Which QB Benefits Most from Addition of Ryan Grubb? Just a Minute

How will Grubb help Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell as the Crimson Tide will open up a quarterback competition this spring.

Dec 31, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Austin Mack (10) throws the ball before a game against the Michigan Wolverines at Raymond James Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a daily video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral's assistant editor Katie Windham talks about which Crimson Tide quarterback she thinks benefitted the most with Ryan Grubb rejoining Kalen DeBoer's staff as the offense coordinator.

Alabama added several players from the transfer portal this offseason, but perhaps the most newsworthy move for Kalen DeBoer was getting his longtime assistant Ryan Grubb back on staff to be the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator for 2025.

With Jalen Milroe headed off to the NFL, Alabama will have a quarterback competition heading into the 2025 season between redshirt junior Ty Simpson, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack and true freshman Keelon Russell.

Simpson will now be on his fourth offensive coordinator in four years at Alabama (Bill O'Brien, Tommy Rees, Nick Sheridan and Grubb.) Simpson has stayed loyal to the program throughout all the changes and transitions while waiting his turn behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe. He will once again have to prove himself to a new offensive coordinator.

Grubb and Mack will be somewhat familiar with one another from their one year together at Washington when Mack was an early enrollee learning behind Michael Penix Jr.

Russell continued to shoot up in the recruiting rankings and is considered a top-two overall player in the 2025 class by the three major recruiting outlets and was primarily recruited by Sheridan, who is now the quarterbacks coach. It's not easy or common for a true freshman to start at quarterback in the SEC, especially at a place like Alabama, but Russell carries the type of prestige to be able to.