Alabama football’s offensive players react to aggressive fourth-down decisions

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

Ryan Grubb’s aggressive vision for the Alabama offense is coming into fruition more and more as the season rolls on, and an aspect of that vision is keeping the pedal down on fourth down.

So far in 2025, Alabama has gone for it on fourth down 16 times and converted on 62.5% of the attempts. The percentage heavily increased last Saturday after the Crimson Tide successfully converted on fourth down three times against Missouri, helping Alabama dominate the time of possession thanks to extended drives.

Ty Simpson loves that the coaching staff continues to put the football in his hands on fourth down, but he still thinks about the things that force Alabama to play a fourth down.

“It means a lot,” Simpson said. “I feel like them trusting me, giving me the ball in that position with the game on the line is a huge, huge compliment, but it’s also a huge compliment to the offense that we can withstand in the pocket and withstand the pass rush in a big way and make plays on the outside like Lotzeir Brooks did on that fourth down. I think about all the times that led up to the fourth down like the sack … just easy stuff that we can avoid, and that’s what we gotta stop.”

Another Alabama skill player that gets excited when the offense stays on the field for another down is wide receiver Germie Bernard because of how much work the unit puts in during the week in preparation for these situations.

“It goes to show how much our coaching staff trusts us to get the job done man,” Bernard said. “It all starts at practice. I always revert back to that because we put in a lot of work throughout the week with the countless walkthroughs and the countless reps and repping it over and over. Now if we are not getting it, we’re restarting the rep. Just doing it in practice and doing it in the walkthroughs, that builds the faith and the trust for the coaches to believe in us to get it done in the game.”

For offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, he is also on the same wavelength as Simpson, and he also shared how taking a chance on fourth down excites him and his teammates.

“It definitely excites us and lets us know that coaches are comfortable with the guys that we have out there to go and succeed on those third and fourth downs and get those conversions,” Proctor said. “We’ve shown to buck up in those times, so we’re going to keep doing that. We got to try and stay out positions honestly, but I love that the coaches trust us that much.”

Alabama’s kicking struggles could also play a role in why the offense goes for it on fourth down as much as they do, and the Crimson Tide will likely need to convert on downs later in the drive to outscore Tennessee on the Third Saturday in October.