Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson has his coach’s back.

Coming off another turbulent season for the program which ended in bitter disappointment and disgust with a Rose Bowl beatdown at the hands of Indiana, the temperature surrounding Kalen DeBoer and the fanbase is a bit hot.

During Senior Bowl week in Mobile though — which Simpson is not actually participating in but is in the city to train for the draft — Simpson was asked about his head coach and issued a stern warning to his doubters that they should get on board before the train leaves the station.

“Don’t be a fan later,” Simpson said via Nick Kelly of AL.com. “Everybody likes to criticize him now. Don’t be a fan later. That dude is the exact person for the job. There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Simpson went on to explain his rationale and talk about the growth of the program from year one to year two under DeBoer and why he believes DeBoer is the right man to lead the Crimson Tide forward.

“You saw what he did in Year 2,” he continued. “Imagine what he’s going to do in Years 3 and 4. That dude is a great leader of men. He’s a great coach. He’s a great motivator. There’s no other coach I would play for, beside my dad, than coach DeBoer…I thank him every day for the opportunity he’s given me. He’s my guy. I’ll go to war for that guy, and everybody who plays there will go to war for him.”

There is no question that DeBoer is going to need to get more results than he has so far if he’s going to do what he came to Tuscaloosa to do when he took over for Nick Saban. But it certainly does seem like he has the faith and belief of his players that he can get it done at the highest level.

Next season is going to be very telling as to whether or not that’s true.