One of the biggest positional questions entering the 2026 college football season now has an answer.

Keelon Russell has been named the starting quarterback for Alabama, beating out Austin Mack after a lengthy competition, USA TODAY Sports confirmed on Saturday, August 22.

A sophomore, Russell appeared in two games for the Crimson Tide last season, completing 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns in wins against Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois.

The 6-foot-3, 207-pound Russell was a five-star recruit coming out of Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas. He was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 2 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, behind only Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood. After decommitting from SMU, he committed to Alabama in June 2024, giving coach Kalen DeBoer one of his first major recruiting victories after succeeding Nick Saban earlier that year.

He’ll fill the role that was occupied last season by Ty Simpson, who threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions before being selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

He was selected over Mack, a 6-foot-6 senior who began his college career with DeBoer at Washington before following the coach to Alabama in 2024. Mack most notably replaced an injured Simpson in the Tide’s loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl last season, completing 11 of his 16 passes for 103 yards.

DeBoer had previously been mum on which way he was leaning in the quarterback battle.

“We can go win with either one of them, and I feel very comfortable with that,” he said earlier this week. “Obviously we got to pick one, and we will. We will pick one, and, you know, we’ll continue to work through that here in the days ahead.”

DeBoer is entering a critical third season at Alabama, where he has gone 20-8 and lost four games in each season. The Tide previously hadn’t lost more than three games in a season since 2007, the first season of Saban’s legendary 17-year run at the school. Alabama made the College Football Playoff quarterfinals last season, but were blown out by eventual national champion Indiana, 38-3, in a game in which it was outgained by a 407-193 margin.

The Tide are No. 11 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll and will open their season at home against East Carolina on Saturday, September 5.