Ty Simpson hadn’t started a game at Alabama before his redshirt junior season, but he’s certainly looked comfortable leading the program through his first season on the job. While the limited action prior to the 2025 season didn’t inspire much confidence in Crimson Tide fans, the reports out of Tuscaloosa about his leadership all summer painted a different picture.
That leadership has been on display all season, and Simpson’s style is very much inspired by the man who recruited him to Alabama, you know, the seven-time national champion. Well, Simpson went full Nick Saban before the Tide’s Week 12 matchup with the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners.
Ty Simpson wants Alabama playing angry against Oklahoma. 😤😤 pic.twitter.com/VXkTc3O6Km
— Touchdown Alabama (@TDAlabamaMag) November 15, 2025
“What do we say about disrespect? It’s when someone takes what’s yours. This is our game today,” Simpson told his teammates in the tunnel before running onto Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s exactly what Saban told the Tide before beating Georgia in the 2017 National Championship Game.
Notice how coach Saban doesn’t mention the scoreboard one time.
— Connor Clift (@connorclift35) October 15, 2024
It’s not about the scoreboard, it’s about playing to the standard.
If you play to the standard, the scoreboard will take care of itself.
He doesn’t say “just score more than Georgia and everything else is fine.… pic.twitter.com/9PsWYOdJZy
“Now you guys talk about respect all the time,” Saban told his team back in 2017, “Kirby (Smart) says ‘we ain’t what we used to be.” Well, by god, I want to prove something different. I don’t want to see a smile on that face after the game. And another thing is,” Saban said, “the ultimate disrespect is when somebody takes what’s yours, and this is our game.”
Ty Simpson continues to channel Nick Saban’s spirit into Kalen DeBoer’s team
After Nick Saban retired, Ty Simpson nearly hit the transfer portal and left Alabama, according to a recent profile from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. The former five-star quarterback was buried behind Jalen Milroe on the depth chart for the second straight year, and DeBoer was bringing quarterback Austin Mack with him from Washington.
Ironically, if he had left, it would have been to play for Saban’s former defensive coordinator and his opponent in that 2017 National Championship Game, Kirby Smart. His family was even looking for a place for him to live in Athens before he ultimately decided to stay in Tuscaloosa, and as he makes a push for the Heisman Trophy in 2025, Crimson Tide fans are certainly glad he stayed.
Replacing a legend is never easy, and DeBoer has had an up-and-down start to his tenure at Alabama, but the residue of Saban’s greatness is still all over the Crimson Tide program, and it’s most evident in Simpson’s championship mindset.