There’s no rest for the weary in college football. Alabama would probably love to head back to Tuscaloosa after the Rose Bowl and lick its wounds from a 38-3 loss to the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers, but that’s just not the reality of the sport.
Instead, Kalen DeBoer and his general manager, Courtney Morgan, must immediately turn their attention to the Transfer Portal because the lone portal window begins on Friday and runs through January 16. That will force a few tough decisions to be made quickly, particularly at quarterback.
Ty Simpson’s future has to be decided now with Transfer Portal opening Friday
Now the decision isn’t all DeBoer’s. First, he must find out what Ty Simpson intends to do regarding his final season of eligibility and the 2026 NFL Draft. At times this season, Simpson, with his remarkable accuracy, anticipation, and toughness, has played himself into the first-round conversation. However, he and the Alabama offense have struggled down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason, which, no doubt, impacted his stock.
Simpson, who has been dealing with injuries for much of the year, was eventually pulled in the third quarter of the Rose Bowl in favor of redshirt sophomore Austin Mack after taking a big hit that caused a fumble in the second quarter.
There’s a chance that Simpson has played his final snaps for the Tide if he leaves for the portal or the draft. If Simpson departs, DeBoer and his staff will have Mack and 2025 five-star Keelon Russell, the No. 2 ranked QB in the country behind Michigan’s Bryce Underwood. That will be a difficult decision that could be settled in a camp battle, as this year’s starter was.
However, Mack has already sat behind Milroe and Simpson after following DeBoer from Washington. If he has an inkling that Russell would get the nod, he may have no choice but to find a starting job in the portal, especially now that there is no longer a spring Transfer Portal window in college football. Russell may not want to wait around either, so Alabama, one day after its 2025 season came to an end, may need to name its de-facto 2026 starter.
If Simpson returns, then DeBoer could be at risk of losing both Mack and Russell to the portal.
Simpson earned the right to control his own fate with his play this season, but Alabama needs him to make his decision quickly to sort out the rest of its QB room.