DeBoer Shares His Fears for the Alabama QB Room

With spring football in the rearview mirror, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer now focuses on the transfer portal and beginning preparation for fall camp at the University of Alabama. Alabama is still deciding who the starting quarterback will be between Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and Keelon Russell, but DeBoer won't tip his hand yet despite his offensive coordinator's comments on Monday.

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On Friday, DeBoer joined The Next Round, where he talked about spring practice and the current quarterback position. The Crimson Tide's head coach had high praise for redshirt sophomore Austin Mack, who transferred to Alabama after spending his true freshman season with DeBoer at Washington.

"It's fun when you have guys of the quality - both as a player and especially as people - that we have with Ty, Austin, and Keelon. These guys are fun because they're gonna develop," DeBoer said. "They're gonna have their best football ahead of them for sure, and you're trying to help them reach that potential. You've also got really great people. They're a pleasure to be around, whether it's on the football field, in the hallways, the cafeteria, popping up in your office, and of course, the meeting rooms and anything that is associated with the team. So it's fun seeing these guys grow. It's a healthy competition because their character is elite. They've done a good job."

"Ty, he's the one that's the elder statesman here as far as experience in the program, but the others have done a great job competing and pushing him daily as well."

DeBoer also shared his fear that keeps most college coaches up at night in the modern era of the transfer portal, only having three quarterbacks on the roster.

"It's really scary. I'm scared, too," DeBoer said. "We had four last year, and that was a luxury. The previous two years before that, at Washington, we had three on scholarship. So I've had three more times than I haven't, and having four, I felt really good about the quality of those guys and what they were doing in their development. But the defense has never heard 'Stay away from the quarterback' more than they ever have this spring. That'll continue on because we just can't have that risk, especially with all these guys competing; they need to take all their reps. They gotta get that experience and everything matters. So the defense, they did a good job, too. They appreciate what that position is all about; that's what I love about our team right now."

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.