Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will make the third and final college announcement of his playing career when Philadelphia takes on the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.”
The first came in June 2015, when Hurts — then a Channelview (Texas) High School standout — named Alabama as his college destination. The second came three seasons later, when he announced a decision to transfer to Oklahoma for his final college football season.
Now, the third could settle a long debate between fans of the Crimson Tide and Sooners: Will the former second-round pick pick Alabama or Oklahoma during his player introduction on “Sunday Night Football”?
“SNF,” of course, allows starters to introduce themselves, their position and — more often than not — the college where they played prior to the NFL. (Other players have referred to their high school or middle school teams, their birthplace, or nothing at all).
MORE: NFL quarterback power rankings: Jalen Hurts enters top QB tier
Regardless, the “Sunday Night Football” game between Philadelphia and Dallas will be the first of Hurts’ career in which he is the starter. So Alabama and Oklahoma fans both are likely to tune in and see whether he announces their school.
With that, The Sporting News looks at the arguments for Alabama and Oklahoma and more ahead of “Sunday Night Football”:
Alabama
| Year | Cmp-Att (Pct.) | Yards | TD-INT | Rush yards (TDs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 240-382 (62.8) | 2,780 | 23-9 | 953 (13) |
| 2017 | 154-255 (60.4) | 2,081 | 17-1 | 854 (8) |
| 2018 | 51-70 (72.9) | 765 | 8-2 | 183 (2) |
Hurts began his college career in Tuscaloosa, where he played from 2016 through 2018, became the first true freshman to start for the Crimson Tide since 1984 and ultimately compiled a 26-2 record as a starter.
He began his collegiate career with a bang, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors as a freshman. He led Alabama to a 14-1 record and last-second loss to Clemson in the 2017 College Football Playoff championship game.
Hurts maintained the starting role throughout the 2017 season, again guiding Alabama to the Playoff, where the Crimson Tide faced off against Georgia in the championship game. After the sophomore struggled against the Bulldogs in the first half, Nick Saban made the decision to bench Hurts in favor of true freshman Tua Tagovailoa.
The Crimson Tide ultimately prevailed after Tagovailoa sparked a second-half comeback, and Hurts never started another game in Tuscaloosa. But his Alabama career wasn’t over: Hurts stayed in Tuscaloosa for the 2018 season, gaining further development as a passer under quarterback coach Dan Enos.
Hurts enjoyed some highlight moments in his final year at Alabama, including a touchdown in his final pass in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The following game, he replaced an injured Tagovailoa in the SEC championship against Georgia — in the same stadium where he was benched a season prior — to lead two scoring drives in a Crimson Tide victory.
A Nick Saban interview making us cry is the most shocking moment from this game.pic.twitter.com/fXVdWJSfya
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) December 2, 2018
MORE: Why Nick Saban advised Jalen Hurts to transfer to Oklahoma over Maryland, Miami
Following the season, Hurts — who had already graduated from Alabama — announced his decision to transfer to Oklahoma. Saban later revealed to the Eagles how he had suggested Hurts choose the Sooners:
“And I remember him coming into me and saying (he) could go to Miami because the quarterback coach had gone to Miami as the offensive coordinator — the quarterback coach here, Dan Enos,” Saban said in the interview. “Mike Locksley got the head coaching job at Maryland. ‘I could go to Maryland or I could go to Oklahoma.’
“I said ‘Jalen, where do they have the best players?’” Saban said. “Because he felt more comfortable going where he knew these guys. And he said, ‘Well, I think they got the best players at Oklahoma.’ I said, ‘Well we just played them. I think they got some pretty good players on offense too.’
I said, ‘I’ve always told you that quarterback is a hard position to play if you don’t have good players around you. So if I was you, to create the most value — because you’ve got one year to do it — if you know you can be the starter there, go where they have the best players.’
Despite finishing his college career at Oklahoma, Hurts has been seen sporting Alabama gear in the Eagles locker room, and even spoke of his relationship with Saban in Week 4 during the “ManningCast” of “Monday Night Football.”
.@JalenHurts see’s a lot of himself in Nick Saban pic.twitter.com/y9kFi49e9x
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) October 4, 2022
Also of note — the room from where Hurts appeared on “MNF” featured two paintings: one of him at Alabama, and another where he wore both Alabama and Oklahoma uniforms.
Jalen Hurts has a painting of his Oklahoma self patting his Alabama self on the helmet. pic.twitter.com/PxubfwTXXa
— Eagles Nation (5-0) (@PHLEaglesNation) October 4, 2022
MORE: How Jalen Hurts’ college growth from Alabama to Oklahoma points to eventual NFL success
Oklahoma
| Year | Cmp-Att (Pct.) | Yards | TD-INT | Rush yards (TDs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 237-340 (69.7) | 3,851 | 32-8 | 1,323 (23) |
Despite his development as a passer off the Alabama bench in 2018, many observers — Crimson Tide fans included — considered Hurts a more athletically driven quarterback who wanted to run, as opposed to progressing through his reads.
His decision to transfer to Oklahoma proved he had ability as a passer. Indeed, Hurts arguably built his NFL draft stock in Norman, where he posted career-highs in 3,851 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, 1,323 rushing yards and 23 rushing scores.
Under former coach Lincoln Riley, Hurts became the third consecutive Heisman Trophy finalist (following Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, both of whom won the award and went on to become the top overall draft picks of their respective drafts).
“Being with Coach Riley, he’s always done phenomenal things with the quarterback, putting them in position to make plays,” Hurts said of the former Sooners coach.
Hurts again led a conference championship run to the College Football Playoff. His collegiate career ended in the 2019 CFP semifinal game vs. top-seeded LSU. Four months later, in a remote 2020 NFL Draft, commissioner Roger Goodell had this to say when the Eagles drafted Hurts with the 53rd overall pick in the second round:
“Jalen Hurts, quarterback, Oklahoma.”
MORE: Jalen Hurts’ transfer to Oklahoma sets up happy ending — for everybody
That wasn’t the end of Hurts’ connection to the Sooners, though. In his second year, he switched from wearing No. 2 — the number he wore at Alabama — to No. 1, which he wore at Oklahoma. He had to wait for punter Cameron Johnston to leave before jumping on it.
In explaining the decision, Hurts said he liked the way No. 1 looked on him while at Oklahoma:
“I always wore No. 2 but when I went to Oklahoma, obviously CeeDee Lamb wore No. 2, and he offered to give me the number but I didn’t want it, too much respect for him as a player so I ended up wearing No. 1 and I liked how it looked on me so I kept it,” Hurts said (via heavy.com). “So I told myself when I got drafted I would wear No. 1 before I wore No. 2 and my first year I had to wear No. 2 but I was just waiting for No. 1 to open up.”
That said, Hurts said “it means a lot” for him to see fans rocking his jersey — whether at Alabama, Oklahoma or Philadelphia.
“It’s surreal. I look back at fans at Alabama, I can turn on the game right now and see people wearing No. 2 jerseys and at Oklahoma, they’re wearing the No. 1 Hurts jersey only being a year there. And in the City of Philadelphia, I see so many kids wearing the 1 jersey, even the 2 jersey, and it means a lot. It means a lot.”
Channelview
There is a non-zero chance that Hurts chooses neither Alabama or Oklahoma in his “SNF” introduction. He could also list Channelview, Texas, where he became one of the nation’s most coveted recruits at quarterback.
According to MaxPreps, Hurts completed 216 of 364 passes (59.3 percent) for 3,523 yards and 33 touchdowns to seven interceptions in the 2014 and 2015 football seasons. He also had 198 carries for 1,747 (8.8 yards per carry) and 34 more scores.
Hurts used his ability at Channelview to become the No. 192 overall player in the 2016 recruiting class, per 247Sports’ Composite rankings. He was the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback and the No. 29 player in the state of Texas.
Regardless of which he chooses, Hurts has established himself as the unquestioned leader for the Eagles — and a special place in Channelview, Alabama and Oklahoma history.
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