Former Alabama QB tells what Ty Simpson needs to do to rebuild confidence

Nov 9, 2024; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) calls for the ball against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

After a poor showing against the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game, the overall consensus from spectators and media members is that Alabama’s offense and the quarterback play from Ty Simpson has declined over the last few games and so has Simpson’s confidence.

Simpson put himself into the Heisman Trophy conversation after the Florida State loss as he led the Crimson Tide to four-straight wins over ranked conference opponents, including Georgia, but recently, he has played his way out of contention for the Heisman Trophy.

The lack of confidence from Simpson is concerning to many, including former Alabama quarterback, AJ McCarron, and he shared what his advice for Simpson is as the Crimson Tide prepares to play Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff.

“I look at his eyes when I’m watching from the TV, but when I’m there in person, I’m watching his feet, and if there’s one thing I can tell him, it is to slow down from a processing standpoint,” McCarron said on The Dynasty: A Podcast on the Alabama Crimson Tide. “You’ve played enough games. Trust what you see. Don’t overthink everything. Don’t try to be perfect. Know your rules. Know what your weaknesses are and go play the game.”

McCarron stressed that Simpson needs to calm down before the snap but speed up his post-snap processing.

“It’s got to be a processing part that speeds up from a mental standpoint when it’s post-snap, but it’s got to be a calming aspect to it before,” McCarron said. “When you look at him, he spends so much time up there right now, and I’d just talk to him and tell him ‘Hey, trust what you see and then snap it. Let’s go. You know the system. Go play.’ But you got to find a way to build his confidence back up guys.”

The way that McCarron suggests the Alabama staff rebuild Simpson’s confidence is to have a quick game that goes beyond the line of scrimmage so Simpson can see those completions happening and get on a roll.

The only issue with that is the playcalling. Alabama’s quick game on offense has been non-existent lately as offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb hardly calls plays for Simpson to get the football out of his hand quickly and beyond the line of scrimmage.

“When I think of this offense right now, everything is a long developing play downfield, and our quick game from a passing standpoint is either behind the line of scrimmage with bubbles and swings or at the line of scrimmage,” McCarron said. “We got to find a way to create a quick game that is beyond the line of scrimmage. Five to seven yards, somewhere in there that we are just playing and getting the ball out. Boom. And as a shooter, he sees those balls get completed and that confidence builds up, just comparing it to basketball. That would be my biggest thing for him.”

McCarron made an observation about Simpson’s footwork that tells an interesting story of what’s changed with Simpson over the last few weeks.

“When I watch him in the pocket right now, his feet at the top, his cleats are never in the ground,” McCarron said. “And as a quarterback, if you don’t have your cleats in the ground, it’s hard to get that front foot down in time, and that starts the whole process. Your left foot has got to get down in the ground to be accurate to set everything else up. When your feet are all over the place, it makes stride different, your timing’s different, it causes your arm angle to be different, you rip your head. There’re so many things.”

McCarron compared playing quarterback to swinging a golf club, and the analogy fits perfectly in the current conversations surrounding Simpson’s performance in the SEC Championship game.

“Throwing a football is like a golf swing, and anybody that knows golf, everything has to be perfect,” McCarron said. “In football, you have to be on time. You have to be in sync with your body. It’s hard to be accurate for 99.9% of the guys. You might have an outlier out there, a Brett Favre, an Aaron Rodgers that can off platform, Patrick Mahomes, off platform everything, but that’s not a common deal. So, be in sync, slow down. Go up and see the line. Like, when I would go to the line of scrimmage, I’m seeing what front the defense is in.”

The only guaranteed game that Alabama has left this season is at Oklahoma, an opponent that blitzed Simpson on over half of his drop-backs the last time the teams played. The Crimson Tide and the Sooners will play in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Friday, Dec. 19.