Saban talked Jalen Hurts into transferring to Oklahoma...

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Before Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was dishing out touchdown passes on Sundays, he was a beloved player at Alabama, receiving both development and transfer advice from Nick Saban. When Hurts returned to the Crimson Tide and got overtaken by Tua Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback, he worked on his craft to become a better thrower. Then he transferred to Oklahoma, a decision suggested by the legendary coach.

"He stayed at Alabama, and I told him, I said, 'Look, you need to develop to become a better passer,'" Saban said during his radio show at Baumhower’s Victory Grille, via BamaOnLine. "'You want to play in the NFL, you're a great athlete, you have to focus on what you need to do every day in practice to become a better quarterback in the passing game, decision making, judgment, accuracy, all those things. And God bless him, he did it, and he got better. And when he had to play when Tua got hurt, he was a lot better. And I think that's what helped him when he went to Oklahoma, and we made that decision together, too."

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"(Hurts) said, 'Well, I'm gonna go to Miami or I'm gonna go to Maryland,' because Dan Enos was the offensive coordinator at Miami and (Mike Locksley) was at Maryland," Saban explained. "He said, 'Well, I know those guys.' I said, 'Who's got the best players on offense?' He said, 'Oklahoma.' I said, 'That's where you need to go because if you wanna play quarterback, you've gotta have good players around you if you're gonna be able to play good.'

"And hell, I told him to do it knowing that we might have to play against him. But it's still what was best for him, and it's worked out very well for him. I'm so happy to see how well he's doing, how well (DeVonta Smith) 's doing, how well (Landon) Dickerson's doing, how well Philadelphia's doing. That's great."

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