Grubb and Simpson forging a special bond as No. 4 Alabama keeps winning with creativity

Creativity in crunch time has become a specialty under Grubb, who reunited with coach Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa after a year in the NFL and appears to be building something special with Simpson.

“There’s a relationship that exists where you just enjoy hanging out,” DeBoer said. “That continues to grow, and what adds to it is the experiences that they’ve gone through, the moments that they’ve fought together. Their relationship and just the way they communicate, it becomes more and more efficient.”

Their bond was forged through ups and downs, beginning with Simpson winning the starting job in training camp and then delivering a less-than-ideal performance in a season-opening loss at Florida State.

Since then, Simpson has emerged into a Heisman Trophy contender. He leads the SEC with 20 touchdown passes, and his one interception ranks as the second fewest in college football — numbers considered more impressive given Alabama's mostly ineffective run game.

“More mature, understand things better,” said Simpson, who spent three seasons as a backup in Tuscaloosa. “I felt like a lot of times in my years past, it almost felt like I was here, not enjoying it. You know what I mean?

“Just kind of miserable walking into the building, not knowing what I’m going to get into, not knowing how it’s going to go instead of just embracing it and understanding my role and understanding that God’s blessed me to be at the best university in the world, with the best team, with the best coaches.”

The addition of Grubb has been a big part of Simpson's development. He added layers and intricacies to an offense that was stagnant at times last season.

The Tide are converting 50% on third down, up nearly 5% from a year ago, and are 13 of 20 on fourth down. Throw in a package of plays for offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor in key moments, and Grubb's fingerprints on the offense are obvious.

“Ryan Grubb is just doing a great job,” DeBoer said. “Continuing to push the envelope for our whole offense to continue to attack teams in different ways. People always think to attack vertically in the passing game, but there’s other ways to attack people, do it in those moments.”

DeBoer, Grubb and Simpson continued to fine tune the offense during the bye in preparation for the final four weeks of the regular season. Alabama is still looking for more consistency. But there's confidence the offense will get there, as the Grubb-Simpson connection continues to grow.

“They’re so efficient together as a group,” DeBoer said. “Whether it’s installation, attacking defenses, quarterback development, just really fun watching them work. And as the week goes on, I just think that they really dial in on a game plan, and they’re able to be creative and also know that it has to all fall within the identity of who we are and who we want to be.”

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