College Football Fix: Mike Johnson, Former Alabama Crimson Tide Offensive Lineman

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He ate him alive. Falls down into the end zone. Six more for Georgia. We can't wait for the 2023 season. Caleb Williams throws the fade in the corner.

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What's wrong with your ears? Here is your college football fix. Only on the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, time to talk some SEC football. Also Alabama will do so with a former offensive lineman for the Crimson Tide. That of course is a BCS national champion. And Mike Johnson who's kind enough to join us right now does a kick-ass job on his new morning show.

A 92-9 the game in Atlanta. Mike, appreciate the time as always. How you been?

Oh, I've been excellent, man. I love this time of year. Love starting to kick off college football season. So I got to start you off with Nick Saban because you have Paul Finebaum the other day being Paul Finebum pretty much. Starting to take a shot at the legacy of Nick Saban and question it if he doesn't get back to the college football playoff this year.

I laughed when I heard that, but how did you react to it? Much in the same way you did and I honestly think a lot of people kind of feel like that. I mean, look, Nick Saban's position among college football coaches is pretty cemented no matter what he does from here on out. I mean, this is the guy who's been incredibly successful. Obviously, I'm very thankful for my time with him. I know that there are a number of other coaches that have been influenced by him, including Kirby Smart, Billy Napier.

I mean, you go on down the list. So you can talk about his legacy, talk about what you'll remember about the guy, talk about the job he's doing currently. But there's just no debate that he's one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.

And that's not going to be affected by anything that happens this year, next year, or the year after that, or whenever he decides to hang him up. So when you take a look back at your time with Saban, was that a different era of Alabama football, right? The earlier part of the Saban tenure, what are the memories that you have with coaching and what he's done for your career?

Well, you know, I'll be honest with you, I was a little frightened when he was hired. You know, the clip that got played over and over again is as he makes the defensive lineman there with the Miami Dolphins cry. I believe the guy's name is an Auburn grad.

I'm watching, you know, we're on Christmas break. We had already played our bowl game. It was sometime in early January and we're watching that on repeat about how he made this grown NFL.

Defense of linemen come to tears during training camp. So I was a little frightened. And, you know, soon got to meet the staff, got to meet offensive line coach who was Joe Pendry. And just was just very impressed with how things were run. It just felt like I learned how a premier college football program was supposed to be run.

And we were asked to up our effort, up our toughness. And we were able to do those things throughout my final three years there with him. And he just a lot of people don't realize how much of a players coach that Nick Saban actually is because of the way he can be.

And because of truthfully the way he is socially, I think that a lot of people look at him and just think he's not friendly. But he's in his element in the locker room, in those meeting rooms around the players. And that's one of the things that I'll take away from him is just how friendly and how funny he actually was to all of us guys in the locker room. When that decision was made to hire him, I don't know how closely you were following. I know you were a part of it, but you had the whole situation with the Dolphins. He's like, I won't be the coach of Alabama. You being from the player side of it, when that hire was first made, just like what was that first reaction?

And were you really like plugged into the entire search? Well, listen, if I'm being truthfully honest, if you remember that the Rich Rodriguez saga was just a few weeks before that. And we were actually, it's funny enough, we were actually in bowl practice and we had TVs in our locker room. And I don't know what day of the week it was, but Joe Kynes was our interim coach back then. And the news is kind of breaking one day and then kind of 24 hours later, we step back in the locker room. We're going through bowl practice.

It's really cold down in Tursaloosa. And the news is kind of breaking that Rich Rodriguez had kind of turned the job down and he was staying at West Virginia. I just remember Joe Kynes at the time was our interim coach kind of calling a huddle around himself in the locker room, which we almost never huddled in the locker room. Always did that on the field or up in the meeting room.

Just saying, hey, look, that guy messed up. He missed an opportunity to coach a great group of guys. And so, you know, we broke for our Christmas break after our bowl game and just kind of held our breath and wanted to see what was next. And I think everybody at that point kind of assumed that Coach Saban was the home run hire.

You know, he had such a good track record. So we were just, I was excited, man. I was excited to get to work. It was a chance to kind of turn over a new leaf. It was a chance to really, you know, sink my teeth into that program and make sure I left my mark.

And, you know, hopefully I was able to do that. Talking to Mike Johnson right now, the former Alabama offensive lineman playing in the NFL with the Falcons, host a local talk show on the game in Atlanta, highly rated show, and has done a kick-ass job there. Let me get to this year's Alabama team. I brought up the fine bomb stuff and, right, people questioning Saban. But you do look at this upcoming squad this year. Like most years, Alabama's a shoo-in for the college football playoff. And I think there's an argument to be made either way this year. What's kind of your view on the Crimson Tide this season? That's a good question.

That's one I've been trying to – listen, I work in Georgia country over here in Atlanta. So I've been trying to come to terms with, you know, how I feel going into the season. I think I'm optimistic is probably the way to put it. It reminds me a lot, honestly, of Jalen Hurts' first year as a starter where you had so many questions. They were starting off with USC. You kind of went into the season over with so many questions. What you did, you had a little bit of talent up front, knew you had some talent out wide, and the defense was going to be a little bit better that year.

So I really don't know. I don't know what to expect as far as quarterbacks go. I don't know what to expect as far as the offense goes. We can sit here and guess what the offense is going to be. But until they lay out, you know, who that quarterback is going to be, I don't think anybody knows. I'm just hoping for a little more imagination offensively.

I think Bill O'Brien did a lot of good things. But in the run game, I really felt like the offensive line the last couple of years has been up against – I don't think there's been much imagination in the run game. A lot of RPOs just based off of inside and wide zone.

So, look, have some imagination. Hopefully Coach Reeves can put those guys in the right spot. And I think if you can put that together and really start to get that offense clicking, I think these guys are hungry and I think they're going to be willing to fly around because they definitely have the talent to do it. There's playmakers all over the field. Corey Brooks I think is going to take a huge step. I think, you know, Jason McClellan will do the same thing. And some of those guys up front, Darion Dalcorp should be taking a huge leap this year as well.

A guy who's been a part-time starter in the past. So, I'm optimistic. I don't want to say that I'm confident. But I will say that I'm optimistic at this point in time for the damage they can do nationally.

I know that it was the other side of the ball when you were there. But what are your memories about Kirby Smart being on that Alabama staff? Well, first of all, I love them, man. He's so just energetic, charismatic. One of those guys that – and I'm pretty sure he's still this way as a head coach. Just, you know, watching him from afar. But he's a guy that felt like, you know, he was your friend. Especially as an offensive lineman, you know, with a defensive coach. We just felt like, you know, we were good buddies.

We've had a chance to have a couple of beers since then and a couple of golf tournaments and a cross pass. He's just really energetic and always felt like a friend. And, you know, that's one of the best things about him. And I know – I know that's why he's been successful on the recruiting trail, among other things. You know, he's a Georgia guy through and through.

Always has been. And when you pair that up with the personality he has and, you know, the love that I know he has as a family man and that he cherishes on that staff, you know, it's just – I think it's awesome. So I just – I have a lot of good memories about him.

I consider him a friend and I'm just really happy for the success he's had. You being in Georgia country right now, I know the fans are going to be confident, obviously. You won back-to-back national championships. Right there, the team that everyone's hunting right now. How likely do you think it is that Georgia is going to find a way to three-peat this upcoming season? Even with some of the changes they've had to make on the roster? Yeah, I mean, they definitely – look, there's going to be turnover. There's going to be, you know, bumps and bruises.

The good thing for them, and I know it's been widely broadcast, is that they're going to have a chance to settle in. You know, UC Martin and Ball State, obviously, the start of the season. You've got UAB in week four and really your first test could come at Auburn there in week five. So, look, man, just playing the odds, being a Vegas kind of guy the way I am, I don't know how it happens.

It just never seems to happen in these kind of situations. But it's just hard to figure out who exactly is going to beat them. You know, maybe an LSU or a BAM that's the title game. And then maybe they run into another very, very talented football team here from the Big 12 or Big 10 in the playoffs. But, gosh almighty, when you look at their interior offensive line and the emphasis they put on the run game and really the consistency they had in the staff. I know they've had a lot of players turn over, but, you know, a lot of staff has stayed around, including Mike Bolo, who just got promoted.

Man, it's hard to see. You just think they're going to be a bust all the way through and nobody really impresses you unless somebody like a Tennessee or Auburn is going to jump up and get you on their schedule. So, you know, we'll see. But, man, I would feel pretty confident if I was a Georgia fan now.

I know they do call in and talk to us one of the other things. No doubt about that. Wrapping up with Mike Johnson, let me just hit you up here on one Atlanta Falcons question before we let you run. I think Atlanta is a team this year that could go win that division. That division is not good.

You're not going to need, like, 10 or 11 wins to get the job done. But the big question is, what do you kind of expect out of Desmond Ritter? Because you do got some talent on both sides of the ball there in Atlanta, but the quarterback's a big unknown.

Well, for me, I just hope that Desmond doesn't try to do too much. And I think that he needs to understand that the reason that Arthur Smith and his franchise have put the confidence in him to be a starter is because he is a smart guy and a trustworthy guy. Not because he's a dynamic playmaker that can stand flat-footed and throw the ball 70 yards. I mean, maybe he can.

But that's not why he's got this job. He has this job because Arthur Smith trusts him to get in the right situation offensively and trusts him not to make dumb decisions. I think if he does that and stays away from interceptions, that when the season's over, that he's going to like where he's at. I truly do. So I think it's a team capable of winning double-digit games. I'm with you. I think this is a team that's capable of winning a division that has not been very good recently.

And so I think if Desmond plays with himself and looked at backfield featuring the rookie, B. John Robinson, can stay healthy, I think this offense line is good enough and this defense should be good enough to take them where they want to be by the end of the year. It should be exciting. Well, Mike Johnson, we appreciate you carving out some time for us today. Thanks so much for doing this. Hey, I enjoyed it, man. Have a good time.