The Alabama Crimson Tide have a quarterback controversy on their hands, and have since last year’s national championship game. But one of the quarterbacks involved does not appear happy with how it has been handled.
Jalen Hurts, who was benched during the championship game in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, has been the subject of transfer rumors and chatter all summer. Speaking to the media on Saturday, Hurts said no coaches had talked to him about how he felt during the summer, and the attempts to address things with him now come too late.
@JalenHurts: "No one came up to me the whole spring, coaches included, no one asked me how I felt. No one asked me what was on my mind. … Now when we're trying to handle the situation now, for me it's kinda late. It's too late. The narrative has already been created." pic.twitter.com/adJS7UxmdL
— Alex Byington (@_AlexByington) August 4, 2018
Hurts also rebutted coach Nick Saban, who had said he wasn’t sure if Hurts would be on the roster when the season opened.
Alabama QB Jalen Hurts on Nick Saban saying he wasn't sure if he'd be on the roster for the season opener: "I was kind of shocked he said that. … I told him like I'll tell you today, that I'm going to be here.”
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) August 4, 2018
There’s a lot going on here. Saban has talked about an open competition for the starting quarterback job, but it has long been assumed that Tagovailoa would win that, potentially leading to Hurts transferring elsewhere. Saban ultimately announced Hurts planned to stay, but didn’t say so until late July, and added in the same breath that he encouraged both Hurts and Tagovailoa to keep the focus off themselves as they competed for the starting job.
Hurts clearly hasn’t done that, and he had a lot to say here. He doesn’t appear to be happy that he hasn’t been allowed to speak publicly about his feelings, nor is he pleased that no one on staff seemed to talk to him about what was on his mind. Obviously this is his retelling of events, but it seems to be an indication that Hurts has some grievances with how Alabama has handled the quarterback controversy and the rampant unaddressed speculation that has come along with it.
