Who Did Ty Simpson Celebrate His QB Competition Win With on Monday?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama Crimson Tide football program named redshirt junior Ty Simpson its new starting quarterback on Monday. The former 5-star prospect spent the last three seasons biding his time behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe but finally takes the reigns as the leader of the Alabama offense in head coach Kalen DeBoer's second season in charge.

Simpson is one of the rarities in today's college football as the third-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2022 stayed in Tuscaloosa and waited his turn to take over the Crimson Tide offense instead of turning to the transfer portal for a more immediate opportunity. He reflected on his early days in the program on Tuesday and what's helped him arrive as the 2025 starting quarterback.

"I've talked to Coach Saban a lot," Simpson said. "He always would tell me, 'Don't worry about the outside noise. Don't worry about external factors. Don't worry about anybody else. Just be the best that you can be.' And I really didn't understand that when I was a young guy. I would always be worried about somebody else or somebody at a different type of school or whatever, or be looking somewhere else and be like, 'Man, I could've played there or whatever.'

He always kept saying, 'Just focus on yourself. Focus on being the best you can be,' and then when Coach DeBoer game he talked about going 1-0 and winners win because that's what winners do. I had to sit back and pray about it and just think to myself, like, 'Man I got to do something. I can't keep going down this road of just worrying, worrying, having anxiety or whatever.' I sat back in my room in my room one night and was like, 'Man I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna give everything I've got to the Lord and just make sure that I understand that I'm going to be the best player, best Ty Simpson that I can be.' I think in these last couple years that's what I've really tried to do. Just make sure, like hey, don't do anything fancy, man, even though it's the University of Alabama, just play football and be the best version of yourself you can be."

Simpson's had a long journey to arrive as the Crimson Tide starting signal-caller. He said he heard from a number of supporters on Monday after the news got out of the Mal Moore facility that Simpson had won the fall camp quarterback battle.

"Greg McElroy texted me, which is really cool, I really look up to him a lot," Simpson said. "A bunch of my family, a bunch of my friends, a bunch of guys who transferred out have reached out and that means a lot because I'm a big relationship person. I'm a people person. Guys who left, I really try to connect with them in a lot of different ways. I understand why they left, but I want them to know they can always count on me and understand that I'll be there for them with anything they need and I think I take that into my game too. Understanding I'm going to be the best teammate that I can be and make sure I can do everything I can to help our team win."

Alabama's starting quarterback even had conversations with fellow Class of 2022 member and first round draft pick Tyler Booker.

"I texted Book, and he called me and was like I better be at the draft like you were with me so it'll be a fun year for sure. I'm excited to watch him play for the Cowboys."

The Crimson Tide kicks off its season against the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee in almost three weeks, leaving Simpson an opportunity to get comfortable in his new role and impress his extensive support system.