Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb opened Tuesday’s media availability with a statement regarding a Monday announcement that Ty Simpson had been named the team’s starting quarterback.
“Hey guys, Ty Simpson’s our starter,” the Crimson Tide’s first-year OC said with a grin.
The announcement caps off months of speculation about who the team’s starting quarterback would be following former quarterback Jalen Milroe’s departure from the team for the NFL.
Grubb then dove into the decision, first mentioning that Simpson “led that charge” among the quarterbacks with his ability to make plays while keeping the ball out of harm’s way in camp thus far.
“Ty did a really nice job of taking care of the football,” he said. “I think Ty is an incredible playmaker on the move.”
He added that Simpson didn’t throw a single interception in practice last week and that he’s thrown just one throughout the entirety of fall camp.
“His ability to command and create out of the pocket I thought was the best,” Grubb said. “He’s just much cleaner on some of the things that you expect from an older quarterback.”
Grubb said that Simpson’s largest improvement since spring practices has been his poise and decision making.
“I feel like he’s very poised back there. I think anytime you have a guy who can balance those two things — be an explosive athlete out of the pocket, but also know that he doesn’t have to do it every time — I think that’s the thing you love to see out of a guy like Ty.”
Grubb’s message to Simpson after he was named the Crimson Tide’s starter was “don’t change anything.”
“We still got a lot of stuff to clean up,” he added. “Remember what got you the job, the things that you were challenged to improve on in the spring and that you did do to this point in camp.”
Grubb added that the team hasn’t named a backup quarterback yet and that more reps need to be seen from quarterbacks Keelon Russell and Austin Mack.
