Finally, in his fourth season at Alabama, Ty Simpson’s perseverance has paid off, and he is set to lead the Crimson Tide offense as the starting quarterback against Florida State on Saturday. One person outside of his family couldn’t be more excited to see him finally get his chance.
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who recruited Simpson, appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, praising the redshirt junior for sticking it out and staying with one school. In the era of the transfer portal, a backup quarterback waiting almost four years to finally start with one school is practically unheard of.
“I think Ty is, you know, a great young man who has – and I have all the respect in the world for these guys that, you know, stay in a program for three years, develop, and wait their turn. And I think that’s the thing that Ty has done extremely well,” said Saban. “You know, there’s so many of these guys that grow up now being outcome-oriented, you know, and they’re always looking at results – you know, many passes did I complete, how many touchdowns did I have. And then they create these expectations for themselves and, when they don’t live up to them, they get frustrated very easily, and that body language is not good for a quarterback, not good for a team.”
“That’s the big thing that Ty has had to sort of work his way through, is, you know, not get affected by a bad play, stay focused on the next play,” Saban said.
Until this year, Simpson has been buried in the depth chart, but not because of a lack of talent. A former five-star recruit brought in by Saban, Simpson lost two quarterback battles against Jalen Milroe but won his third as Milroe left for the NFL Draft.
Not only did Simpson win the starting quarterback job, but he was also selected as one of Alabama’s captains for the 2025 season, an accolade that Saban felt was well deserved.
“He’s got all the talent in the world,” said Saban. “He’s got legs that are real. He’s a very accurate passer. He’s a good decision-maker. He’s smart. He’s a good leader.”
We will all get to see what Simpson has to offer as the leader of the offense on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when Alabama faces off against Florida State in Tallahassee. The game will be televised on ABC.
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