The biggest decision in Kalen DeBoer’s term at Alabama hangs in the springtime air like an impossible riddle.
Can DeBoer afford to reward loyalty and name Ty Simpson the starting quarterback, or does DeBoer have the courage to honor quarterback Austin Mack for being loyal and transferring from Washington to Alabama?
Who’s going to be the starting quarterback for the 2025 season? It’s a spicy pickle.
Either way, someone’s getting burned.
And then there’s this.
Alabama’s A-Day is on April 12. This is the team’s fourth week of spring practice. DeBoer should know by now who his starting quarterback is going to be for the 2025 season. But if he doesn’t, then Alabama isn’t necessarily in trouble. It just means that DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb must make an entirely different decision.
Do they go back into the transfer portal for another quarterback after the spring, or do they hope for the best with either Simpson or Mack?
Oh, and if 17-year-old freshman quarterback Keelon Russell starts for Alabama in the fall, then something went very wrong.
Simpson is the assumed front-runner to replace Milroe as Alabama’s new starting quarterback. He’s been waiting around for years to throw passes for the Crimson Tide. That means he deserves a shot more than the other guy, right? Well maybe not.
Mack is currently the projected backup, but he left Washington with the promise of being the starter at Alabama.
What to do about Alabama’s Catch-22?
DeBoer can’t afford to get this one wrong. His first season was a failure. Alabama missed the College Football Playoffs, lost four games and Milroe went from being a preseason Heisman candidate to throwing more interceptions (11) than Auburn’s Payton Thorne (nine).
DeBoer doesn’t necessarily have to win a national championship in Year 2. Just pick a quarterback who can take down Vanderbilt. Is that so hard?
Well, maybe so.
First, we need to understand an important truth about college football going into the 2025 season. It’s no longer amateur athletics and there are virtually no rules governing the sport. Anything goes, and I mean EN-EE-THING.
The players will all be paid and the players can all transfer as many times as they want. There’s nothing stopping Alabama’s backup quarterback from transferring after A-Day.
Theoretically, a wealthy school like Vanderbilt can now stockpile talent just as well as Alabama. A team like Vandy, for example, could steal away a player like Simpson, a Tennessee native, if Simpson isn’t going to be the starter for the Crimson Tide.
Or maybe Mack transfers from Alabama to Oregon or USC if he’s not named the starter for the 2025 season.
In a lot of ways, college football is now more cutthroat than the NFL. And more intriguing, too. Is there still room for collegiate loyalty?
With Alabama, we’re about to find out.
Does Alabama at least owe it to Simpson to let him know he’s not going to be the starter coming out of spring practice?
Maybe DeBoer will show his hand on A-Day, but I doubt it. With so much in doubt across college football, a lot of teams are ditching spring games this year for glorified practices. Why give a rival a reason to raid your roster?
Why name a starter, when a coach can keep everyone guessing?
But here’s something to consider.
If Simpson doesn’t start this season for Alabama, then his window for the Crimson Tide will more than likely be closed. He’s already a redshirt junior. If he was good enough to play for Alabama, then why didn’t he beat out Milroe at any point during the last season?
The answer to the riddle is this, and you’re not going to like it. Loyalty is dead in college football, and those who try to hang onto it have no future in this sport.
Don’t feel bad for the players, though. As they say in the pros, that’s what the money’s for.
