Alabama football coach Nick Saban said Thursday night that he has a good relationship with the family of junior quarterback Jalen Hurts but that he has no idea how the competition between Hurts and sophomore Tua Tagovailoa will end.
Saban had to discuss the situation after Averion Hurts, Jalen’s father, said his son would likely transfer if he isn’t named the starter.
“We all want the same thing for all of the players who compete on our team, regardless of the position,” Saban said in a news conference after the Crimson Tide’s 14th practice of this spring session. “There is going to be a significant effort for a lot of folks to make this a very public thing, but it’s going to be handled in a very private manner.
“Jalen has done a great job, and he’s made a significant amount of improvement, but at the end of the day, everybody has career decisions they’ll have to make.”
The 6-foot-2, 218-pound Hurts has compiled a 26-2 record in two seasons as the starter, completing 394 of 637 passes (61.9 percent) for 4,861 yards with 40 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His touchdown-to-interception ratio last season was 17-to-1.