Kalen DeBoer is shifting Alabama’s gears this season. After managing to pull through 2024, the 2nd-year HC is now looking confident in the new Crimson Tide team. Josh Pate stirred up some chatter after ranking Alabama as the No. 4 team in his post-spring rankings. He might not be far off, because there’s a lot to like about the 2025 roster. A big talking point of the Crimson Tide team is the QB1 battle, which is yet to see a victor. The race for the top post came down to Ty Simpson, Keelon Russell, and Austin Mack. Heaps of experts and analysts have given their expected winners. But are we going to see an announcement soon? DeBoer is in no mood to do so.

Throughout spring, all of them were giving each other some serious competition. Simpson, however, was expected to land the job. OC Ryan Grubb announced unofficially, “If we were playing a football game tomorrow, Ty Simpson would start.” Simpson’s experience alone made him a favorite choice for the QB1 role. He’s spent 3 seasons at Alabama and chose not to transfer out despite losing the QB1 battle twice. But the others have advantages of their own. Mack brings the familiarity card, having trained under DeBoer at Washington. Russell is the overall No. 2 prospect of the 2025 class and is a 5-star recruit. As the Tide heads into summer, the HC still doesn’t have a name on his lips for the QB1 job.

He told the press on May 14, “It doesn’t (end). The competition always continues. That’s this year. That’s any year.” Based on how DeBoer has approached the QB1 race, the winner will clearly not be announced anytime soon. “The biggest thing for them, the message is that they all got to keep getting better for us to accomplish what we want,” he added.

The A-Day game showed that Simpson, who got the most reps, is yet to be the star for the Tide. He was the only QB who escaped without throwing an interception. Mack, on the other hand, threw two disappointing ones.

“They’re great kids, and they understand that. And they have high goals for themselves individually and also [for] our whole team,” DeBoer said. Despite Simpson being the longstanding hopeful for the QB1 spot, there were times when Mack and Russell shone as well. Unlike other teams that prefer to have their QB1 race down to two contenders, DeBoer has juggled the three of them all throughout spring. Most programs are already leaning on one guy. But DeBoer has not yet named his favorite.

These three names have constantly been talked about in the run-up to DeBoer’s announcement. However, neither of them has presented the greatness that Jalen Milroe did when he led the Tide’s offense. There’s still a lot left to be proved by the three candidates, who have their own sets of weapons to be used. But we won’t be hearing about the winner of the race until the very end of the road, probably just before their season opener.

The QB1 dilemma will continue to see twists. But DeBoer also has a key department to look after, which stands in stark contrast to that of its 2024 counterpart.

Kalen DeBoer has injury trouble coming from special teams

Kalen DeBoer struggled with a lot of departments last season. However, the special teams rooms managed to stay afloat. They didn’t crash, nor did they soar. The Tide led the chart when it came to kicking coverage – ranking 1st in effective special teams play. The special teams’ stars James Burnip, Graham Nicholson, and Kneeland Hibbett, are all off to the draft. This is also an area that will see the most change, with some notable players and a lot of freshman talent joining. But one player expected to make a difference this year is yet to join the team on the field.

Alex Asparuhov is the No. 2 punter of the 2025 class and was going to feature prominently in the depth chart. But a knee injury kept him out of spring practice, and he is yet to get back in the game. DeBoer still had a positive update about the freshman. “Alex will be cleared. [That’s] the expectation there […] He’s an athlete. He’s a strong kid. Seems like his recovery process has gone well. So, we expect him to be cleared and be part of the competition.” Asparuhov was going to compete with Colorado School of Mines transfer Blake Doud.

Kohl’s Kicking, from 247Sports’ special teams recruiting, claimed that Asparuhov “might be the most fundamentally sound punter in the 2025 class.” In his junior year, he averaged 43.5 yards per punt and downed 14 of 32 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He was successful in 6 of his 9 field goals with a long of 42 yards and connected on 15 of 17 PATs. 247Sports also named him as the Newcomer to Watch in the 2025 Alabama special teams unit.

Kalen DeBoer is going to let all of his hard work put into the offseason do the talking when the season approaches. He definitely seems confident with the way they’re heading into summer, without still giving us a hint of who the QB1 race is sliding towards. And with some guys returning from their injuries, DeBoer might be slated to finish big in 2025.