Why Alabama subbed Austin Mack in for Ty Simpson to benefit both quarterbacks

Sep 6, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson (15) flashes a signal to his offense during the game with UL Monroe at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

Alabama football’s coaching staff wanted to be ‘intentional’ when letting Austin Mack go in at quarterback early in the second quarter against Louisiana-Monroe.

Mack entered the game in the second quarter when Alabama was up 28-0 and while Ty Simpson was in a groove and playing at a high level. This is something similar to what Kalen DeBoer did at Fresno State when Jake Haener and Ben Wooldridge were competing for the starting quarterback job.

DeBoer said Haener ‘bowed’ up when this happened, and he saw something similar from Simpson on Saturday.

“This is something I’ve done a number of times over the years, going way back, but that’s one of the more recent ones,” DeBoer said. “Jake bowed up. He bowed up and thought Ty responded pretty well, too, and it’s one of those they kind of question probably at first why, but I think competition is just going to bring out the best in everyone. I think that did that for Ty in his week of preparation. Obviously, it helps Austin. It gives him some energy to really go out there and, you know, we’re looking at him. He got some quality snaps in the game. And, you know, across the board, we do that at other positions and don’t really think twice about it. We’ve got rotation, rotating in at defensive positions. We do that at the offensive line, you know, receiver personnel groupings. We’re doing a lot of that. So again, competition helping bring out the best. And that’s what Jake did. And I think that’s what Ty did here this last week.”

Simpson was 17-of-17 in the 73-0 win en route to throwing three touchdown passes. Mack completed eight of his ten passing attempts for 80 yards and two passing touchdowns.

Ryan Grubb was Fresno State’s offensive coordinator when Haener and Wooldridge were competing for the starting quarterback role. He was asked about the battle on Monday and how Haener responded.

“It pissed Jake off, but that’s Jake,” Grubb told reporters. “But it helped. I thought at the time for him, and Ben Wooldridge, who’s a really good quarterback, I thought it kind of got him locked into remembering all the things he needed to do and be clean on his preparation and prove that he’s the guy, all those kind of things. That certainly was a story that I shared with Ty, and I thought in the right way, Ty handled it the right way and just attacked it and just kind of dug in and focused more on himself, which is the toughest part about playing quarterback is not letting outside influences, whether it’s another quarterback, somebody from outside the program, affect the way you prepare, and I thought Ty was elite at that last week. He just dove into the preparation and did a great job.”

Simpson will look to remain locked in preparation for Wisconsin.

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