TAMPA, Fla. — If there’s one life lesson Alabama true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts doesn’t need taught, then it’s to make eye contact when speaking with others.
During his hour-long interview session — as part of the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Saturday — Hurts maintained eye contact through each question, no matter how long or short the answer. Of course, this is something his father and Channelview (Texas) High School coach Averion Hurts already knows, and most SEC teams found out this season.
It’s not easy to rattle Jalen Hurts.
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“I remember my dad used to get frustrated because he’d be getting on me or whatever it is and I’d just kind of sit back with a blank face and he kind of didn’t know what to say,” he said. “I think a lot of coaches have kind of got to that point with me. I take coaching well, and I’m a very coachable kid. Whatever they have in store for me, I am down for.”
Hurts maintains that viewpoint while leading No. 1 Alabama (14-0) into that championship game against No. 2 Clemson (13-1) on Monday, little more than a week after the Crimson Tide beat Washington 24-7 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. That victory, however, didn’t come without consequences. Hurts completed 7 of 14 passes for 57 yards and had 19 carries for 50 yards. That’s when the drama started.
Lane Kiffin is out as offensive coordinator, and Steve Sarkisian is in. Alabama coach Nick Saban is taking a risk here, perhaps an even bigger risk than he took by putting Hurts in for the season opener against USC at AT&T Stadium. For what that’s worth, Sarkisian remembers seeing something from Hurts that has become his go-to trait.
“I think Jalen, for an 18-year-old true freshman, has amazing composure,” Sarkisian said. “I go back, and again, I was watching this game on TV, that first play against SC when he fumbles the ball, his first college football play, he comes right back in and leads them down for a touchdown the next drive. I think that speaks for itself. That guy has an amazing composure for an 18-year-old. He's going to need that composure Monday night.”
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That’s the most scrutinized quarterback-coach relationship heading into Monday’s game, even if Hurts insists the biggest difference simply is the voice in his ear. There are differences between Kiffin and Sarkisian, but that doesn’t mean Hurts and Sarkisian can’t find a common ground in a short time.
Sarkisian spent the week of preparation trying to find that same language. By the end, he said, “You’d ask him how he feels about it.”
That didn’t get a blank stare from Hurts. It evoked a genuine response.
“He’s calm and kind of has that swagger about him,” Hurts said. “I got bored yesterday and I looked up some of his highlights, and I saw him celebrating, and just to see that, you know, that was like — it was cool for me to see that because at times I do a little something after I score or whatever it is. To see him do it, that was pretty cool.”
Sarkisian played quarterback at BYU from 1995-96 — maybe that’s the common ground. Hurts, meanwhile, led Alabama to wins in hostile environments such as Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU this season before the SEC championship and Chick-fil-A Bowl. Hurts has a chance to be the first true freshman to win a national championship since Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway in 1985. Like Holieway, Hurts has the benefit of a nasty defense. That’s the challenge for Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
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“A weakness, yeah. I don't see one,” Venables said. “They're in the national championship. So he's played out of his mind, in my mind.”
All that time Hurts has done that while starting for Saban, a hyper-intense coach who also is learning to deal with the blank stare.
“I think Jalen has, for a freshman, really good poise,” Saban said. “Probably the most redeeming quality that has helped him throughout the year is that he doesn't get frustrated easily, and when he does have a bad play or make a mistake, it doesn't affect him for the next three or four plays. You know, he can move on. He can focus on the next play and try to execute the next play.”
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And the next game, which follows a rough game that led to change before the biggest game of the year. That’s the stage for Hurts now. Saban, Sarkisian and Hurts have to be on the same page against the Tigers, or this risk won’t be rewarded. At least those coaches know Hurts will be making eye contact. Will that lead to more blank faces?
Let Hurts tell you how he looks at it.
“I have a high standard for myself,” Hurts said. “I expect more out of myself than anyone else will. I mean I just — that's how I go about my business. I think Coach (Saban) said that 'Jalen puts pressure on himself' or something like that. I don't see it as pressure. I see it as that's just me.”
