There are no certainties in the transfer portal era.

A player can be on your roster one day but gone the next. It can be hard to keep all of your talent, and especially your depth, when other teams have a need at a certain position and are willing to spend.

Quarterback can be at the center of the wildest scenarios of NIL and the transfer portal. See the situation around Tennessee and Nico Iamaleava from this past week.

So, with the transfer portal opening Wednesday, will Alabama be able to hold onto all three of its scholarship quarterbacks?

“Yeah, I really hope we can,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “And related to the portal in general, you never know, right? That possibility always exists. But I feel good about our team and our roster as far as the general chemistry, guys feeling like they’re continuing to be developed, that they continue to have a chance to compete and have an opportunity here. I feel like that’s the case here at the quarterback position too. And Austin (Mack)’s growth, again, going back to where he was at, not even just a year ago, but just the middle of the season, seeing him continue to go this way.”

While it’s always possible an Alabama quarterback enters the transfer portal, you don’t have to worry about Tennessee, or any other SEC school, taking one. SEC players, under current rules, can’t enter the transfer portal and move to another SEC school and have immediate eligibility.

Ty Simpson is the frontrunner for the starting quarterback job at Alabama. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb made that clear Monday. Meanwhile, Mack is back for a second season with Alabama and a third season with DeBoer. The Crimson Tide also added Keelon Russell in its 2025 recruiting class. That’s all the Crimson Tide has at quarterback right now.

“Three isn’t very many, but it’s probably the number we’re going to have to be at at quarterback,” DeBoer said. “That’s what we’re expecting here going into the fall. Had four last year, I think that’s kind of a unique situation. I’ve had three many times in the last few years, and you’re always on edge.”

Because of the limited number, keeping the quarterbacks not only on the roster but also healthy remains paramount.

“The rest of the team has heard ‘stay away from the quarterback,’ more than they ever heard in their entire life this spring, for sure,” DeBoer said. “A lot of questionable sacks that I did call, the defensive line felt like they got where they got wronged on and cheated on by me, because I own the quarterback whistle. And they gotta stay away but they gotta get close enough to get a sack and blow the play dead, but we stayed away from the quarterback to make sure those guys are all healthy and upright.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for Follow him on X and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.