Spring football returns to the University of Alabama on Friday.
Fans of the Crimson Tide are excited for this edition of athletes taking the field, as Nick Saban and the program look to repeat as national champions. With 15 practice sessions – including the A-Day Game – the staff writers for Touchdown Alabama Magazine will provide in-depth previews on marquee players.
As we begin the offense, the third profile piece is Paul Tyson.
Paul Tyson
-Classification: Redshirt sophomore
-Hometown: Trussville, Ala.
-Height: 6-5
-Weight: 228 pounds
-Strengths: Size, strength, arm talent (accuracy), leadership, knowledge of system
-Weaknesses: Game experience, mobility
-Summary: Bryce Young carries the attention as the favorite to win Alabama’s starting quarterback job, but do not look away from Paul Tyson. He enters his third year for the Crimson Tide and is poised to show people how dynamic he is at the position.
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Tyson, a native of Trussville, Ala., was a polished prospect out of high school.
He tossed for more than 6,500 yards with 69 touchdowns at Hewitt-Trussville. Tyson posted a 19-5 record as a starter and made the Huskies into one of the best high school programs in the state of Alabama. He threw receivers open at Hewitt-Trussville, and while he’s the great-grandson of Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, his playing style has bigger volumes. Tyson arrived at the University of Alabama as a four-star in 2019 and immediately started learning behind Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. According to Kyle Edwards, a former Tide quarterback, Tyson was able to process information quickly in team meetings. Despite playing in only one game as a freshman, he was a fierce competitor in practice and the coaching staff liked what it saw in Tyson. He spent all of last season around Mac Jones. Young got more playing time, but Tyson absorbed the preparation and mental reps from Jones.
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The 6-foot-5, 228-pounder has been training with Lavelle Durant, and the elite quarterback develop from Seattle (Wash.) has Tyson looking good. According to Durant, Tyson can make all the throws and has enough mobility to make defenders account for him. Before getting a head coaching job at Bessemer City High School, Rudy Griffin was a defensive coordinator at Hewitt-Trussville. The former Alabama defensive lineman competed against Tyson in practices, and he called him a ‘leader of men.’
*Coach Rudy Griffin speaks on Paul Tyson at the 41:00 mark
“He is a man on a mission this year,” Griffin said of Tyson via In My Own Words. “The Alabama nation just needs to be ready because this is what he was born to do. I am excited about him. All the hard work he is putting in is coming to fruition, and everybody is seeing it. He just needs a shot and is going to get that shot this year. He is not going to relinquish it.”
Per Griffin, he said Tyson has one of the strongest arms in college football.
“We all know that he can spin it, but he is a natural-born leader,” Griffin said. “Paul has a Tom Brady and Drew Brees kind of leadership, and I saw it in high school. He led our team to one of the best records in school history.”
Griffin raved about Tyson’s footwork, accuracy, and arm strength at quarterback.
“Nobody is going to outwork him,” Griffin said of Tyson.
“People see the work on camera, but he’s working off-camera too. Paul can ball. Don’t get it twisted, Paul can ball.”
He had scholarship offers from other huge programs, but Tyson chose to come to Alabama. He has the knowledge of the system and all capabilities to beat out Young and Jalen Milroe for the starting job. Tyson gets his chance this spring to prove all doubters wrong, and he is ready to take it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
