Miami moving quickly to get in line for Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts has plenty of options for where he’ll transfer, and Miami (FL) has moved quickly to try to get him.
With Wednesday’s news he’s officially in the NCAA transfer portal, Jalen Hurts has a lot of options for where he’ll play his final year of college eligibility. The race is on to land the Alabama grad transfer who went 26-2 as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback, and according to 247 Sports, Miami Hurricanes’ head coach Manny Diaz reached out to Hurts on Wednesday.
Even before Mark Richt retired, and Diaz circled back to replace him after taking the head coaching job at Temple, it was clear the Hurricanes would be in the market for a grad transfer quarterback. N’Kosi Perry failed to fully take the reins from the struggling (and now departed) Malik Rosier this past season, and young quarterbacks Jarren Williams and Cade Weldon are unproven.
In December, Diaz commented on the quarterback situation as he looks to fix Miami’s offense:
"We have to create competition…Competition is the best coach that there is. Whether that is exploring a transfer or grad transfer, we have to get the quarterback position up and running and we will look on campus or off campus to find that."
Of course the story has taken a modern twist, as Hurts has followed Diaz and Hurricanes’ tight end Brevin Jordan on Twitter in recent days.
Transferring Alabama QB Jalen Hurts now also following Brevin Jordan on Twitter. So his last two follows: UM's TE and UM's coach. Wheeeee!
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 10, 2019
The list of schools Hurts seems like a good fit for is long. Maryland has Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley stepping in as head coach. TCU and Houston are in Hurts’ home state, and the Cougars have a quarterback-friendly system with Dana Holgorsen taking over as head coach. Florida State, even with Deondre Francois returning, should also be in the mix. Oklahoma, Florida Atlantic, Tennessee and Auburn are also sure to have interest.
For what it’s worth though, Miami is toward the top of the betting favorites to land Hurts.
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Time will tell where Hurts decides to play next season, but knowing there will be plenty of competition Diaz deserves a lot of credit for moving quickly to contact him. Being first in line really shouldn’t matter that much, but Hurts doesn’t have to wonder how badly Miami wants him and that itself may matter a lot when it’s all said and done.