Clemson football: 4-star QB Ty Simpson is a battle between Tigers and Bama

Landing 4-star QB Ty Simpson is a battle against Alabama for Clemson football

The Clemson football program is going head-to-head with its national foe in the Alabama Crimson Tide for its top quarterback target in 4-star Ty Simpson.

Simpson, who is rated as the No. 2 dual-threat QB in the nation, is currently listed as the No. 42 player nationally and the No. 2 overall player in the state of Tennessee.

While Simpson was seemingly favoring his in-state Tennessee Volunteers earlier in his recruitment, the latest recruiting allegations and coaching hires have seemingly steered him away. Just after the firing of Jeremy Pruitt and the hiring of Josh Heupel, Simpson announced his decision date- which will be Friday, Feb. 19.

With him deciding to announce so quickly, the overall consensus was that it was coming down to three schools: Clemson, Alabama and Texas A&M.

If Texas A&M thought it had a chance with Simpson, though, the Aggies wouldn’t have accepted a commitment from 4-star QB Conner Weigman, who seemed to be their next target in line.

That means landing Simpson will come down to a battle between Clemson and Alabama, at least theoretically.

Beating Alabama starts on the recruiting trail for Clemson football

Alabama is coming off a 2021 cycle where the Crimson Tide signed the best class in the history of recruiting, in terms of star-ratings.

Bama took a 4-star QB in that class in Jalen Milroe, but that wouldn’t deter Simpson from coming to Tuscaloosa because he believes he can win the job no matter where he ends up. If he were looking for the place with the least competition, Alabama and Clemson certainly wouldn’t be at the top of his list.

That being said, the opinion from recruiting insiders- at least at this point- is that the Tigers have the inside track on landing his commitment. There are two 247 Sports crystal ball predictions put in for Simpson and they both belong to Clemson football.

If the Tigers are going to beat Alabama, it all starts on the recruiting trail and picking up prospects who are highly sought-after by the Crimson Tide.

Clemson did it back in 2018 when it plucked the No. 1 player from the state of Alabama in Justyn Ross out of the Crimson Tide’s grasp and the Tigers have a chance to do something similar here- though Simpson is a Tennessee native- this time.