Nick Saban identifies where Ty Simpson had to grow the most as a QB
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The Alabama Crimson Tide are set to debut a new quarterback under center in 2025 in former 5-star recruit Ty Simpson, who spent his first 3 years on the bench as a backup to Bryce Young and then Jalen Milroe.
The uber-talented junior has had to bide his time since joining the Tide, but is now ready to take the reins in second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer’s system, and will be supported by an equally talented cast around him.
While DeBoer may be in charge of the Tide now, Simpson was actually recruited by and spent the first 2 years of his collegiate career under the tutelage of former head coach Nick Saban.
As such, Saban was offered a very unique view into how Simpson developed early on in his career with the Tide, and he recently discussed the hurdles he had to overcome in those formative years on The Pat McAfee Show.
“There’s so many of these guys that grow up now being outcome-oriented. They’re always looking at results. how many passes did I complete? How many touchdowns did I have?” Saban said. “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. It’s not good for a team.”
Saban said moving on from that mindset and maturing as a passer was “the big thing” that Simpson had to learn.
“That’s the big thing that Ty has had to, sort of, work his way through, is not get affected by a bad play, stay focused on the next play.” Saban said. “Because he’s got all the talent in the world. 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.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he can maintain the consistency in performance that defines success by not getting affected by ups and downs in a game.”
If there’s anyone who understands how college players develop and the hurdles they have to overcome, it would be Saban, and that holds especially true for Simpson.
It’s clear Saban firmly believes that his former player has all the tools to be the next great Alabama QB, but it will be up to Simpson to prove that he can put it all together and become that guy.
He’ll debut on Saturday against Florida State. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
