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Alabama football fans and fans in general across the country have been speculating about the future of Jalen Hurts in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide signal-caller is battling Tua Tagovailoa for the team’s starting job and many believe Hurts, who led the Crimson Tide to two consecutive national championship game appearances, would transfer if he was not at the top of the depth chart.
Hurts has been quiet about the speculation and rumors, but that silence ended on Saturday, Aug. 4 when he finally spoke to the media.
When discussing his future, Hurts voiced his frustration over how Nick Saban in the coaching staff has handled the narrative and discussion about a potential transfer while saying that he will not be leaving the team.
Hurts said:
👀👀👀👀@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
“They didn’t want me to talk for whatever reason,” Hurts said, via AL.com. “I get the opportunity to speak now. I’ve always tried to handle situations like this and handle speaking the best way that I can because at the end of the day I’m representing myself and I’m representing my family back home.
“I told him in June that I’d be here. I told him, and I told him in June, that I’d be here. It was never a decision that had to be made in regards to me leaving. That was something that the general media placed on me and I kind of never said it. With that, I told him ‘I told you already that I’d be here.’ I’m about to graduate in December so why leave? Even though I’m not in a situation in which I think I should leave, I’m here. Why do that when you’re only 15 credits, 15 hours away from graduation?
“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 how I felt about the things that were going on. Nobody asked me what my future held.”
The good news for Crimson Tide fans is that Hurts will be staying, giving the team some security at the quarterback position. The bad news: the frustration from one of the most respected players in the locker room could be infectious and cause some issues.
We will just have to see how it all plays out.
Alabama kicks off its 2018 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 1 against Louisville at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.