Austin Mack addresses his future at Alabama after Rose Bowl loss

Alabama sophomore quarterback Austin Mack saw the first significant action of his Crimson Tide career Thursday night when he replaced an injured starter Ty Simpson in the second half of a 38-3 loss to No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl national quarterfinal. But with the NCAA Transfer Portal opening on Jan. 2nd, the former four-star recruit’s next appearance could be in another uniform.

But, at least at the moment, Alabama’s 6-foot-6 and 225-pound backup QB says he hasn’t made any decision about his future, and whether he intends to re-enter the transfer portal during its two-week window that opens at midnight tonight.

“As of right now (I’ll be at Alabama), yes,” Mack told reporters after the Rose Bowl. “I’m kind of being where my feet are at, I just played in a Rose Bowl game, so I’m kind of just still digesting that and figuring it out. (But) I’m excited for my future, yeah.”

Mack finished 11-of-16 passing for 103 yards in relief of Simpson, who suffered a bruised rip late in the first half and played Alabama’s first offensive series before being taken out. Mack played the Tide’s final three offensive series, including directing Alabama to its lone score of the night, a 28-yard field goal by kicker Conor Talty to cap a nine-play scoring drive on his first series.

Before the Rose Bowl, Mack’s most experience this season came in Week 2’s 73-0 rout of Louisiana-Monroe when second-year Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer rotated all three Alabama QBs following a Week 1 loss at Florida State.

Kalen DeBoer explains decision to insert Austin Mack in second quarter, how Ty Simpson reacted

It’s a tactic that DeBoer has used before, going back to his time at Fresno State. It often worked there, and in doing so now at Alabama, he was looking to add some competition, get Mack some playing time, and make sure Simpson responded well.

“Yeah, it’s something I’ve done a number of times over the years,” DeBoer said on Sept 8. “Going way back. That’s one of the more recent ones. Jake [Haener] bowed up. He bowed up, and I thought Ty responded pretty well, too. It’s one of those that they kind of question, probably, at first — why? But I think competition is just going to bring out the best in everyone, and I think that did that for Ty in his week of preparation.”

Mack played well in his opportunity, completing 8 of 10 passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns in the blowout. Following the Rose Bowl, Mack finished the 2025 season throwing for 228 yards on 24-of-32 passing and the two touchdowns.

“Obviously, it helps Austin. It gives him some energy to really go out there, and we’re looking at him, got some quality snaps in the game,” DeBoer said. “And across the board, we did that. We do that at other positions and don’t really think twice about it. We got a rotation.”

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.