Drew Kerekes

Nick Saban: “I’ve told both players, ‘You’ve gotta win the team, and everything you do to bring attention to yourself, or anybody even in your family that brings attention to yourself, you’re not doing yourself a service in trying to win the team.”

The Alabama head football coach said this several weeks back, in response to a question about the quarterback battle currently underway at the Crimson Tide’s fall camp.

Since his true freshman season at Alabama in 2016, Jalen Hurts has started nearly every game for Alabama at quarterback. This fall, however, that position is not set in stone, as Hurts was benched in the national championship game in favor of then-true freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who helped lead Alabama from being down against Georgia to coming back and winning the game in overtime.

Naturally, plenty of people have opinions on the matter. Some are of the opinion that Hurts shouldn’t lose his job due to him being 26-2 as a starting quarterback. Others feel Tagovailoa is simply the better quarterback, and should play entirely due to merit, without consideration given to who’s the incumbent at the position.

The expression of those opinions haven’t always been constructive — more on that shortly — but it’s safe to say there isn’t an Alabama fan alive that doesn’t have an opinion as to which player should be the starter against Louisville.

Last weekend, Hurts was given an opportunity to talk to the media, and he gave some interesting comments about the matter.

“For me, no one came up to me the whole spring, coaches included, no one asked me how I felt,” Hurts said. “No one asked me what was on my mind, no one asked me how I felt about the things that were going on. No one asked me what my future (entailed), and that’s that. So now… when we try to handle the situation now, for me, it’s too late. The narrative has already been created.”

Hurts was then asked a follow-up question as to whether or not he felt that was a problem.

“I think as a player you definitely want to feel some concern from your coaches I guess,” Hurts responded. “I don’t necessarily think they were not concerned, because they’re definitely concerned, I just don’t think they were maybe bold enough to ask. Like, I know it’s there, but I don’t want to talk about it. I definitely think it was something that should have been talked about a long time ago, instead of being talked about when it’s here. It’s kind of like a stove. After that game, the stove got turned on, the heat got turned up. Now, we put the pot on the stove, we put the food on the stove, and  now the food’s cooking. Come the season, when it officially starts, the food will be done.”

Saban seemed to think the comments weren’t a big deal when asked about them in his Wednesday press conference. 

“Every player has a right to express what he feels and what he thinks,” Saban said. “I think he has every right to do that with every coach or anybody in the organization he has a relationship with, which we certainly do quite often with all players at all positions.” He went on to say he felt the issue wouldn’t have an effect on his team.

That won’t stop fans and commentators from sharing their two cents. I’ll go ahead and share mine:

•Firstly, I have somewhat of a unique perspective when it comes to Hurts. I lived in Tuscaloosa from age 8 to 22, and my mother and one of my brothers still lives there. My brother is slightly autistic and is involved in a wonderful program in Tuscaloosa called Arts ’N Autism. One of my brother’s friends in that program was doing a live video recording one day in spring of 2017, and he was asked about his favorite Alabama player.

Hurts was that player, and my brother’s friend began rattling off the reasons as to why he liked Hurts so much. That’s when Hurts jumped into the video and surprised my brother’s friend, gave him a hug and even chatted with him a bit. My mom was there around the time Hurts was and got her photo taken with him. That’s led me to believe Hurts was and is a standup guy.

•Hurts couldn’t have handled his benching in the national title game better. He was seen cheering Tagovailoa during the game and was even gracious after the win when a mic and camera were stuck in his face and he was asked about the move. Unfortunately, Hurts’ father, Averion Hurts, who was his son’s high school coach, did an interview with Bleacher Report this past April. In that interview, the elder Hurts said his son would be “the biggest free agent in college football history” should his son not be named the starting quarterback this fall and decide to transfer. 

Following the younger Hurts’ comments last weekend, his mother, Pamela Hurts, posted on a Facebook fan page the following: “There’s a reason why players aren’t allowed to speak to the media. Jalen spoke his truth, finally, after three years of being compliant and controlled. You have no idea what is and has been going on — and most likely, never will.”

Oh boy. This furthers my suspicion that no good can ever come from the parent of a college football player speaking out on matters of who’s starting and who isn’t.

•It’s difficult to reconcile the idea that Hurts is somehow a victim with what I’ve seen play out. Hurts struggled late in the season for Alabama in 2017, including during the Tide’s only loss in the Iron Bowl. Despite this, the Alabama coaches stuck with Hurts until they absolutely needed a spark in the passing game against Georgia. Now, there’s a quarterback competition, which is only natural after how the title game played out.

If Hurts felt the coaches should have addressed the quarterback situation with him, he’s certainly entitled to feel that way. At the same time, there isn’t much the coaches can do to soothe his feelings short of promising him the starting job, and they aren’t going to do that. And I don’t think that’s unfair. Saban is being paid a lot of money not just to win games, but championships. Ultimately, if he feels Tagovailoa gives him a better chance to do that, then Tagovailoa probably starts. That’s the business side of college football, and it isn’t always nice. 

•Hurts just turned 20 this past Tuesday. Far be it from me to judge a then-teenager from perhaps venting a little frustration, even if I think his remarks were probably best kept behind closed doors — and I do think they were ill-advised. There are some things that should remain family business and shouldn’t be aired publicly. Still, Hurts is human, and honestly, he’s had to deal with a lot of fans and pundits sharing their opinions on his play, not all of them doing so in a constructive manner. 

Now, due to Hurts’ comments last weekend, some would cast him as not simply a guy who might lose his starting job, but a malcontent that could infect the entire team and possibly cost Alabama a championship run. They don’t see a human being who had a moment of frustration, but merely a toy meant to amuse them during Saturdays in the fall that wasn’t amusing them up to their standards. Now, they’ve labeled that “toy” as a bad guy over some paranoia that his comments will ruin any chance of a title in 2018. Nevermind that their team is being run by arguably the greatest coach college football has ever seen. Think this is Saban’s first rodeo?

•Despite however ill-advised Hurts’ comments were to the Alabama coaches, I don’t get the sense Saban was particularly upset if his Wednesday press conference was any indication. Whoever starts between Hurts and Tagovailoa will likely be determined by merit, nothing else. Hurts is not a bad guy just because he vented some frustrations. These players are humans, not robots. I’d like to think people will remember that when they cheer on their favorite football team, but I’d be lying if I said I had absolutely confidence that will be the case.

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.