Newbury Park quarterback Brady Smigiel commits to Michigan
All Glory to God - Go Blue! #committed @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/RImnnfEMHe
— Brady Smigiel (@BradySmigiel) April 26, 2025
Smigiel had been committed to Florida State until changing his mind following a coaching change involving the offense.
What a catch by Drew Cofield. What a throw by Brady Smigiel. Newbury Park 14, Lincoln 7 pic.twitter.com/bNxr4aL2UN
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) December 7, 2024
During his trip visiting Michigan, Smigiel and his family were sold on the program, the academics and the area for him to grow as a player and person. His father, Joe, is the head coach at Newbury Park.
Last season Smigiel was The Times' player of the year. The 6-foot-5 Smigiel passed for 3,591 yards and 49 touchdowns.
Brady has crushed school records in his three years at NPHS, leading the team and rewriting the record books!@bradysmigiel @nphs.football #PantherPride #CIFChamps #14-0 pic.twitter.com/uic2SyguvC
— NEWBURY PARK FOOTBALL (@NPPanthersONE) December 11, 2024
He has improved with each season, making him a valuable player at a position that's so important for a team to succeed.
Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Alabama quarterbacks have experienced a high floor of performance for the better part of two decades, so we must look elsewhere to produce a recent worst-case comparison for Simpson. Consider the case of Brock Vandagriff. Like Simpson, Vandagriff signed with an elite program as a five-star prospect. Vandagriff chose Georgia, and he failed to win competitions against JT Daniels and Stetson Bennett IV and later against Carson Beck. After three seasons as a seldom-used Georgia backup, Vandagriff finished his career last season starting for Kentucky, where he struggled. I view Simpson as neither Jones nor Vandagriff. He's something else. He's a bridge away from the Nick Saban era, a bridge that eventually will connect to Keelon Russell, a promising five-star freshman who became DeBoer's first quarterback signee at Alabama. Can Ty Simpson be for Alabama what Jake Coker was? There's optimism, there's pessimism, and there's realism. Simpson being a bridge seems most realistic. 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He didn't receive enough support, either. Simpson should expect more help after the maturation of some young receivers and the arrival of Isaiah Horton, a transfer from Miami. Milroe could've used someone like Horton to help complement Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard. 'We really did a great job hitting on Isaiah Horton, who physically has a presence, but he's really smooth,' DeBoer told me in April. What is Ty Simpson's ceiling? That's left to answer If Simpson is an Alabama-caliber starting quarterback, then why didn't he start earlier in this career? That's the question I ask myself. Bryce Young initially blocked his path. No shame in that, but when Simpson later failed to beat out Milroe, I found it a bit unusual that he didn't transfer and start elsewhere. Simpson would tell you he stayed put because he belongs at Alabama. 'I had no doubt where I wanted to be,' even after Saban's retirement, Simpson told the Tuscaloosa News in January. I won't fault him for loyalty, and no one questions Arch Manning's ability just because he waited his turn behind Quinn Ewers. But, we saw more of Manning last season than we've seen of Simpson throughout his entire career. Simpson's ceiling remains a mystery, and how high you believe it extends depends on whether you identify as an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
