Miami football loses out on Jalen Hurts to Oklahoma
In a post in the Players Tribune, Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts thanked the Alabama program for his experiences there. Hurts chose Oklahoma over Maryland and the Miami football program to attend as a Graduate Transfer in 2019.
Jalen Hurts spent time with the Miami football staff on Sunday. That included a dinner on Sunday night at the Posh Prime 112 Steakhouse. That compared to Clemson’s meal on Monday at the White House of Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
Jalen Hurts did not mention Miami in his short post he titled To My Alabama Family. He began the post with Commitment. Discipline. Effort. Toughness. Pride. According to Hurts, those are the five commandments of Alabama football.
It was an extreme longshot for the Miami football program to land Hurts after Ohio State transfer Tate Martell committed to the Hurricanes late on Tuesday night. Hurts is definitely eligible in 2019. Martell’s eligibility is fluid. Martell at a minimum has two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2020.
Miami Hurricanes Football
He can petition the NCAA for a hardship waiver or Graduate in May or this summer and gain immediate eligibility. Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports stated that Martell is going to use Ohio State’s coaching change from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day as the reason he should be granted immediate eligibility.
It says a lot for the Miami football program to be in the running for a player of Hurts’ accomplishments. He was 26-2 as a starter at Alabama. Hurts lost his starting role at Alabama to 2018 Heisman Trophy runner-up Tua Tagovailoa. He will now succeed Kyler Murray who won the Heisman Trophy last season.
Murray succeeded the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield. Alabama defeated the Sooners in the Orange Bowl, which was a College Football Playoff Semifinal this season. The Sooners offense has been prolific under Lincoln Riley. The question is can they win a National Championship with a pathetic defense.
In his post on The Players Tribune, Hurts thanked Alabama and said that Tuscaloosa was the only recruiting visit he made. He also spoke about being part of the Alabama dynasty and being replaced in the National Championship Game in January 2018.
"“I took my recruiting visit — and then never took another. It was just love at first sight between me and this program…As a competitor, I wanted badly to be a part of the dynasty that Coach Saban was building. I wanted to make my mark. I wanted to leave a LEGACY.Was what happened in the 2018 National Championship Game bittersweet? Of course it was — it was a humbling experience. It was tough, man. one thing I can promise you is that I’m better off for having gone through it. Everything I dealt with at Bama: I’m stronger for it. I’m wiser. I’m a better man.”"
Hurts never specifically mentioned that he will be attending Oklahoma, but several reports have him matriculating in Norman. It was a case of if you can’t beat them, have them join you. Hurts transfer to Oklahoma, like Justin Fields at Ohio State was a domino effect of quarterbacks.
Murray’s backup Austin Kendall has also put his name into the transfer protocol. Martell decided to move on after former five-star recruit Fields transferred from Georgia to Ohio State. ESPN’s Jake Trotter reported that Oklahoma is blocking Kendall’s transfer to West Virginia as a Graduate transfer.
Next. Tate Martell makes more sense for Miami than Jalen Hurts. dark
The offseason in college football and basketball has become as heated as Major League Baseball’s long tradition of the hot stove league and the heat of July Free Agency in the NBA. The last three weeks for the Miami football program have been the most eventful in the program’s history.