7X national champ Nick Saban makes his feelings known on Ty Simpson as Alabama faces Mike Norvell's FSU in Week 1

Kalen DeBoer's Alabama has named Ty Simpson as its starting quarterback for the 2025 season. Simpson beat Austin Mack and Keelon Russell for the QB1 role and is set to get his first start for the Tide against Florida State on Saturday.

Ahead of Alabama's clash against FSU, former Alabama coach and seven-time national champion Nick Saban heaped praise on Simpson.

"I think Ty is a great young man who has – and I have all the respect in the world for these guys who stay in a program for three years, develop and wait their turn, and I think that's the thing that Ty has done extremely well," Saban said on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Friday. "There's so many of these guys that grow up now that are outcome-oriented. They're always looking at results – how many passes did I complete? How many touchdowns did I have?

"They create these expectations for themselves, and when they don't live up to them, they get frustrated very easily, and that body language is not good for a quarterback, it's not good for a team."

Saban also said he is interested to see how Simpson fares in his first year as Alabama's starter.

"That's the big thing that Ty has had to, sort of, work his way through, is not get affected by a bad play, stay focused on the next play," Saban said. "Because he's got all the talent in the world. He's got legs that are real. He's a very accurate passer, he's a good decision-maker. He's smart. He's a good leader. It'll be interesting to see how he can maintain the consistency in performance that defines success by not getting affected by ups and downs in a game."

Ty Simpson committed to Alabama in 2022, when Saban was coaching the team. Although he has spent the past three years as a backup, he now gets his chance to lead Alabama's offense as a starter.

Simpson has played in 16 games for Alabama. He has completed 29 of 50 passes for 381 yards with no touchdowns and zero interceptions. The QB has also rushed for 130 yards and three TDs on 22 carries.

How to watch Ty Simpson's Alabama vs. FSU? TV channel and live stream details for Week 1 game

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Alabama QB Ty Simpson- Source: Getty

The Alabama vs. FSU game will be broadcast live on ABC/ESPN. Fans can also live stream the contest on ESPN+.

Here are the key details for the Alabama vs. FSU game, where you can catch Ty Simpson in action.

• Date: Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025
• Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
• Channel: ABC/ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN App/ESPN+