Alabama kept it classy when Jalen Hurts left Tuscaloosa, and now its head football coach is, not surprisingly, doing the same.
After two seasons as Alabama’s starting quarterback, Hurts essentially lost his job to Tua Tagovailoa in the second half of the 2017 national championship game and remained on the sidelines as a backup throughout the 2018 season. Amidst much speculation about his future, Hurts confirmed earlier this month that, following an official visit to Norman, he would be taking a graduate transfer out of UA and using his final season of eligibility at Oklahoma.
While Nick Saban had been publicly silent on Hurts’ departure, CBS 42‘s Simone Eli caught up with the future College Football Hall of Famer at the Alabama Football Coaches Association Convention and got the coach to address, among other topics, the quarterback’s transfer.
“I think this was the best thing for Jalen,” Saban said in the interview. “We have a great relationship, and I think he had several options as to what was the best path for him and for him to go someplace and be able to play on a good team, I think, is probably the best thing for him and his future.
“So, we appreciate so much all that he’s done for the University of Alabama, our program. The way he managed this year was really unprecedented and I think he showed a tremendous amount of class and I’m really, really proud of him and wish him well.”
BREAKING: I spoke exclusively with #Alabama's Nick Saban tonight in Montgomery at the ALFCA Convention. I asked Saban about the event, staff changes including Dan Enos and Tosh Lupoi departure, Jalen Hurts, and having the top recruiting class after early period. #RollTide @CBS_42 pic.twitter.com/eqiewaX0ep
— Simone Eli (@SimoneEli_TV) January 25, 2019
With the pleasantries out of the way, I think, even with the ‘Bama fatigue weighing heavily, a sizable portion of the country would very much look forward to an Alabama-Oklahoma College Football Playoff in 2019. Jalen vs. Tua? Yeah, I’d watch.