When Alabama football’s Kalen DeBoer will name winner of Keelon Russell-Austin Mack battle

While it’s been a disappointing start for the Alabama football team under head coach Kalen DeBoer, he’s looking at the 2026 season to be the year he impresses with the program. As the Alabama football program has been getting commitments from quarterbacks that could be the future of the team, looking short-term to this season, the battle is between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack.

According to Bruce Feldman and Ralph D. Russo of The Athletic, DeBoer is expecting to name a starter for the Crimson Tide about two weeks before the regular season opener against East Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 5. This gives both Russell and Mack roughly over three months to prove to DeBoer they are the week one starter, though it’s not a clear-cut favorite as the head coach said both are having ‘really good springs.’

“A year ago, it was solid in the spring, and then Ty [Simpson] really made a big jump in the summer going into fall camp. And since there’s only two of them, they were able to take more reps. They’re playmakers. They’ll take calculated risks. I like that about them. They weren’t timid in any way,” DeBoer said to The Athletic.

Both Alabama football options have strengths in specific areas

Both quarterbacks are arguably better fits to the offense than Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson, who was just drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the NFL Draft, only due to run-pass options not being a strength. Russell, a former five-star recruit, and Mack, who played under DeBoer when at Washington, are both said to be “adept at making off-schedule plays.”

“They can get the ball from the hash to the opposite sideline; they can throw hole shots and are accurate passers down the field. Ty was really good at those deep in-breakers, and they’ve gotten better with those. They’re good with fade balls, back-shoulders. These guys are very diverse in what they can do at a high level,” DeBoer said.

At any rate, it remains to be seen who the starting quarterback for the Alabama football team will be.

While it’s been a disappointing start for the Alabama football team under head coach Kalen DeBoer, he’s looking at the 2026 season to be the year he impresses with the program. As the Alabama football program has been getting commitments from quarterbacks that could be the future of the team, looking short-term to this season, the battle is between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack.