There's a clear competition for the starting quarterback in Tuscaloosa. But past decisions seem to suggest that Alabama already has its mind made up.
Hype and preparedness are two very different things. You can only go so far with hype, until it’s time to prove you’re worth it.
Alabama redshirt junior Austin Mack stepped in for Ty Simpson in the Rose Bowl when Simpson broke his rib, and performed admirably.
He brings tremendous size with a 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame, a laser for an arm, and the poise to look at adversity in the eye.
He’s ready for his turn, but it may not be that easy.
Redshirt freshman Keelon Russell has the pedigree, the aforementioned hype, the god-given talent, and the mentality to be a starting quarterback in the SEC.
If you peruse through X and observe many of Gump Nation’s sentiments, you’d probably come to a conclusion that they yearn for Russell to start the 2026 season for Alabama.
He’s the shiny new toy and he’s shown in limited snaps that the hype is at least worth seeing through.
But growth isn’t linear.
There are bumps and bruises that you take to start your career, and valuable lessons that you have to learn before you become the face of the script ‘A’.
Simpson was a highly recruited, five-star quarterback, and did it the old-school way. He began behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe, taking three full seasons before he was able to finally lead his own team.
The old school way.
In today’s age of NIL, that very way is quickly getting pushed out the door.
And players who arrive on campus with the hype that Russell has are getting immediate reps.
Case in point – Bryce Underwood of Michigan.
This will be the first season that head coach Kalen DeBoer will come in with one of “his guys” as the quarterback. He had inherited both Milroe and Simpson from the previous regime, and encouraged them to stay and work it out with him.
It’s an unusual situation by today’s standards, but it’s one that DeBoer felt like he owed to the program.
Now that he’s coming into this season with a team that he had mostly built, that’s when the real fun begins.
A full-blown competition.
The competition will be real, and anything will go. But if there was one clue on where DeBoer may be leaning toward, all you have to do is look at the Rose Bowl, where Mack ended up finishing the game.
Publicly, DeBoer insists that the job is open.
Privately, the decisions he made in the Rose Bowl suggest that the staff already knows who they’re leaning towards.
The “Bama Standard” that was in place before DeBoer arrived isn’t just about excellence, it’s the process that you take in order to become excellent.
Unless Russell forces the staff’s hand this offseason, he’s likely going to have to follow the same path most did before him.