Heading into the 2025 season, the general prognostication for Alabama was that the roster was good enough for first-year starting quarterback Ty Simpson to simply be a competent game manager for the Crimson Tide to compete for the SEC Title and for him to keep the seat warm before 2025 five-star Keelon Russell takes over. Instead, Simpson carried Kalen DeBoer’s team.
Particularly before late-season injuries and a one-dimensional offense clipped his wings, Simpson ascended into the Heisman Trophy race and the first-round conversation for the 2026 NFL Draft. Now, despite the latter momentum waning with a few shaky performances down the stretch and a few more injuries sprinkled in, Simpson has declared for the NFL Draft, forgoing his final season of eligibility.
Simpson’s lack of starting experience will make him a difficult prospect for NFL teams to evaluate. Still, his high-end accuracy and anticipation will make him intriguing in the early rounds. Now, DeBoer will have a third different starting quarterback for his third season at the helm in Tuscaloosa, and while it may not seem like it, Simpson's leaving for the league might be the best possible thing for Nick Saban’s successor.
Whether it's Keelon Russell or Austin Mack at QB, the 2026 Crimson Tide will be distinctly DeBoer’s
It will take time for DeBoer to wipe the slate clean on Nick Saban’s players, and he’ll certainly never shed the domineering presence the seven-time national champion casts over the program where he cemented his place as the greatest coach in college football history. And while you certainly don’t want to shed his positive influence on the program, for the first time in 2026, DeBoer may have a new sense of ownership over the program, even if the fanbase is growing restless with the recent lack of additions to the Crimson Tide trophy case.
Of course, many of Saban’s former recruits are simply aging out of college football, but beyond that, whether he hands the reins to Russell or Austin Mack, for the first time since arriving in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer will have his own QB at the controls of his offense.
In 2024, DeBoer and then offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan had to configure an offense to fit Jalen Milroe’s skillset, which was a far cry from the pocket-based aerial attack they and Ryan Grubb authored for Michael Penix Jr. at Washington in 2023. Last season, they, with the return of Grubb and the emergence of Simpson, were able to get back to a more similar style to what they’ve won with in the past, but Simpson’s leadership style is straight out of Saban’s playbook, another constant reminder to the fanbase of what they once had.
To be clear, Simpson is one of the better quarterbacks in the country, and if he returned, he'd be a surefire Heisman favorite alongside the Arch Mannings and Gunner Stockton's of the world. There's no guarantee that either of Alabama's other options ever reach that level. But there's something perceptionally meaningful about DeBoer, a proven QB developer, finally taking the plunge with one of his guys in the SEC.
Now, DeBoer has an offseason to decide which of those guys it is. If it's finally time for Mack, who followed him from Washington, where he spent his true freshman season and closed out the Rose Bowl for the injured Simpson, to ascend to the starting role. Or, if it’s time to finally bring the mysterious hot rod, Russell, out of the garage and see what he can do.
Either way, along with unexpected significant offseason transfer portal turnover, the 2026 Crimson Tide will be distinctly DeBoer’s. And, in what feels like a make-or-break year for the heavily scrutinized coach with the impossible task of replacing one of the all-time greats, that’s his best chance of staking his claim to Tuscaloosa.