Nick Saban is high on his former quarterback, Ty Simpson, ahead of his first start for Alabama against Florida State.
Simpson signed with Alabama as a five-star recruit when Saban was the Tide’s head coach. The Tennessee product decided to wait several years for an opportunity to be the Tide’s starting quarterback.
Saban feels Simpson still has the talent needed to be a good quarterback during his most recent appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“He’s got legs that are real,” Saban said. “He’s a very accurate passer. He’s a good decision-maker. He’s smart. He’s a good leader. So, it’ll be interesting to see how he can maintain the consistency and performance that defines success by not being affected by ups and downs in a game.”
The legendary coach also discussed why he has a lot of respect for Simpson.
“I think Ty is a great young man, who has, and I have all the respect in the world for these guys that stay in a program for three years, develop, wait their turn and I think that’s the thing that Ty has done extremely well,” Saban said. “There’s so many of these guys that grow up now being outcome-oriented, and they’re always looking at results. How many passes did I complete? How many touchdowns did I have? And then 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. So that’s the big thing that Ty’s had to sort of work his way through is not get affected by a bad play, stay focused on the next play, because he’s got all the talent in the world.”
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!