Jalen Hurts’ redemption arc, DeVonta Smith’s social justice, and more Eagles moments from the ‘Saban’ docuseries
From the fallout and redemption of Hurts’ journey at Alabama to Smith’s respect for his former coach, here are some former ’Bama Eagles storylines discussed in the new ESPN docuseries.
By now, you’ve likely seen the clip of then-Alabama football coach Nick Saban deciding to replace Jalen Hurts in favor of Tua Tagovailoa during halftime of the 2018 College Football Playoff national championship.
That clip, which featured previously unseen footage of Hurts’ benching, went viral late last week after it emerged on social media following the release of ESPN’s Saban documentary series, which began airing Thursday on the network’s app.
It wasn’t the first time that Saban made a controversial move he felt was in his team’s best interest. He took play-calling duties away from then-offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin for Alabama’s national championship rematch against Clemson in 2017 because of Kiffin’s inability to balance building out a staff at Florida Atlantic, where he recently had been hired as head coach, and his role at Alabama.
Hurts was not thrilled about Kiffin’s departure, saying: “Coach Saban did a great job of trying to steady the boat and reassure everyone that everything is going to be OK. We’re not going to lose a beat. That just wasn’t reality.”
» READ MORE: Footage of Jalen Hurts’ infamous benching reveals a lot of what we’ve come to know about the Eagles QB
The Eagles quarterback felt similarly about being benched in the national title game, and it’s something he holds onto even now.
“Everybody has their own story,” Hurts said during the fifth episode the docuseries. “Tom Brady was drafted, what, 199 [overall]? [Michael Jordan] holds on to this little grudge of not making a JV basketball team. Mine is getting benched in the national championship game.”
‘Remove all doubt’
With Hurts watching from the sideline, Tagovailoa connected with DeVonta Smith for the game-winning touchdown to beat Georgia for Saban’s sixth national title — the Eagles No. 1 receiver recalled that he “just blanked out” and “started running everywhere.” Hurts’ future at Alabama was in doubt following his benching, and he wasn’t sure what to do with Tagovailoa seemingly taking the mantle.
“In the end, I’m in my dad’s arms, and I’m in tears,” Hurts said. “I’m like, ‘You ever seen something like this happen before? I mean, what are we going to do?’”
Many predicted that Hurts would transfer before the 2018 season, and his father, Averion, even advised him to do so. Instead, Hurts chose to stay — even after losing the quarterback battle to Tagovailoa.
Alabama’s passing offense had struggled under Hurts down the stretch of the 2017 season. Saban noted that “people were loading the box, stopping the run, forcing us to throw, and we were not doing it very effectively.” It was part of the reason Tagovailoa was the starter, but Saban also offered a piece of advice to Hurts.
“I told Jalen, ‘I know your goal is to play in the NFL someday,’” said Saban, who coached Alabama from 2007 to 2023. “‘You need to improve as a passer, not your arm talent, necessarily, but just your ability to read, get rid of the ball on time, understand coverages and concepts, and you have an opportunity to do that every day in practice here as a backup quarterback.’”
When Alabama went up big during that 2018 season, Hurts would get opportunities for meaningful reps that proved beneficial that season and beyond.
» READ MORE: ‘Two alphas’: How Jalen Hurts’ QB battle with Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama helped shape the Eagles star
Hurts got his redemption story with Alabama. When Tagovailoa left the 2018 SEC championship game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, Hurts stepped in with Alabama trailing Georgia by seven points.
“I had to remove all doubt,” Hurts said. “You either go into it all in, or you’re not. And I was all in.”
He led Alabama on two touchdown drives, completing 7-of-9 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown pass, and ran in the game-winning touchdown in the 35-28 victory. Hurts later said that the moment was something ”so rewarding and emotionally moving.”
“The fact that he used a whole season to improve helped him have more success the next year at Oklahoma, and that’s what got him to be a second-round draft pick and get him an opportunity to win the Super Bowl with Philadelphia,” Saban said. “It wasn’t necessarily the way he played in the moment, in the game, but the way he handled that season in this day and age, in the world that we live in, and the character that it takes, the selflessness that it takes — it was phenomenal.”
‘Something powerful’
The docuseries’ final episode examines Saban’s seventh and final national championship season, 2020.
While the COVID-19 pandemic affected everyday life, there also was rising tension following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent demonstrations nationwide.
Many players — including Smith and Bryce Young, the Philadelphia-born Panthers quarterback — voiced their concerns and disappointment about the country’s direction. Saban asked Condoleezza Rice to speak to the team on Zoom that summer. The Alabama native encouraged the players to take action based on how they felt.
» READ MORE: What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 6 vs. the Panthers
Rice also shared some lessons with the players and told the story of how former Alabama governor George Wallace stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium on Alabama’s campus to prevent Black students from registering for classes.
Saban hoped players would take action to “help people in your community.” In late August 2020, the players, according to Smith, “had a conversation with [Saban] about having a march to Foster [Auditorium]. Coach Saban, he was like, ‘OK, I’m with it. Just tell me what y’all need, and we can do it.’”
“[It] felt like I was doing the right thing,” Smith said. “It felt like I was doing something to make a change, to lead something powerful.”
Added Young: “Going to Alabama was about football. That was my mission. That was what brought me there. But to march on campus, and that being one of the strongest memories I have, that being one of the biggest things that we had done, it made me really want to give more.”
The Eagles are back from London, looking to leave the disappointment of a last-second defeat behind while choosing instead to focus on lessons they can learn from a third straight loss. And you know what? The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane actually thinks there were encouraging takeaways from the game, outcome aside. He and Mike Sielski discussed why the Eagles’ sky, despite being gray, isn’t falling just yet, and what the team can build on to if it hopes to reverse its fortunes during a key stretch of the schedule that begins Sunday. Listen here.
Listen to all episodes here or wherever you get your podcasts.
