TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- This time a year ago, everybody was wondering if Greg McElroy had what it took to be Alabama’s starting quarterback.

A 14-0 record and a national championship later, McElroy is wondering just how potent the Crimson Tide's offense can be next season.

He’s liked what he’s seen this spring.

“We’ve really come a long way as far as balance,” said McElroy, who threw for 2,508 yards last season to go along with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

“The good thing this spring is that our wide receivers are healthy, and our passing game has come a long way. A lot of that starts with our offensive line. They’ve come together early. I think our potential as an offense has yet to be reached. We had great defensive players last year, so a lot of the times we abandoned the pass pretty early, and that’s something we’ve tried to focus on this spring, staying sharp in the passing game.”

The statistic that matters the most with McElroy is that he hasn’t lost a game as a starting quarterback since the eighth grade. He can still tell you the score and the team he lost to.

And even though last season was his first as Alabama’s starter, he made very few mistakes. He finished with the lowest interception percentage in school history and the second lowest in SEC history, throwing an interception only once every 81.25 pass attempts.

McElroy thinks the Crimson Tide will be able to do even more on offense in 2010. The tandem of Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson in the running game will keep every defense on its toes, and McElroy says junior receiver Julio Jones has looked even better this spring than he did as a freshman.

Moreover, McElroy goes into next season with a much better grasp of his role in the offense. In a lot of ways, he was just trying to survive when the season began a year ago.

“My confidence level is much higher, and I understand what it’s going to take to get through a season,” he said. “I understand better how to lead the guys and how to affect people in a positive way.

“But as much as anything, my expectation level of myself has really gone up. I feel so much more comfortable all the way around.”

McElroy was named the MVP of the SEC championship game last season after throwing for 239 yards on 12 of 18 passing in the 32-13 win over Florida.

But it’s what happened toward the end of that game and then a month later that told everybody all they needed to know about McElroy and his will to win.

He cracked two ribs on the last play of the third quarter against Florida. He didn’t come out of that game and had it numbed up to be able to play against Texas in the BCS National Championship Game.

“It’s finally healed up, but it was killing me in the national championship game.” McElroy said. “I couldn’t sleep on my left side leading up to that game, and when I’d get hit, it was like somebody was stabbing you.

“Even up until the first part of March, it was painful to breathe. But it was worth every bit of it, and I’d go through it all over again for the same result.”