Jalen Hurts suggests Alabama coaches don’t care about him
Jalen Hurts may emerge as Alabama’s starting quarterback this season, but that doesn’t mean he feels great about the Crimson Tide coaching staff.
Alabama is everyone’s preseason No. 1 team, but that doesn’t mean everything is bright and sunny in Tuscaloosa. Specifically, the relationship between quarterback Jalen Hurts and the team’s coaching staff.
It’s no surprise that some friction has emerged. Hurts piloted the Crimson Tide to the National Championship game last season only to be replaced by Tua Tagovailoa. It likely pained Hurts that Tagovailoa sparked a massive comeback that allowed Alabama to defeat Georgia. That set the stage for an intense conflict.
The two signal callers have been locked in a battle all preseason to see who will start the 2018 campaign under center for the Tide. Neither players has been able to grab the job by the scruff of the neck just yet. Hurts is the better runner of the pair and he almost never turns the football over. On the other hand, Tagovailoa is definitely the superior passer.
No matter who wins the battle, there’s been serious damage done to Hurts’ relationship with his coaches. He didn’t hesitate to tell reporters that no members of the coaching staff bothered to ask him “how (he) felt.” It’s doubtful Hurts expected to be coddled by head coach Nick Saban, but it would have been realistic to expect someone on the staff to check on his mental wellbeing in the midst of such a difficult situation.
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It’s very possible the coaches didn’t ask Hurts how he was feeling because they aren’t overly concerned with his frame of mind. It’s really difficult to envision Alabama going back to Hurts as their preferred option at quarterback. Benching a player during the National Championship game is a nuclear choice. It’s not the type of move you can walk back.
Even so, the Crimson Tide staff should at least care about keeping Hurts as a backup. Tagovailoa is a terrific starter, but there’s no real evidence that he can stay healthy through a full season. If Hurts was to decide to transfer, it could leave Alabama really thin at the game’s most important position.
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In the end, Hurts’ comments won’t do anything to dispel the notion that Saban runs his Alabama program like an NFL factory. Don’t expect Saban to change his philosophy either. It’s served him very well during his collegiate coaching career.