TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A five-star prospect with a national reputation, Dee Milliner carried the burden of expectations to Alabama in the spring of 2010.
He was just good enough, it turned out, to lose that learning curve. Graduation, injuries and a suspension gutted the defensive secondary before the 2010 season. That left Milliner - one of the nation's top high school cornerbacks a year earlier - playing without a safety net and learning on the fly.
"He had to grow up fast. He was forced to," Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kirby Smart said. "He got thrown into the SEC and had to play early because of the situation we were in. It was trial by fire, and he has matured and has learned how to deal with some things. He has to continue to compete hard and fight for his job every day."
Making 55 tackles and an interception made him a Freshman All-SEC team member and ramped up expectations for his sophomore year.
It'll also make for quality competition with three big names competing for the two cornerback jobs when the Tide play their base 3-4 defense. A healthy DeQuan Menzie and an improved Dre Kirkpatrick figure to push each other throughout August before the Sept. 3 opener with Kent State.
Just a few days into preseason camp, Smart said it was still too soon to identify anyone as a starter just yet, assuring that "nothing is going to be handed to anybody."
Looking back to his first season that included 11 starts in 13 appearances, Milliner saw positives.
"There was never a point where I felt I was lost," he said. "There were some times in the games where I had never been in that situation, but I never felt lost in a game."
Statistically, his production increased as the season progressed. After opening the season with a handful of tackles per game, he had no fewer than seven stops in each of the last four SEC games. When Menzie missed the Tennessee game on Oct. 23, Milliner broke through with seven tackles, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Contact Michael Casagrande at sports@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.