Alabama football began its spring practices last weekend, and head coach Kalen DeBoer is entering his second year at the helm of the Crimson Tide. After practice on March 3, DeBoer talked to reporters about what he wants to see out of his starting quarterback in 2025.
Kalen DeBoer Discusses QBs After Monday’s Spring Practice
“It’s gotta be a guy that can deliver the ball,” DeBoer told the media. “Command the huddle, command everything we do with the team, just that presence and that belief and confidence in your signal-caller.”
Last year’s Alabama squad was led by then-redshirt junior Jalen Milroe. With the former four-star recruit under center, the Tide finished 9-4 (6-3 SEC), missed the newly expanded playoff by one spot in the rankings, and lost the ReliaQuest Bowl to a 7-5 Michigan team.
“It’s got to be a guy that can deliver the ball, command the huddle, command everything we do with the team.”
Kalen DeBoer tells what Alabama’s next QB1 has to be able to do. pic.twitter.com/G3tXjRwscR
— Touchdown Alabama (@TDAlabamaMag) March 3, 2025
Milroe finished the 2024 season with 16 passing touchdowns, seven less than in his previous season, where he led the Tide to a spot in the last-ever four-team College Football Playoff. The Katy, Texas native also threw 11 interceptions, second-most in the conference and five more than he threw in 2023.
Currently, Milroe is set to join the NFL, which leaves DeBoer with three main options to head the offense: redshirt sophomore Austin Mack, redshirt junior Ty Simpson, and first-year Keelon Russell. Simpson spent the last two years as Milroe’s backup and looks to land that starting spot in 2025.
Matt Stahl wrote for AL.com that the head coach remained “cagey” about what he saw from Simpson, Mack, and Russell.
“They’re all different things,” DeBoer claimed. “Just a few things procedure-wise that were a little different. Good to see those guys all operate through that. They had their times where, of course, they looked really good and times where they continue to grow and get better.”
Given DeBoer’s history of waiting to make a starting quarterback decision, he kept his thoughts on each of the QBs vague. But he also specified how Russell had prepared himself for the upcoming season as a true freshman.
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“He’s got a long way to go because I think that’s the way he looks at it. He’s excited about what this growth’s going to be even during this spring,” DeBoer said.
“But his ceiling and what he accomplished through what you can see on the high school film, he’s a pretty elite quarterback coming in as a high school senior current freshman for us.”
DeBoer will not make a decision this early into Spring practices. However, whoever wins the starting quarterback job will be tasked with bringing Alabama back to the CFP. Their 2025 season will kick off on the road against Florida State.
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