College Football

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young wins 2021 Heisman Trophy

Updated Dec. 12, 2021 11:05 a.m. ET

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the 2021 Heisman Trophy on Saturday, becoming the second straight Crimson Tide player to earn college football's top individual honor.

Young ran away with the coveted award, receiving 684 first-place votes — 606 more votes than runner-up Aidan Hutchinson.

Young joins DeVonta Smith (2020), Derrick Henry (2015) and Mark Ingram (2009) as Alabama players to win the Heisman under coach Nick Saban, who ties Notre Dame's Frank Leahy for having coached the most winners. That's not bad, considering that between 1935 and 2008, the Tide did not have a single player win the award.

The past two quarterbacks to start at Alabama (Mac Jones and Tua Tagovailoa) were first-round selections in the NFL Draft, which means Young is already slotted in as the No. 1 QB available for the 2023 draft — if not the first overall selection. Not bad for a sophomore.

But Young doesn’t think about that often, and even as a five-star QB and the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2020 class, he certainly didn’t think about winning the Heisman. Why? Because his parents, especially his father, Craig, believed in the process long before Saban called to offer Young a scholarship and chance to play at hallowed Alabama.

Indeed, Young was committed to USC before he flipped his commitment to Alabama and sat behind Jones in 2020. He was rated just behind Clemson's DJ Uiagalelei in the Composite Rankings but still drawing comparisons to Kyler Murray for how he played at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California.

Mater Dei produced former NCAA all-time passing record holder Colt Brennan, 2013 No. 1 overall player Matt Barkley, 2018 five-star and Georgia QB JT Daniels and 2004 Heisman winner Matt Leinart. In fact, with 1960 Heisman winner John Huarte, Mater Dei has produced three Heisman winners and four Heisman finalists at quarterback.

The hype was there. The hype was real.

It’s not that Young and his parents didn’t hear it. It’s just that they refused to focus on it.

"You don't really pay attention to the things that you can't control," Craig Young told FOX Sports. "And that's always been kind of our mantra. I know that’s Bryce’s mantra.

"For us, it's always been about performance and doing whatever you can — mentally, physically, spiritually — to perform your best and to perform the best that you can for the team."

That mantra worked so well that Saban bragged at the Texas High School Football Coaches Association convention about Young having already earned nearly $1 million in NIL endorsement deals before he started a game for the Tide.

Young stuck to that mantra when Florida managed to scare Alabama and Texas A&M managed to hand the Tide their only defeat this season, snapping a winning streak that dated to November 2019.

It’s that mantra that helped Young lead Alabama to an upset of what many — myself included — believe is a generationally talented defense at Georgia.

Before facing the Tide in the SEC Championship on Saturday, Georgia had given up an average of fewer than seven points per game and never more than 17 to any opponent. The Bulldogs appeared en route to one of the most dominant seasons we’d seen by any team since the 2019 LSU Tigers.

After facing Young and the Tide, however, the Bulldogs fell two spots in the College Football Playoff rankings, finished runners-up in the SEC and had more points scored on them (41) by Alabama than Clemson, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Florida and Missouri combined (39) — all teams that finished the season with .500 records or better.

Before Bryce, no quarterback this season had thrown for more than 250 yards against Georgia. After Bryce, the Heisman winner completed 26 of 44 passes for 421 yards and three passing TDs.

That was the game in which Young won the Heisman in a season in which the field felt crowded for 15 weeks. And while the SEC Championship was the game where Young arrived, using his ability to run to buy more time to throw, Craig saw that ability when his son was just 3 years old, playing in a flag-football league at his neighborhood YMCA.

Craig identified football so early for his son that his wife asked if he was OK. But he’d seen it, even when others did not.

Bryce was told he probably wouldn’t be allowed to play QB at the college level when he first began playing the position in elementary school. Even now, some critics say he’s too slight to play in the NFL.

"Probably 15 years ago, we wouldn't be having this conversation because it was so rigid on what a quarterback should look like," Craig said. "All we heard was, ‘His style of play doesn't translate. He can’t physically take the pounding. He’s too small for this,’ or ‘He needs to run more.' All those things."

Bryce Young won the Heisman in Alabama's win over Georgia — RJ Young

RJ Young discusses Alabama's dominance in the SEC Championship and why it sealed the Heisman Trophy for Bryce Young.

Young didn’t listen to those arguments, and neither did his parents. They remained steadfast in their belief about who Bryce is and who he could still become.

"If you're doing the work and you're focusing and you're maximizing your potential, you're playing the game, and you're doing all the right things," Craig said. "Focus on that."

Watching Bryce as a toddler, Craig saw how his son moved about the house, playing in ways he didn’t think normal children played. Young showed dexterity and high-motor skills. But Craig needed to see how those skills stacked up against those of other kids.

That moment came during a drill in which each child got an opportunity to try to outrun the entire defense by his or herself. The goal is to teach children the value of strength in numbers — with all of them rallying to the ball carrier.

But Young broke the drill. He juked eight kids and instinctively ran into the end zone.

Young’s athleticism was one thing. His attitude during that drill, though, made Craig believe his son had a chance to become what so many fathers ache for their children to be: special.

"Obviously, you don't predict this," Craig said. "But I knew he was athletically gifted. And sports … were fun [for him]. But the competition was real. And I could see in his eyes that competitiveness, even then, and I knew that he was going to be special athletically."

Bryce Young lifts Bama

Behind Bryce Young's 421 yards passing and three TDs passing, Alabama lit up the vaunted Georgia defense.

Young will lead the Tide to what he and Bama fans hope is a national title defense on New Year’s Eve in the Cotton Bowl against No. 4 Cincinnati. He’ll start that game having thrown for 4,322 yards with 43 passing TDs and just four interceptions.

With a Heisman Trophy. With a chance to become the No. 1 overall pick in 16 months. With the belief of his parents behind him. Controlling what he can control. Sticking to his mantra.

In a season when QB play has been poorer than in years past, Young has proven to be elite.

In a season when defense — Georgia! — looked dominant, he dominated.

That’s what a Heisman winner is supposed to do.

Check out some of the reactions to Young's win below.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.