AJ McCarron details his favorite in 2025 QB competition for Alabama

We are now in talking season for college football.

Things are quiet, but there is nothing like conversations to get fans going. Alabama fans, in particular, are hungry to return to the College Football Playoff and capture a national championship. The last time Crimson Tide supporters saw its team hoist a trophy as national champions was at a time when our nation was in turmoil with the Coronavirus pandemic.

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The 2020 team had a lot of special pieces, but it all started with a determined quarterback.

People doubted Mac Jones, yet he showed in his lone season as a starter how valuable he was in leading the Tide — regardless of a Southeastern Conference-only schedule — to an SEC Championship and a CFP National Championship in an undefeated season. The most winningest signal-caller in school history, AJ McCarron, has thoughts on who should be Alabama’s starting quarterback in the fall. The three-time BCS National Champion, including twice as the starting quarterback, shared his thoughts at the Regions Tradition golf charity event via AL.com.

AJ McCarron says Alabama’s starting quarterback is “Ty (Simpson’s) job to lose.” #rolltide pic.twitter.com/8l3MWaFOLp

— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) May 14, 2025

“I think it is Ty (Simpson’s) job to lose,” McCarron said. “He has been there, he’s put in the work, players respect him, and he’s talented. He is a great kid and I wish him nothing but the best.”

McCarron has shared with Simpson about the pressure and expectation of being the starting quarterback at the University of Alabama.

“It comes with expectations, it is what you signed up for,” McCarron said. “This what makes Alabama such a special place to play and I tell him pressure creates diamonds. So go out, have fun doing what you have done your whole life playing the game, and let the chips fall where they fall.”

McCarron sees Simpson as a ‘level-headed’ guy and sees that as marquee importance.

“You need that not only in playing in the SEC, playing the quarterback position, but also at Alabama,” he said. “So to stay even-keeled as much as possible, you have to take the good with the bad”

McCarron was a cool customer throughout his career at Alabama, despite also being a fierce competitor. His leadership guided the program to back-to-back national titles in 2011 and 2012.

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He believes Simpson is the one that can get it done for the Tide.

We will all see what happens soon enough.

Stephen M. Smith is a senior analyst and writer for The Bama Standard. You can follow him on X via @CoachingMSmith.