fran Tarkenton was also asked about McCarron's comments in a radio interview on Wednesday and put it bluntly: "AJ McCarron, he need to be quiet. He was so fortunate to play in that program. He's an average quarterback at best. He couldn't have played anywhere else but Alabama and to make any kind of comment is just disrespectful. He shouldn't have made it and he should keep his mouth shut and praise Saban and Alabama for the rest of his life."

Update: Wednesday night, McCarron went on the radio and said his comments were taken out of context and that he should have chosen his words more carefully. You can listen to the clip here. 

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. I can’t overstate how stupid this story is: Two Florida Gators, Skyler Mornhinweg and Gerald Willis III, got into a fight outside the football stadium on Monday evening reportedly because a pair of Mornhinweg’s cleats had gone missing and were found in Willis III’s locker. This news comes a day after the much more serious story of freshman quarterback Treon Harris being suspended indefinitely while he’s investigated on accusations of sexual assault. Florida has seen better days.

2. The NCAA is arguing that the law regarding Penn State’s $60 million Jerry Sandusky fine, which states that the money must be used for child abuse programs in the state of Pennsylvania only, is unconstitutional. It believes it should be spread around to other parts of the country as well. I’d vote for that option, too, but however we’re helping prevent child abuse, in one state or 50, is a good thing.

3. This is really cool: Ole Miss has to foot a $75,000 bill for beating Alabama – it’s $50,000 fine for fans rushing the field and about $25,000 to replace the goal posts that were torn down – and said it would gladly pay that bill. But since so many Rebels fans asked how they could help, the school set up a site to donate money. In about six hours, Ole Miss fans had donated more than $75,000 and it’s now up to almost $92,000 as of 8:20 ET this morning.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. Some good news for Louisville: Stud WR DeVante Parker, who broke a bone in his foot during fall camp, has been medically cleared to practice and is on track to make his 2014 debut against Clemson this weekend.

2. Two maddening and unfortunate news stories: A Kentucky freshman defensive end was arrested and charged with first-degree rape, and a man was convicted of murder for shooting two ex-Auburn players.

3. On Tuesday, Stewart Mandel wrote a cool piece on how some of the College Football Playoff committee members are scheduling their weeks to track the chaos around college football. The people who manage Condoleezza Rice’s schedule, for example, have cleared out the weekends to simply say, “Review football teams.” Another has spent almost 120 hours so far taking detailed notes on almost 90 teams. It’s a fun read if you have a couple minutes.

Mandel and Bruce Feldman also have a new edition of The Audible out in which they discuss last week’s upsets, the FOX Four and much more.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. Purdue is wearing special helmets this weekend against Michigan State to honor cancer survivors and draw awareness to the research work being done at the university. Well done, Boilermakers.

2. An Alabama state trooper knocked down an Ole Miss fan while escorting Nick Saban off the field last weekend. Not sure if this is a great choke-slam or great stiff-arm, but it’s one or the other. Watch this:

3. A Navy Lieutenant and Notre Dame alum proposed to his girlfriend on the sidelines of last weekend’s game. Congrats!

LASTLY

* Here’s my weekly Tuesday hit on the “Eric Hasseltine Show” on 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis. I think we’d both like to be adopted by the state of Mississippi for the foreseeable future.

* The daughter of a USF lineman was born blind but is now regaining her sight. Great story.

* Tennessee fans turned an ambulance into a sweet tailgating vehicle.

* Georgia Tech team chaplain Derrick Moore delivered a super speech before the Yellow Jackets’ game against Miami last weekend. I dare you to watch this and not get fired up.

Have a great Wednesday, all.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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