Kiffin: Alabama's Hurts 'is a great quarterback'
BOCA RATON— As Lane Kiffin deals with his own quarterback battle at Florida Atlantic, the former Ala
bama offensive coordinator continues to chime in on the ongoing competition in Tuscaloosa between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa.
Hours after seeing Owls quarterbacks De’Andre Johnson and Chris Robison continue to make their respective cases to win FAU’s starting job, Kiffin appeared on SiriusXM’s “Playbook” with hosts Jason Horowitz and
A ndy St a ples to defend Hurts, a rising junior and the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback for the past two seasons. Kiffin was asked if Hurts, a proven starter who has appeared in two national championship games, should switch to another position like running back or wide receiver.
“Someone asked me that question about a month ago in an interview. Should he play another position? The guy was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a true freshman — the first one since (former Georgia running back) Herschel Walker to do that,” Kiffin said on Thurs- day. “And you want him to play another position? That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.
“I know while we were there we had a great quarterback that every team in the country would want,” Kiffin said. “He is a great quarterback. He still is.”
Kiffin is no stranger to speaking out about his former team, from joking about Alabama coach Nick Saban’s hate of “rat poison” to suggesting the Crimson Tide would have won the 2017 College Football Playoff championship with him still call- ing plays on offense. Kiffin was relieved of duties just days before the championship game against Clemson because Saban thought he was spending too much time trying to assemble his staff at FAU.
Kiffin’s praise of Hurts came hours after the quarterback’s father, Averion Hurts, told Bleacher Report’s Matt Hayes that Jalen would trans- fer and become “the biggest free agent in college football history” if he does not win the starting job. Alabama had a lengthy pursuit of East Carolina quarterback Gard- ner Minshew, who wound up going to Washington, and is expected to continue search- ing the market for a graduate transfer quarterback.
Though Hurts would have to sit out a year if he transferred from Alabama to another Division I pro
gram, many have said since his benching in the 2018 CFP title game that Kiffin and FAU would be the best location. Hurts showed as a true freshman that he was a perfect fit for Kiffin’s offense and the quarterback wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility just by red- shirting and having to sit for a year, learning again from a coach he had success under. Johnson has two more years of eligibility — though he could apply for a medical redshirt later after missing nearly all but one game last season for blood clots in his arm. Robison was a highly touted recruit at Oklahoma, but was dismissed last August as a true freshman for violating team rules and an April 2017 arrest for public intoxication. Though Robison has shown a strong arm in spring camp, he was suspended the first day of practice for violating team rules, which The Post later reported was tied to academics. Kiffin said Th u rsday that he expects the battle between Johnson and Robison to carry into training camp this summer. FAU will hold its annual spring game Saturday (4 p.m., FAU Stadium; free admission) with Johnson leading the firstteam and Robison playing with the second team.