Nick Saban recently announced his retirement after a highly decorated career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, leaving many questions unanswered and many fans thinking "what now?". His final 2023 run ended up falling just short on a Jalen Milroe rush against Michigan in overtime of the playoffs.
Saban's decision to discontinue his coaching duties, in essence, really came out of nowhere. Everyone is aware that he is one of the greatest coaches to ever take a sideline in the NCAA football scene, which only makes his shoes that much harder to fill. When all else seemed to have failed, Alabama AD Greg Byrne turned to Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer.
DeBoer went to Washington in his successfully rich tenure and completely changed the culture at a very fast pace. He took the Huskies all the way to the national championship game this past season, falling just short to Michigan. The big question is, will Coach DeBoer be able to have that same success?
We all have heard the saying "a fish rots from the head down", which plays directly into the Alabama situation. As any competitive coach knows in today's schema of college football with the transfer portal, trying to keep a player committed to your squad with NIL nudging at you is a major challenge. The transfer portal has an affect on players that is depicted to coaches as sort of like a stock market, there is absolutely no telling what a player is going to do.
I say this to mention that Jalen Milroe's decision to stick with Coach DeBoer after being monitored by college football's very best the previous season was probably not the easiest choice in the world. Although, in this case Milroe is trying to build something with his new head coach on his route to a national championship and the NFL.
Milroe stands at 6'2", 220lbs, and is absolutely built like a machine. He threw for 2,834 yards last season while stamping 531 on the ground. He also had the huge 4th down pass conversion against Auburn in the Iron Bowl which basically turned the entire season around in terms of confidence, community, and everything else that comes with Alabama football. He also used his legs a lot if it meant getting a few extra yards to move the sticks or the Tide was in a crucial situation.
A dual-threat quarterback is such a highly sought after role in college football now, and even the NFL is turning into that personality when it was not previously like that. The question is, when the workload of dual-threat is pushed onto a kid, how long are they going to be able to tolerate it before injuries start setting in?
The talented QB had an outstanding season, but he did have a little bit of lower half trouble with his hamstring. You can not count on a quarterback to not go down, they are the most important position on the field and they are in every single play 100% of the time. This is why you always have to have that guy sitting on deck waiting for his turn. We saw the same exact thing with the Hurts and Tua situation.
Even though there weren't any injuries to Hurts, and as far as we know there are none that are threatening to Milroe, the next man up in #13 came up absolutely huge in the national championship. I can not stress this enough, it is a NECESSITY to have that talented and experienced QB ready to make an appearance at any given time.
Even though Ty Simpson didn't have the time that he wanted last season at Bama, he is having to play behind one of the most athletic and talented quarterbacks in all of college football.
We saw the same exact thing last season at Ole Miss, you have two dudes that are absolute rocket launchers in the pocket in Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard, but you have that vocal leader and baller in Jaxson Dart that is taking snaps in the first quarter every Saturday. Ty Simpson is not anything to overlook folks, and he can also get it done with his legs too. The guy threw for almost 3,000 yards and 44 TDs his senior year of high school. Immaculate pocket presence, and has very good field vision. When he gets his chance, he is going to shine.
Milroe is the guy for now, but Simpson's decision to stay with the Tide only formulates a two-headed monster in the QB room. Although I understand why players enter the portal, I think that the selflessness shown by Ty Simpson is the reason why the Crimson Tide aren't going to skip a beat this season. Simpson being behind Milroe just shows how much firepower is cooking down in Tuscaloosa.
The gunslinger from Martin, Tennessee is in it for the culture and a national championship, and that is exactly what Coach Kalen DeBoer is headed for this season.