Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is bringing his quarterback of the future with him from Washington to Alabama.

On Thursday, former Washington quarterback Austin Mack announced his transfer commitment to the Crimson Tide. A 4-star passer out of Folsom (Calif.) High in the 2023 class, Mack spent one season at Washington and comes to Tuscaloosa with all four years of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot-6 Mack did not play as a true freshman for Washington, which made a run to the College Football Playoff behind Michael Penix Jr. That was by design. The Huskies had Penix entrenched as the starter, but Mack was also a 2024 recruit who reclassified and joined the UW program a year early.

“He’s been everything and then some of what we had hoped for and expected. The guy’s going to play some big-time ball for us,” DeBoer said in December. “He had just a great fall, got a lot of reps even in team sessions. Wasn’t just hanging out on the scout team. He was with us and you can just see what he’s capable of. Super excited about him.”

As a 2023 recruit, Mack was a 4-star quarterback in the industry-generated 247 Composite. He was the 16th-ranked quarterback and the 16th-ranked prospect from California. Overall, he was a top-250 recruit in the class.

During his junior season of high school ball, Mack helped Folsom to a 12-2 record while throwing for 3,498 yards and 40 touchdowns with a 70% completion rate and only five interceptions in what was his first season as a starter.

When DeBoer was in Seattle, he sought out Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers — a one-and-done quarterback — to bridge the gap between Penix and Mack and give the latter another year to develop and learn the system. At Alabama, Mack will presumably walk into a similar situation. Jalen Milroe returns for his fourth season of college ball to lead the Tide after an SEC championship-winning season and a Playoff berth.

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At Washington, DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb believed Mack was their next star in waiting. He’ll now look to make good on that potential with the same staff in a new setting.