As a former five-star prospect who spent three years on the bench, Ty Simpson easily could have gotten opportunities elsewhere. However, with his chance finally arriving in 2025, the Alabama quarterback is grateful for sticking with the team and not entering the college football transfer portal.

After sitting behind Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe for years, Simpson is slated to get his chance as the Crimson Tide's starting quarterback in 2025. While admitting he considered entering the college football transfer portal, Simpson said he simply “couldn't leave” the comfort he developed within Alabama.

“I couldn't leave my friends, my teammates,” Simpson said at the 2025 Manning Passing Academy, via Crescent City Sports. “Some of my best friends who are going to be in my wedding one day are my teammates here at the University of Alabama. Seeing them on a different sideline, it didn't feel right to me. With Coach Saban's guidance and the guys who are on the team and go to school there, there was nowhere else I would rather be than the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.”

Simpson has yet to be officially named the starting quarterback, but is widely believed to be the player leading the team out of the tunnel in Week 1. While Alabama also has Mack Austin and Keelon Russell, Simpson is the most experienced and beloved player of the group, whom fans are eager to see get his opportunity.

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Alabama set for 2025 college football season with Ty Simpson

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer looks on against the Michigan Wolverines in the third quarter during the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Simpson will be one of many new starters for Alabama in the 2025 college football season. While he will notably replace two-year starter Jalen Milroe, the Crimson Tide will also replace Justice Haynes, CJ Dippre, Tyler Booker, Jihaad Campbell, Malachi Moore and others.

Alabama will look different once it returns in the fall, but it is retaining more consistency than it did in the 2024 offseason. Following Nick Saban's retirement, the program underwent wholesale changes during the transition to new head coach Kalen DeBoer.

As if replacing its quarterback was not enough, Alabama is also coming off its worst season in nearly two decades. The Crimson Tide's 9-4 record in 2024 was their worst since Saban went just 2-6 in 2007, his first year with the team. The season included disappointing losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, as well as a loss to a shorthanded Michigan team in the ReliaQuest Bowl to end the year.