Alabama

Surprise QB predicted to be Alabama football’s starter next season after Jalen Milroe's NFL departure | Sporting News

Published

1 year ago

January 4, 2025

Surprise QB predicted to be Alabama football’s starter next season after Jalen Milroe's NFL departure | Sporting News

Jalen Milroe took his sweet time to orchestrate the perfect buildup before declaring for the 2025 NFL draft. The timing was perfect, as the big question started floating around almost instantly: who will be Alabama’s next starting QB?

Kalen DeBoer already has three QBs in his locker room, third-year Ty Simpson, freshman Austin Mack, and the highest-rated QB signee since Bryce Young, freshman Keelon Russell.

The latter of them is best believed to fill in Milroe’s shoes.

Colin Gay of Tuscaloosa News is firmly behind Russell, thinking he would present the strongest case because of his fleeting echo of former Bama star QB Bryce Young.

“Based on Young’s path, Russell could compete for starting quarterback reps almost immediately,” Gay writes boldly, listing out the reason for him to believe so.

“Keelon Russell is the highest-rated Alabama quarterback signee since Young. And he has the numbers to prove it. Alabama views Russell as the best quarterback in the 2025 class, one it picked up after he had originally committed to SMU.”

The 2024-2025 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year Russell made a compelling case for himself with his statistics record at Duncanville High School, completing 70% of his passes for 3,874 yards passing with 53 passing touchdowns and four interceptions.

Although Russell makes a persuasive case for the QB1 position, Simpson, the senior-most QB in the Crimson Tide QB room, has a great shot at becoming Milroe’s successor for the starting position in Bama.

“Ty Simpson backed up Bryce Young. He backed up Milroe. Two quarterbacks, two head coaches and three offensive coordinators later, it may be Simpson’s time to show what he can do,” Gay writes about Simpson.

From the little time he got on the field, he made DeBoer a keen appreciator of his skills too.

“Everyone gets tied up on Jalen’s running ability, but Ty is tough to handle when it comes to running the football, too,” DeBoer said after the Mercer game Nov. 16, via Tuscaloosa News.

Interestingly, while Gay makes a case for Russell, several other analysts like Nick Kelly of AL.Com are strongly vouching for Simpson.

Nonetheless, DeBoer’s choice between the two will define the years to come in Tuscaloosa.

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Alabama

New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread

Published

7 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

New Alabama football coach Adrian Klemm faces massive task | Goodbread

Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.

Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.

That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.

The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.

If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.

UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.

But it also smacked of desperation.

In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.

It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.

Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.

Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.

With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.

And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

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Alabama

Mother who reported AL toddler missing now faces murder charge

Published

19 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Mother who reported AL toddler missing now faces murder charge

The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.

Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.

She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.

The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.

Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.

Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.

Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.

Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

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