While he ‘expects him to,’ Nick Saban has ‘no idea’ if Jalen Hurts will be on Alabama roster for opener

Let the quarterback intrigue at Alabama commence in earnest. Or continue, as the case may be.

During his appearance at the podium for SEC Media Days Wednesday, Nick Saban did his level best to deflect any talk of a quarterback controversy in Tuscaloosa, stating only that the battle for the starting job between two-year starter Jalen Hurts and national championship game hero Tua Tagovailoa is ongoing and will be rejoined when summer camp kicks off early next month. Saban, though, welcomed even more scrutiny of the Crimson Tide’s quarterback situation be declining to state with any degree of certainty that Hurts will be on the roster when the defending national champs open their defense of its title against Louisville in the opener in Orlando.

From al.com:

I have no idea,” Saban said. “I expect him to be there. I think it’s our job to give both players a very fair opportunity to have a chance to win the job at their position. ... We’ll create a role for one or both of those guys on our team and they’ll all have to make a decision based on what that outcome is as to what their future is at Alabama. We certainly want every player to stay at the University of Alabama and graduate. Jalen has a great opportunity to do that in December so we are hopeful he will stay there and be a graduate regardless of his circumstances as a player. But that’s not to minimize his chances of making a starter or making a great contribution to our team in some way even if he isn’t the starter.

Hurts’ father made headlines in April when he stated that, if his son lost his starting job, “he’d be the biggest free agent in college football history.” A month later, Tagovailoa admitted in an interview that he would’ve transferred from the Tide if he hadn’t gotten to play in the College Football Playoff title game.

Not long after Averion Hurts’ claims, Saban stated that he had a “very positive meeting” with the player’s father, adding that he didn’t “think there’s an issue or a problem from my standpoint.”

Because of a hand injury suffered early on and a subsequent surgery, Tagovailoa was very limited throughout spring practice earlier this year. Hurts, meanwhile, took the majority of snaps in Tagovailoa’s absence, although he did incur the wrath of Saban during an uneven spring-game performance.