​The morning after the Alabama football coaching staff informed its top two quarterbacks that sophomore Keelon Russell had won the starting job over Austin Mack, head coach Kalen DeBoer pulled into the football facility to start the day, and knew which players were there early.”His car was if not the first, one of the first here the next day. It’s just who he is,” DeBoer said. “He’s an extremely hard worker. This guy is a phenomenal quarterback. To me, he didn’t lose anything. He didn’t fail in any way. We had a really good quarterback in Keelon that we had to pick to win, and he won the job.”When DeBoer was coach at Washington, he recruited Mack, who was just a 17-year-old upon arriving at UW in 2023. After transferring to UA to follow DeBoer, the fourth-year junior had his best opportunity to win a starting job in 2026. Indeed, he was Ty Simpson’s primary backup a year ago, but he’s in that role again with his NCAA eligibility allowing just one more season after this one.”This is tough stuff. This is grown man stuff. He’s never fallen off, he’s never wavered about how he’s going to approach things. He’s a pro. He loves this team,” DeBoer added. “He has a great relationship with Keelon and he’s been out there supporting him already, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s invested so much into it just as a human being, and the human aspect side of it is going to hurt.”Mack completed 24-of-32 passes for 228 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season, and saw his most extensive action in UA’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Indiana after Simpson left the contest with an injury. Russell saw action in only two games, completing 11-of-15 for 143 and two scores.Russell’s starting debut will come Sept. 5 when the Crimson Tide plays host to East Carolina.Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.DECISION MADE: Why Kalen DeBoer chose Keelon Russell as Alabama football starting QBGOODBREAD: Alabama football’s Ryan Coleman-Williams primed for big yearThis article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Alabama football QB Austin Mack handled the bad news