The Alabama Crimson Tide is headed into the second year of the Kalen DeBoer era, a year that, if possible, carries even more pressure to win than the last.

A huge part of the reason why many believe more success is ahead is DeBoer being able to reunite with longtime offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb this offseason after Grubb took an NFL job last year instead of following the head coach to Tuscaloosa.

Grubb has been an instrumental part of DeBoer’s system for nearly two decades, and getting him back should allow the offense to flourish.

Notably, Grubb’s first job is to break in a new quarterback, and while most assume that is going to be program veteran Ty Simpson, the coaching staff still continues to not be ready to make it official.

While speaking to the media at the end of last week, Grubb raised some eyebrows when he was asked when he wants to name a starter by:

When would new Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb ideally like to name a starting QB for week 1?

“Yesterday.” pic.twitter.com/Ai6uUQWTdx

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) July 31, 2025

“Yesterday, yesterday if I’m being honest,” Grubb said with a laugh when asked when he would like to have QB1 set in stone. “But you gotta let it run its course. It’s not there yet, and we’ve been through this before more than once…We’ve got a pretty detailed plan on how we figure those things out and the information we share with the guys every day. When it’s the right time, we’ll be ready to pull the trigger.”

The statement made it clear: Simpson hasn’t locked down the job yet.

Make no mistake, it would be a shock to see anyone else under center at least in week one, but Simpson clearly has not shown the coaching staff everything they want to see just yet.

He’s running out of time to do just that.