Hurts' father hints at transfer from Alabama if QB loses starting job
Thanks to Tua Tagovailoa's emergence during Alabama's stunning comeback win over Georgia for the national championship last year, coach Nick Saban has options at the quarterback position entering the 2018 season.
Jalen Hurts, who started throughout the last two seasons, is certainly one of those options, but Tagovailoa's performance has definitely cast doubt about the current pecking order.
The situation led to an interesting answer when Hurts' father, Averion, was asked what would happen if Jalen doesn't win the starting job this season.
"Well, he'd be the biggest free agent in college football history," the elder Hurts told Bill Eichenberger of Bleacher Report, hinting at a potential transfer. "Jalen is a quarterback, and he wants to play quarterback. He loves Alabama, loves Coach Saban and everything about that place. But, he wants to play, and he will play."
Hurts has been brilliant for Alabama since being inserted into the lineup as a freshman during the first game of the 2016 season. In two years with the program, he's thrown for 4,861 yards and 40 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions. He's also terrorized defenses with his legs, rushing for 1,809 yards and 21 scores during that span.
Despite those numbers - and the Crimson Tide's 26-2 record with him as starter - there's a growing swell of support for Tagovailoa thanks to his performance in the national title game. With Alabama trailing 13-0 at the half, Saban opted to go with the former No. 1 quarterback recruit to lead the comeback, and he was more than up for the task.
After being inserted, Tagovailoa threw for 166 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score in overtime, to etch his name into college football history.
Saban has been fairly quiet about the whole situation, but said the Crimson Tide would be open to a two-quarterback system if it was in the team's best interests.
"The most important thing is to play the best guy, and if both guys can play winning football, it's not out of the question that we'll find a role for both guys in fairness to both guys," Saban told ESPN's Chris Low in early March.
Should Hurts opt to transfer, he would be forced to sit out for a year before having two seasons of eligibility remaining. His pedigree, plus his excellent play over the past two seasons, would certainly make him a highly coveted player.