{"id":822465,"date":"2026-08-22T21:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/822465\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T21:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:02:23","slug":"keelon-russell-named-alabamas-starting-quarterback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/822465\/","title":{"rendered":"Keelon Russell named Alabama’s starting quarterback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keelon Russell wins Alabama starting QB job as Crimson Tide open season vs. East Carolina<\/p>\n

\"RyanTUSCALOOSA, Ala. \u2014<\/p>\n

Video above: Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer answers questions ahead of the 2026 season<\/p>\n

The Alabama Crimson Tide has a new starting quarterback.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Keelon Russell will take the first snap when No. 13 Alabama opens its season against East Carolina on Sept. 5, according to a report from ESPN.<\/p>\n

Russell, a former five-star recruit from Duncanville, Texas, beat out senior Austin Mack for the starting job during fall camp. The 6-foot-3, 207-pound quarterback is taking over for Ty Simpson, who was selected No. 13 overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL draft.<\/p>\n

>> FOLLOW YOUR TEAMS: Sports coverage from WVTM 13<\/a><\/p>\n

Russell was ESPN\u2019s No. 2 overall recruit in the 2025 class. He made brief appearances in two games as a freshman and threw for 240 yards, four touchdowns and one interception during Alabama’s spring game in April.<\/p>\n

Mack, who is in his fourth season playing for head coach Kalen DeBoer after starting his career at Washington, served as the primary backup last season. He played 62 snaps in 2025, including stepping in for an injured Simpson during Alabama’s loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

The Crimson Tide is looking to return to the playoff after finishing 11-4 and ranked No. 9 in the AP poll last season, ESPN reported. The offense will need to replace six players who were drafted into the NFL.<\/p>\n

Before arriving in Tuscaloosa, Russell led his high school team to two state championships and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n

Alabama kicks off its season against East Carolina at 11 a.m. Sept. 5.<\/p>\n

Stay updated on the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our parent company, Hearst, is a part owner of ESPN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keelon Russell wins Alabama starting QB job as Crimson Tide open season vs. East Carolina TUSCALOOSA, Ala. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[348577,5183,1603,19201,79382,4,450,5688,334055,348575,154084,352,348572,348578,5460,348576,451,71961,79381,1820,3,17351,472,348573,17349,114229,5190,7702,348574,348579,220924,236011,452,453,123769,79383,47222],"class_list":["post-822465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-2025-class","tag-alabama","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-alabama-football","tag-austin-mack","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-college-football-playoff","tag-duncanville","tag-duncanville-texas","tag-east-carolina","tag-espn","tag-espn-report","tag-first-snap","tag-game","tag-gatorade-national-player","tag-headlines","tag-kalen-deboer","tag-keelon-russell","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-news","tag-nfl-draft","tag-no","tag-no-13-alabama","tag-quarterback","tag-russell","tag-season","tag-sec","tag-sept-5","tag-sport-coverage","tag-spring-game","tag-starting-quarterback","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-tuscaloosa","tag-ty-simpson","tag-wvtm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}