It has been called the toughest decision of Nick Saban’s career. But Jalen Hurts might have just lost the battle to be Alabama’s starting quarterback four weeks before the season even kicks off.
In an emotional interview Saturday, Hurts expressed his frustration with how events have unfolded since he was benched for Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of Alabama’s comeback victory against Georgia in January’s National Championship game.
“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. … No one asked me what my future entailed,” Hurts vented. “So now when we try and kind of handle the situation now, for me it’s kind of late. It’s too late.”
Nick Saban does not like distractions to his process, and it looks like Jalen Hurts might have just shot himself in the foot.
????@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
When asked by a reporter if the coaching staff’s handling of the quarterback battle was a problem or an issue for him, Hurts responded by saying, “I think as a player, you definitely want to feel some concern from your coaches.”
“But I don’t necessarily think they were not concerned, because they’re definitely concerned,” he continued. “I just don’t think that maybe they were bold enough to ask. Like, it was, 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.”
As reported by ESPN, Saban remarked on Saturday that “the decision will be made at a ‘higher level’ based on ‘consistency in performance’ and leadership.”
For his part, Tua stayed the course, steering away from controversy.
“I don’t think that’s ever been in my persona,” he said. “I think what we have to do as a team is what’s most important to me. We’ve got to focus on what we can do now to better ourselves, better each other. As the season goes on, we’ll see and what-not. But we’re just focused on trying to better ourselves as a team, preparing for the first game, and just looking at how we can identify ourselves this year.”
“This is a situation that is uncontrollable,” Hurts lamented Saturday. “Coaches can’t control this situation.”
The Tide faces Louisville September 1 in Orlando to open the season.
