There has been a lot of talk about Alabama and Indiana in the last couple of months, simply in the form of the two quarterbacks heading to the NFL Draft. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been the bona fide No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders since the Hoosiers won the National Championship in January.
However, in the last few weeks, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson has begun to gain a lot of hype in terms of his draft stock, with many analysts speaking about how high a ceiling he has in the NFL. Simpson also has garnered some media attention with what he spoke about on Ohio State's Caleb Downs podcast, talking about what it was like playing against the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl.
Simpson made comments about how nothing Indiana did was a surprise defensively; they did the same thing every down, but they did it so well that it simply stopped Alabama's offense. In all honesty, Simpson was complimenting how well-coached Indiana was in that game, and apparently, the Hoosiers' coaching staff didn't take it that way.
Indiana's defensive coordinator, Bryant Haines, made comments on social media, but so did an Indiana assistant, who has since deleted the post.
— Austin⎊ (@IIDarkIIShikari) April 20, 2026
The Indiana assistant posted about how all the media has talked about how Simpson has been called the most pro-ready quarterback in the draft, yet he talked about how he couldn't get past the Indiana defense. Then he mentioned how Fernando Mendoza would never, which really is just a bad look.
Simpson was truly being honest with what Indiana did against Bama in that bowl game, and the Hoosiers were definitely the better team at the time. However, whatever team that takes Simpson in the NFL Draft won't be a college football team; it will be filled with professionals who are very different from the college level.
Simpson can still be a great quarterback in the NFL, even though he didn't play well against Indiana in the Rose Bowl. Simpson shouldn't be criticized for simply complimenting the Tide on how they played, but that is exactly what Indiana coaches are determined to do.
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