Alabama began its transition out of the Nick Saban era last year, hiring former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. The new Crimson Tide coach maintained a number of key players from Saban's final team, headlined by quarterback Jalen Milroe, but struggled in his first season (by Alabama standards) going 9–4 (5–3), missing the College Football Playoff and losing to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
DeBoer will have the chance to continue building the team in his own image, bringing in his longtime offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb in 2025. After a year coaching the Seattle Seahawks, Grubb takes over an offense that will have a new signal caller, with Milroe's departure for the NFL.
After the second day of spring practice Wednesday, Grubb broke down what he's seeing from the three players in contention for the QB1 spot in Tuscaloosa: redshirt junior Ty Simpson, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell.
“I think that they each, like any quarterback, have their individual strengths and weaknesses. Ty has done a good job, I thought he had the biggest jump from day one to day two, just as far as being able to take in all the information, process quickly and move,” Grubb said of Simpson, the most experienced player of the three.
“Austin has done a really good job of showing command for a young player. And then Keelon is awesome, man. He’s very unflappable. And even when things don’t go right, and they invariably will for a freshman quarterback, I think he’s done an awesome job of just staying the course and being very steady. And he can make a lot of plays.”
When asked to expand on his thoughts about Russell, Grubb made an interesting comparison, likening the Texas native to his former Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener, a two-time All-Mountain West passer who just finished his second season with the New Orleans Saints.
"I thought one of the things I noticed, the thing about Jake Haener... Jake had a really whippy, quick release but once he made his decision he was very decisive with the ball. I've seen that with Kee a lot. And then Keelon's vision reminds me of Mike [Penix] a little bit. He has good, wide vision with the field, you can see it even when he doesn't know exactly what's going on."
Naturally, Russell is an exciting topic in spring. The former five-star recruit who enrolled less than two months ago was one of the most vaunted recruits in the entire 2025 class.
The other two players, who have spent time under DeBoer already, can't be ruled out though. Simpson has appeared in each of the last three seasons, completing 29-of-50 passes for 381 yards with 130 rushing yards and three scores in 16 games.
Mack played for DeBoer and Grubb at Washington before transferring to Alabama last year. He completed 2-of-3 passes for 39 yards and a score in '24.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as New Alabama OC Breaks Down Three Crimson Tide QBs in Mix for Starting Job.
