Report: Nick Saban, Alabama Staff Expected Ty Simpson to Win 2023 QB Contest

On Saturday afternoon, for the first time in an Alabama uniform, Ty Simpson will start a football game. The redshirt junior beat out Washington transfer Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell for the quarterback job this offseason in a competition he had the lead in from the early stages.

While the contest at Florida State is set to be Simpson's first start after 16 prior appearances for the Crimson Tide, 2025 was not his first position battle. Jalen Milroe won out over Simpson prior to the 2023 season, and reporting by On3's Chris Low on Friday indicated that former head coach Nick Saban initially expected a different outcome.

"Going into 2023 spring, Saban and the staff felt Simpson would emerge as the starter," Low said. "But he didn’t play with the confidence the staff wanted to see, and both he and Jalen Milroe struggled."

The springtime addition of Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner to that year's quarterback room complicated things for Simpson. When Milroe was benched in mid-September after a home loss against Texas, it was Buchner who got the starting nod the next week in the team's sloppy 17-3 road win against South Florida, with Simpson later replacing him to close out the affair.

Prior to that messy game in Tampa, the Crimson Tide's depth chart listed no definite starter at the quarterback position among four players: Simpson, Milroe, Buchner and then-freshman Dylan Lonergan, who was recently named the starter at Boston College by former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien.

That contest remains Simpson's most significant game action to date as a member of the Crimson Tide. Saban's retirement came in January 2024; Milroe had taken over the quarterback position again following the South Florida game and he didn't look back. Alabama won the SEC and made the College Football Playoff in 2023. Milroe started every game last season, Kalen DeBoer's first.

Saban recently spoke with Simpson in advance of his start this weekend. Simpson played for two seasons under Saban and sought his former coach's advice on how to handle the nerves that come along with beginning this new phase of his Alabama career.

"He was just like, ‘Hey, just play within yourself. Make sure that you keep your team out of negative plays and negative drives,'" Simpson said after practice on Tuesday. "He always said that if you end the drive with a kick, a PAT, a field goal or a punt, then you’re in good shape, and you’re not dead in the water. I’m taking that approach and just making sure I’m gonna march down the field and do everything I can to move the ball forward and not backward."