Jalen Hurts is going to transfer, which is understandable since he has a 26-2 record and has been treated worse than a backup.
Two years ago, Jalen Hurts had just lost the CFP Championship game to Clemson 35-31. He was coming off of a 14-1 season as a true freshman. The next year, he would lead Alabama to the championship game again. He was pulled at halftime losing 13-0 and Tua Tagovailoa won the game in overtime 26-23 vs Georgia. Tua Tagovailoa won the starting for this year and, instead of redshirting, Hurts decided to use a year of eligibility to backup Tagovailoa. In the SEC Championship, Jalen Hurts led a 4th quarter comeback down 28-21 against Georgia to win 35-28. Hurts scored two touchdowns on two drives, one passing and one rushing. His career at Alabama ended after Nick Saban decided to not put Jalen Hurts in the CFP Championship game until it was way too late. Saban should have put Hurts in to start the second half down 31-16. Instead, he put Hurts in during the 4th quarter down 44-16. Tagovailoa threw two touchdowns and two interceptions, one was a pick-six. Tagovailoa usually plays well, however, he had a bad day in the championship game. If Saban had put in Jalen Hurts earlier, Alabama may have been able to win.
Now for my top 7 list in order from least likely to most likely.
7. Flordia Atlantic
The only reason for this one is because Lane Kiffin, the offensive coordinator for Alabama during Hurts’ freshman season, is there. The main reason against this is that Hurts’ wants to win a championship. FAU is a terrible team in a conference that’s almost as bad as they are.
6. Auburn
Auburn is coming off of a 8-5 season and sure could use a player like Hurts. However, he hasn’t shown much interest in Auburn and Auburn hasn’t shown much interest in him.
5. TCU
Let’s face it. TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson would crawl to Tuscaloosa if it meant that he would have a chance at getting Jalen Hurts. Last season, TCU went 7-6 including a loss to Kansas. Kansas went 3-9 last season, one of those losses being to Nicholls State. TCU has a terrible team and it makes sense that they are pursing Hurts. What wouldn’t make sense is if he decide to go to TCU. Why? Hurts only has one year left and he wants to get another championship. TCU isn’t the team that’s going to get him one.
4. Maryland
Alabama Offensive Coordinator Michael Locksey is going to be the head coach for Maryland. Despite collapsing in this year’s championship game he actually is a good coach. Another reason is that Hurts has already visited Maryland and it looks like the visit went well.
3. Oklahoma
Since Kyler Murray is probably going to the NFL, it makes sense for Hurts to go to Oklahoma. The last two Heismans have been Oklahoma quarterbacks. The only problem is that Spencer Rattler, a 5-star quarterback, has already committed to Oklahoma. If Oklahoma decided that they wanted Hurts and Hurts went to Oklahoma, then this would be an ideal situation. However, they may decide to stick with their 5-star QB.
2. Miami
The main reason Hurts may go to Miami is because Alabama’s QB Coach Dan Enos is going to be Miami’s offensive coordinator (is it just me or does everybody run away from Nick Saban? Then again, we can all understand why). In fact, it seems that one of Hurts’ reasons for staying at Alabama instead of redshirting is that he wanted to learn more from Enos. Miami has a good team but they don’t have a good quarterback.
1. Florida State
Well, Florida State enters this offseason with back-to-back laughable season. However, Head Coach Willie Taggart vowed to turn around the team, and Jalen Hurts the type of player to start a rebuild. The main thing here is that Hurts loves to win. He’s a great leader with the right attitude to lead a struggling team.
