Kalen DeBoer has seen plenty of tense QB battles in his 25 years of coaching experience, but none had stakes as high as Alabama's. That makes him particularly precise in what he wants as his starter for Year 2.
That is also a reason why Nick Saban's successor is focusing on the qualities of the Tide's next starting QB and cultivating them, instead of rushing to name the program's next starter.
"I think in the end, it’s who can move the ball down the field. People sometimes get caught up in who’s great now, who had the best completion percentage and all those things. Those are all important. But I think in the end it’s who’s moving the ball down the field for the ones and the twos most consistently when you’re here in practice each and every day," DeBoer announced during his sit-down interview with Greg McElroy.
When asked when he would put an end to all the building anticipation, DeBoer unveiled the timeline for when he plans to name their starter.
"There’s been roughly a similar kind of timeframe throughout fall camp. The last week-and-a-half. We usually have a little bit longer phase of bonus practices leading up to Week 1. There’s a weekend before and a few days before that. That’s kind of when you really for sure like to have the starter named and him to be able to start really being in sync with his receiving corps, gelling that way and really piling on the reps. But if you feel like you’re at that point earlier, maybe a week earlier," DeBoer further implored.
Ty Simpson has been a much-hyped favorite to become the Tide's starter. But if freshman Keelon Russell can move the ball and show consistency to DeBoer, he might outpace Simpson in the QB battle.
We'll see who among Simpson and Russell can leverage DeBoer's advice best.