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Through much of fall camp, Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley found himself out of favor with Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and sliding down the depth chart.
Said Saban at one point of the junior from Chicago, “He knows what he’s supposed to do in practice. He’s known what he’s supposed to do. This is not a democracy. Everybody doesn’t get to do what they want to do. Everybody doesn’t get to do what they feel like doing. You got to buy in and do what you’re supposed to do to be a part of the team and do the things you need to do in practice every day.”
During Saturday’s win against Miami, a sideline conversation between Billingsley and Saban was caught by TV cameras, a moment that Saban was asked about during his Monday press conference.
“We’re always trying to encourage players to do the right things and do the things that they need to do to create value for themselves,” Saban said. “Jahleel and I have talked on several occasions because he’s certainly a guy that we want to have success for his own benefit individually, as well as for the team. Sometime when you get a little external encouragement it can be a positive for you.”
As for Billingsley’s first action of the season, Saban said, “For the first game, I thought he did okay when he went out there and played.”
Nick Saban explains message he was delivering to Jahleel Billingsley during the Alabama/Miami game
Full Press Conference from Monday ⤵️https://t.co/orD9B8RTZi pic.twitter.com/GM3pSbbwIM
— BamaOnLine (@BOL_On3) September 6, 2021
After catching 20 passes for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns as a sophomore a year ago, big things were expected of Billingsley this season.
While he didn’t catch a pass in the win over Miami, it appears that he’s doing the things necessary to become a focal point of the offense, which apparently is being encouraged at home, as evidenced by a recent tweet from his father, Charles.
Awesome picture pic.twitter.com/em94rASiR2
— Charles BILLINGSLEY (@CharlesChiwest) September 5, 2021
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
