Nick Saban pulled Jalen Hurts at halftime of the 2018 national championship and handed the offense to Tua Tagovailoa. Most quarterbacks in his spot would have been disappointed. But Hurts stayed, rebuilt himself, and turned that benching into an NFL career that reached the top. But the decision itself, that halftime switch, remains one of the most debated of Saban’s career at Alabama.
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Now, as Hurts navigates recent struggles with the Philadelphia Eagles, Saban has come forward to shed light on the Eagles QB1’s resilient mindset.
“Well, first of all, this was one of the most difficult decisions I ever had to make as a coach because of the respect, love, and admiration I had for Jalen Hurts, who was 26-2 as a starter. We were struggling a little bit on offense had really good receivers, and I thought Tua could do a better job of getting him the ball,” Saban said on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday. “But the thing that’s understated about all this is how Jalen Hurts managed and handled the adversity and the difficult circumstance that he was put in.”
In that 2017 run, Hurts went on to play in 14 games and record 2,081 passing yards with 17 touchdowns thrown. He averaged an impressive 8.2 yards per attempt.
“You know, he stayed here at Alabama. He worked on becoming a better passer, a better processor,” Saban continued. “Getting rid of the ball comes in the SEC championship game the next week next year and wins the game, and we win the SEC championship because of him. You know, most people would have cut and run and been disappointed and not tried to do what they had to do to overcome adversity and the circumstances that they were in. This guy’s character in that situation has been underappreciated, and I think people should recognize how much character he really has, and that’s what has propelled him to be a great player in the NFL and winning a Super Bowl.”
On January 8, 2018, the Alabama Crimson Tide faced off against the Georgia Bulldogs. Jalen Hurts was an established star with a 25-2 [not 26-2] record as a starter, having already led Alabama to the national title game the previous season.
However, by halftime, the Alabama offense was completely frozen.
But Hurts was struggling as a passer, completing just 3-of-8 passes for 21 yards, and Alabama was trailing Georgia 13-0, with the offense having generated only 89 total yards. Nick Saban was already in his 11th season with the Crimson Tide in 2018. He replaced Hurts with Tua Tagovailoa, who ended the game by completing 14-of-24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
In the newly released footage from the ESPN docuseries “Saban”, the veteran football coach also admitted how the decision seemingly affected Hurts.
“Do I think he liked it? H*** no. He’s a competitor… No one wants to be insignificant,” Saban said.
Despite that, Jalen Hurts stayed with Alabama for another year, even though Tua Tagovailoa led the offense the entire 2018 season. When both the quarterbacks transitioned into the NFL, Hurts has seemingly transformed into a better signal-caller.
With the Philadelphia Eagles, Hurts won the Super Bowl LIX in the 2024 season. Meanwhile, Tagovailoa is still searching for the one after completing six years in the NFL.
However, through the first four games of the 2026 regular season, Hurts’ individual play has been a bit shaky. Hurts has completed just 59.65% of his passes for 713 yards. While he has thrown 7 touchdowns, he also has 3 interceptions and a passer rating of 87.4.
On top of that, Hurts has already been sacked 12 times and logged multiple turnover-worthy plays. That said, the low point of the slump came during that Week 4 loss against the Rams, where the Eagles’ offense went a disastrous 0-for-12 on third downs.
Jalen Hurts was also held to just 93 passing yards on 27 attempts in the 24–20 defeat. However, Nick Saban appears confident in the Eagles QB’s ability to rise above the adversities like he did following the 2018 replacement incident.
Next up, the Eagles face the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 11, where the eyes will be on Hurts’ performance again.