He is gearing up to coach Alabama football on its homecoming game versus Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but Nick Saban continues to remind national media of his appreciation for Jalen Hurts during his time with the Crimson Tide.
Hurts was part of two Southeastern Conference title teams and a College Football Playoff National Championship team in 2017.
A native Texan, he came off the bench in the 2018 SEC Championship Game and delivered Alabama to a 35-28 win over Georgia. He is now leading the Oklahoma Sooners and while his team is struggling against Kansas City, Saban also has respect for Hurts.
During an interview on the Golic and Wingo show via ESPN, Saban said he’d never seen anyone handle things the right way like Hurts did.
”I’m not surprised at all,” Saban said in answering the question on if he is surprised by Hurts’ success.
”Jalen is a very mature guy. Great competitor. Has a unique skill set and improved dramatically when he was not playing as a passer last year, and because he worked at it, he had a good coach and he knew it was something he had to get better at. I am actually happy for the guy.”
Even when he was benched for Tua Tagovailoa against Georgia in the 2018 CFP title game, Hurts handled the situation with grace and was very supportive of Tagovailoa.
“There has never been a guy anywhere in college football that did things correctly and set a better example as a leader than what Jalen Hurts did,” Saban said. “I am greatly respect him as a person and as a competitor.”
Hopefully, Oklahoma can dig itself out of this hole. Kansas City is up 43-21 in the fourth quarter, but at least Saban still has love for Hurts.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith
