Transfer quarterback Hurts happy
Ex-Tide star confident in move to Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. – The backdrop was crimson, but the logos were different. And if everything felt a little bit off — Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma quarterback — he appears comfortably settled into the alternate reality. But he knows: “The whole shebang,” he says, is unprecedented. It will take some getting used to for everybody.
“How unique is it?” Hurts asked Wednesday, during his first interview since transferring from Alabama in January — and then answered himself by listing the improbable sequence that led him from Tuscaloosa to Norman, and the fascinating situation he’s now in: Going 26-2 as Alabama’s starter. Losing the job to Tua Tagovailoa. Getting another opportunity at another College Football Playoff contender. And, oh yeah, following two Heisman winners.
“Everything about it is unique,” he said. “But to me, I know it’s happening to a unique person. I’m not your average Joe. I’m kind of built for these kind of situations.”
Hurts’ move to Oklahoma as a graduate transfer sets up one of the most compelling storylines of the 2019 season.
He was the SEC’s offensive player of the year as a freshman in 2016, when he helped Alabama reach the College Football Playoff championship game. And what’s sometimes lost in a last-second loss to Clemson was what Hurts did moments before, leading Alabama downfield for the go-ahead touchdown.
A year later, back in the national title game, Hurts was replaced after an ineffective first-half performance against Georgia. Tagovailoa led Alabama to victory in overtime, and then led a recordsetting Tide offense last season. Hurts settled into a backup role, playing in mop-up situations, though against Georgia in the SEC championship game last December he replaced injured Tagovailoa
and led a comeback to win.
“I think I’m wiser, I’m better, I’m stronger for it, (for) everything that took course last year and the last three years,” Hurts said. “Obviously I didn’t get the snaps (in 2018). I had limited time there. But I’m at a new place now. New opportunity. I think it’s a different team on the same mission.”
Hurts’ personal mission is to prove his abilities as a passer. In two seasons as a starter, his strength was as a dualthreat; one SEC coach told USA TODAY Hurts was the best runner in the conference, regardless of position. It was meant as a compliment, but implicit was that passing wasn’t a strength.
In limited action last season, Hurts showed improvement. But among the questions is how he’ll fit into Lincoln Riley’s version of the Air Raid, which operated at ultra-high levels under first Baker Mayfield and then Kyler Murray — or how Riley might morph the offense to fit Hurts.
“The objective of all of this is, everybody wants to achieve their goals,” Hurts said. “Right now it’s not about me. I’m stepping back from it. The biggest thing about this thing is achieving what we want as a team. I feel like if we can come together and work hard, built that bond, the sky’s the limit.”
Hurts, who is competing during spring practice with redshirt freshman Tanner Mordecai for the starting job (incoming freshman Spencer Rattler, who is scheduled on campus in June, could also factor into the race), noted that Oklahoma coach Riley is his fifth offensive coordinator in four seasons. But he said he feels comfortable with Riley and is settling into the offense — and, he said, into a leadership role.
“When I look back on this year,” Hurts said, “I’d rather have said too much than said too little. … I’d rather lead too much than (too little).”
He added: “I definitely want to maximize my time at the University of Oklahoma.”