Alabama’s quarterback race is entering the final stretch, and Kalen DeBoer’s staff is running out of runway.
With only two Saturdays left before the Crimson Tide open the 2026 season against East Carolina on Sept. 5 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the decision is getting close. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said Monday that Alabama should have its answer by next week after the team completed its 10th fall camp practice.
"We're close. I mean, we're getting close to game week, so I would say by next week we'll have to make that call," Grubb told reporters Monday after Alabama wrapped its 10th practice of fall camp.
The battle has been framed around two quarterbacks: Keelon Russell and Austin Mack. Russell, the five-star recruit from the class of 2025, has been generating buzz since before he arrived on campus, and he only added to it at Alabama’s A-Day event in April. He finished 21 of 33 for 240 yards and four touchdowns.
Mack, a former four-star recruit from the class of 2023, was Ty Simpson’s backup last season. At A-Day, he went 7-of-13 for 111 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In four games last season, he completed 24 of 32 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
DeBoer hasn’t tipped his hand. He said last week he didn’t feel any closer to naming a starter, even after both quarterbacks settled in during Thursday’s scrimmage inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
"As the scrimmage went on, they both got better," DeBoer said. "Both had their moments early where they could have executed better.
They could use some help from some guys once in a while. They're not going to be perfect all the time.
Operationally, I just think it's them running the show, but everyone doing their part.
"The poor start really wasn't about one player, one position group, but both of them really got in their rhythm as the scrimmage went on. And so the challenge for them now will just be starting faster every single time we have these game-like scrimmages and practices, coming out and setting the tones themselves."
Russell’s game action last season came in Alabama’s blowout wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois, where he went 11-of-15 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed three times for 17 yards.
Mack’s most extensive work came in the second half of the Rose Bowl against No. 1 Indiana, when Ty Simpson was banged up. Against the Hoosiers, Mack went 11-of-16 for 103 yards.
Alabama enters the season ranked No. 11 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.
The Crimson Tide’s 2026 schedule opens with East Carolina on Sept. 5 and includes road trips to Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, LSU and Vanderbilt, plus home dates with Florida State, South Carolina, Georgia, Texas A&M, Chattanooga and Auburn.
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