5 fiercest Alabama quarterback battles of the last 25 years

Alabama is set to resume spring practice this week, which means the competition for a new starting quarterback will continue.

Two-year starter Jalen Milroe is off to pursue an NFL career, having given up his final year of eligibility following the 2024 season. Junior Ty Simpson appears to have the upper hand to win the job after one week of spring practice, though it’s too early to count out sophomore Austin Mack and even five-star true freshman Keelon Russell as candidates for the job.

It’s not known when head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb might arrive at a decision on a starter, and even more unclear as to when they might publicly announce it. But as Alabama resumes spring practice this week with a quarterback competition still underway, here are five notable battles at the position for the Crimson Tide this century (listed in chronological order):

Andrew Zow vs. Tyler Watts (2000 & 2001)

Zow was a bit of an afterthought in Alabama’s 1997 recruiting class, but took over as the starting quarterback from John David Phillips early in the 1998 season and performed admirably the remainder of the year. He was unchallenged heading into 1999, but suffered an ankle injury at mid-season that allowed Watts — a highly touted recruit in Alabama’s 1998 signing class who also redshirted as a freshman — to start a handful of games in late October. Zow returned the lineup in November and led Alabama to the SEC championship.

The controversy began in 2000, after Alabama played poorly in its first two games against UCLA and Vanderbilt. Watts was installed as the starter in Week 3 against Southern Miss, and started the next three games after that until suffering a season-ending knee injury. Zow again finished out the season, but the Crimson Tide limped to a 3-8 finish that cost head coach Mike DuBose his job.

Dennis Franchione took over as head coach in 2001, and Watts was much better suited to Alabama’s new option-based offense. Watts started the first nine games — playing well most of the time — before suffering a torn groin muscle in November. This time it was Zow to the rescue, leading the Crimson Tide to consecutive victories over Auburn, Southern Miss (in a game that was moved to the end of the regular season after the 9/11 terrorist attacks) and Iowa State in the Independence Bowl.

Zow graduated after the 2001 season, with Watts taking over as the unquestioned starter the following year. He missed a handful of games to injury once again, with redshirt freshman Brodie Croyle filling in during a season in which Alabama went 10-3 but was ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA sanctions stemming from the DuBose era.

AJ McCarron vs. Phillip Sims (2011)

The quarterback situation during Nick Saban’s first four seasons at Alabama was largely non-controversial, with John Parker Wilson and then Greg McElroy starting every game for two years each. McElroy’s departure after the 2010 season left a legitimate competition between McCarron and Sims, neither of whom had ever started a college game at that point.

McCarron was a redshirt sophomore in 2011, having played in games the previous season. Most notably, the former four-star recruit from Mobile entered the Iron Bowl loss to Auburn after McElroy was knocked out due to injury. Sims was a redshirt freshman in 2010, and had not yet appeared in a college game since joining the Crimson Tide as a highly touted recruit out of Chesapeake, Va. (there was no four-game redshirt rule at the time).

McCarron and Sims competed to a draw throughout the spring and during fall camp (at least publicly) and were declared “co-starters” (the infamous “or” on the depth chart) heading into the season-opener vs. Kent State. However, it was McCarron who took the field first, passing for 226 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in a 48-7 Alabama win. Sims went 7-for-14 for 73 yards and no touchdowns, and also two interceptions.

Saban never formally announced a starting quarterback, though McCarron took the first snap in every game the rest of the way — and actually in every game in 2012 and 2013 as well. He led Alabama to back-to-back national championships in 2011 and 2012, and finished his Crimson Tide career as the holder of most of the school’s passing records.

Sims played in eight games as McCarron’s backup that season, and soon after transferred to Virginia. After one season with the Cavaliers he was on the move again, this time to Division II Winston-Salem State, where he finished his career in 2014.

Blake Sims vs. Jake Coker (2014)

McCarron graduated after the 2013 season, having started 41 consecutive games at quarterback for Alabama. That left a competition between Sims — who had flipped between quarterback and running back multiple times in his career — and Coker, a graduate transfer who had been the backup quarterback to Jameis Winston on Florida State’s national championship team.

Many assumed Coker — a classic pocket passer — would win the job over the dual-threat Sims, but that’s not the way it worked out. Sims adapted well to new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin’s RPO scheme, and went on to pass for 3,487 yards and 28 touchdowns in leading the Crimson Tide to the SEC championship and a berth in the first College Football Playoff.

Coker, who played in six games as a backup to Sims during his first season at Alabama, got his shot as a fifth-year senior in 2015. He went 14-0 as a starter that season, passing for 3,110 yards and 21 touchdowns as the Crimson Tide won the national championship.

There was one blip for Coker that season, however. Kiffin and Saban inexplicably started Cooper Bateman at quarterback in Week 3 vs. Ole Miss, when the Crimson Tide suffered its only loss of the season. Bateman was pulled during the first half of that game, with Coker taking back over control of the offense and starting every game the remainder of the year.

Blake Barnett vs. Jalen Hurts (2016)

Coker’s departure meant Alabama would have its third starting quarterback in three years in 2016, but there were any number of candidates for the job. Bateman was still around, as was former four-star recruit David Cornwell, a redshirt sophomore.

The heir apparent, however, was Barnett, a former five-star recruit from California and the highest-rated quarterback to sign with Alabama during the Saban era to that point. Hurts was a wildcard, a true freshman from Houston who had enrolled in school the previous January.

The competition went unsettled in the spring, and continued into preseason camp. It was actually Barnett who started the season-opener vs. USC, though Hurts took over midway through the first quarter and accounted for four touchdowns in a 52-6 Alabama win.

Hurts started the following week against Western Kentucky and every game after that, accounting for a program record 36 touchdowns (23 passing, 13 rushing) and earning SEC Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors. Alabama reached the College Football Playoff National Championship game for the second straight year, but this time lost 35-31 to Clemson.

Barnett, meanwhile, left the Alabama team in late September and transferred to Arizona State. He got into just three games the following year with the Sun Devils before transferring to South Florida, where he started most of his junior season before losing his job to freshman Jordan McCloud the following year.

Tua Tagovailoa vs. Jalen Hurts (2018)

Hurts started all of the 2017 season for Alabama as well, but was famously benched at halftime of the CFP National Championship Game vs. Georgia. Tagovailoa, a 5-star true freshman who played in nine games as a backup that season, not only led the Crimson Tide to a comeback victory and the national title, but threw the winning touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime.

Despite Tagovailoa unofficially being anointed as the starting quarterback for 2018, Hurts stuck around to compete for the job. Saban waited as long as he possibly could to announce a starter, but it was Tagovailoa who played every meaningful snap in a 51-14 victory over Louisville in the season-opener. (The game led to one of the more memorable moments of the Saban era, his “quit asking!” rant at ESPN’s Maria Taylor in his postgame interview).

Tagovailoa continued to start at quarterback every week, ending the season with 3,996 yards and 43 touchdowns passing, and finishing second in the Heisman Trophy balloting to Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray. Alabama began the season 14-1 before losing to Clemson in the CFP title game.

There was one more memorable moment for Hurts, however. Tagovailoa suffered a high ankle sprain during the SEC championship game vs. Georgia, and Hurts came off the bench to lead two fourth-quarter scoring drives in a 35-28 Alabama victory.

Hurts moved on to Oklahoma as a transfer in 2019, leaving the starting job to Tagovailoa, who didn’t make it through the season. He suffered another ankle sprain vs. Tennessee in mid-October before a season-ending broken hip (along with a broken nose and a concussion) vs. Mississippi State in November. Mac Jones finished the 2019 season as Alabama’s starting quarterback, with the Crimson Tide failing to make the College Football Playoff for the first time in the format’s six-year existence.

Creg Stephenson has worked for AL.com since 2010 and has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Email him at cstephenson@al.com.

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