Anonymous SEC coach believes quarterback will be Alabama's biggest question in 2025

Going into his first season coaching the Alabama Crimson Tide, Kalen DeBoer was able to return starting quarterback Jalen Milroe. Now, going into the 2025 season, he’s looking for the team’s next signal caller.

Ahead of the season, several anonymous SEC coaches spoke to Athlon about Alabama. One of those coaches highlighted the quarterback battle in Tuscaloosa. If Alabama wants to make it to the College Football Playoff, then that’s the biggest question they need to answer.

“The biggest question will be quarterback, obviously,” the coach said. “But they have a really solid offensive line, and the roster doesn’t have any obvious holes to fill. They’re going to compete for a playoff spot for sure.”

This comes in an offseason when Kalen DeBoer shook up his offensive coaching staff. Ryan Grubb, who was previously DeBoer’s offensive coordinator at Washington, joined the staff at Alabama. He’s sharing duties with Nick Sheridan now, who remains with the team in a co-coordinator role.

“Ryan Grubb coming over will make the offense better,” an SEC coach said. “[Nick] Sheridan’s going to focus on development; he helped find and develop [Michael] Penix [Jr.] at Indiana.”

There are a few different quarterbacks who Alabama is looking at going into the 2025 season. Ty Simpson, who was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2022, appears to lead the way. Former head coach Nick Saban even recently praised him as a true example of development. However, he’s not alone in the field. Austin Mack, a transfer from Washington, and incoming freshman Keelon Russell also appear to be pushing for the job.

Regardless of who wins the Alabama starting quarterback job, expectations are always high in Tuscaloosa. At 9-4 in 2024, missing out on the Playoff, the Crimson Tide didn’t live up to those expectations last season.

“The expectations define this place,” an SEC coach added. “I think you’ll see a competitive program that could end up in Atlanta and make the playoff, but this is a new era. Bama’s not a surefire lock every season.”

Kalen DeBoer updates latest on timeline to name Alabama starting QB

While Alabama still hasn’t announced the team’s next starting quarterback, the Crimson Tide are moving closer. Kalen DeBoer has even provided a timeline on when to expect them to name their starter.

“There’s been roughly a similar kind of timeframe throughout fall camp. The last week-and-a-half. We usually have a little bit longer phase of bonus practices leading up to Week 1. There’s a weekend before and a few days before that. That’s kind of when you really for sure like to have the starter named and him to be able to start really being in sync with his receiving corps, gelling that way and really piling on the reps. But if you feel like you’re at that point earlier, maybe a week earlier,” DeBoer said.

“I’ve had a lot of these kind of competitions over the years. When you do it for 25 years, I don’t know if it’s three, four, five, but there’s been a handful of competitions to some level where there’s two guys, three guys, a guy coming in that’s a transfer and all that. You’ve really got to be thorough. I think in the end, it’s who can move the ball down the field. People sometimes get caught up in who’s great now, who had the best completion percentage and all those things. Those are all important. But I think in the end it’s who’s moving the ball down the field for the ones and the twos most consistently when you’re here in practice each and every day.”