TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb reached deep into his playbook to dial up the perfect call in a pivotal moment at South Carolina on Oct. 25.
Quarterback Ty Simpson lined up at running back, took a handoff, sprinted right and found tight end Josh Cuevas for the 2-point conversion that pulled the Crimson Tide even on the scoreboard with a little more than two minutes to play. Alabama went ahead for good on its next possession, notching a comeback victory that allowed the fourth-ranked Tide (7-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) to take a seven-game winning streak into the team’s second and final open date of the regular season.
Creativity in crunch time has become a specialty under Grubb, who reunited with head coach Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa after a year in the NFL and appears to be building something special with Simpson.
“There’s a relationship that exists where you just enjoy hanging out,” DeBoer said. “That continues to grow, and what adds to it is the experiences that they’ve gone through, the moments that they’ve fought together. Their relationship and just the way they communicate, it becomes more and more efficient.”
Their bond was forged through ups and downs, beginning with Simpson winning the starting job in training camp and then delivering a less than ideal performance in a season-opening loss at Florida State.
Since then, Simpson has emerged into a Heisman Trophy contender. The 6-foot-2, 208-pound redshirt junior leads the SEC with 20 touchdown passes, and his one interception ranks as the second fewest in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season — numbers considered more impressive given Alabama’s mostly ineffective running game.
“More mature, understand things better,” said Simpson, who spent three seasons as a backup in Tuscaloosa. “I felt like a lot of times in my years past, it almost felt like I was (just) here, not enjoying it. You know what I mean?
“Just kind of miserable walking into the building, not knowing what I’m going to get into, not knowing how it’s going to go instead of just embracing it and understanding my role and understanding that God’s blessed me to be at the best university in the world, with the best team, with the best coaches.”
The addition of Grubb has been a big part of Simpson’s development. He added layers and intricacies to an offense that was stagnant at times last season, when Alabama finished 9-5 overall and 5-3 in SEC play, missing both the league title game and the College Football Playoff.
The Tide have converted 50% of their third downs this season, up nearly 5% from a year ago, and are 13-of-20 on fourth down. Throw in a package of plays for offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor to get the football in key moments, and Grubb’s fingerprints on the offense are obvious.
“Ryan Grubb is just doing a great job,” said DeBoer, who was hired as the retired Nick Saban’s successor after leading Washington to the national championship game for the 2023 season. “Continuing to push the envelope for our whole offense to continue to attack teams in different ways. People always think to attack vertically in the passing game, but there’s other ways to attack people, do it in those moments.”
DeBoer, Grubb and Simpson continued to fine tune the offense during practice this past week in preparation for the final four games of the regular season, including three against SEC opponents. The Tide host LSU, Oklahoma and Football Championship Subdivision member Eastern Illinois before closing with the Iron Bowl in-state rivalry game at Auburn on Thanksgiving weekend.
Alabama is still looking for more consistency, but there’s confidence the offense will get there as the Grubb-Simpson connection continues to grow.
“They’re so efficient together as a group,” DeBoer said. “Whether it’s installation, attacking defenses, quarterback development, (it’s) just really fun watching them work. And as the week goes on, I just think that they really dial in on a game plan, and they’re able to be creative and also know that it has to all fall within the identity of who we are and who we want to be.”