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Matt Zenitz |
"I think that Jalen has made a lot of progress this year in terms of his pocket presence, his ability to make decisions down the field as to where to throw the ball. I think Brian has done a good job of helping him develop those things, which was a goal going into the season."
The phone call wasn't football-related.
It was March, and Brian Daboll had a music question. Jalen Hurts had talked about the Houston rap scene during one of his early meetings with his new offensive coordinator, who took a liking to a particular song. But he couldn't remember the name of it, so he called Hurts to check.
And as Averion Hurts listened to his son talk to Daboll about that song -- Big Ballin, Shot Callin by Swishahouse -- he was both amused and encouraged.
"When he called about that, I could tell that they had spent some quality time together," Hurts' father said. "It just let me know that he was getting something he really wanted, that relationship."
This is what Nick Saban was hoping for when he hired Daboll in February.
Living up to his billing as a workaholic and as someone committed to player development, this former New England Patriots assistant has helped Hurts reach this point.
Hurts is showing week-by-week that he's a much better passer than he often gets credit for, thanks largely to Daboll's teaching and play-calling. And thanks largely to Hurts, Daboll has the No. 1 scoring offense in the SEC. And continues to learn more about the Houston rap scene than he probably thought he would when he first arrived in Tuscaloosa.
"We're on the same page on a lot of things and we push ourselves to do great things," Hurts said. "Our perspective, him being the OC, me being the quarterback, we push each other and we just have a good bond."
Hurts didn't have this last year as a freshman.
It's not that he didn't have a good relationship with Lane Kiffin. And Alabama broke school records with Kiffin as its offensive coordinator. But people around the program will tell you two things. One, this new system -- which Hurts has described to his brother as a mixture of the Patriots' offense with what's worked for the Tide in the past -- is allowing Hurts to show more of what he can do as a passer. And two, Daboll is much more committed to player development than his predecessor.
Hurts' brother, Averion, remembers being in town during the spring and his brother calling Daboll about going over some practice footage.
"Well, I'm actually supposed to be somewhere with my wife," Daboll responded. "But yeah, man, let's do it."
So Hurts and his brother met with Daboll, broke down practice tape for about an hour and then spent time just talking about life and, yes, music.
"Coach Daboll has been all about the grooming of not just Jalen but each quarterback in the program," said Jalen's brother, a former starting quarterback at Texas Southern and current junior high school coach in Texas. "And I feel like that's very evident. You can see it. He takes time meeting with them and he's adamant about the growth of each quarterback. And that parlays into better play when it comes time for the game because now you're not thinking before the snap 'What am I going to do?' You already have an idea where to go with the football and, if this isn't there, I can do this. You're better able to relax and just play your game."
Hurts only playing four full games has prevented him from posting bigger numbers, but his adjusted quarterback rating on ESPN (84.1) ranks first among SEC quarterbacks and is up from 68.4 last year.
In addition to having run for 686 yards and eight touchdowns, Hurts is completing 61.5 percent of his passes and has thrown 14 touchdowns with just one interception.
In all, he's accounted for 22 touchdowns with just one total turnover.
"I think that Jalen has made a lot of progress this year in terms of his pocket presence, his ability to make decisions down the field as to where to throw the ball," coach Nick Saban said. "I think Brian has done a good job of helping him develop those things, which was a goal going into the season, and I think we're much more effective in that part of our game than we were earlier this season or last season. I think it's a myriad of things that you work with on a day-to-day basis that are all attention to detail type things that help a guy be able to progress and develop, which I think Brian has done a good job with with Jalen."
It goes back to what ex-NFL coach Eric Mangini said during the spring.
Former NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Jake Delhomme had previously told AL.com that -- even at 35 -- there were "still many things" he learned from Daboll, especially regarding "the nuances of a defense."
"I think that's probably one of the most interesting things," Mangini said at the time, "is that a 35-year old pro quarterback, that Brian's able to teach him some different things. Now you put him in a room with young kids and him being able to accelerate their learning and the potential that has. That, to me, is what should be exciting to Alabama fans."
Hurts has told his brother that Alabama's quarterback room is being coached like an NFL quarterback room -- from "concepts to schemes to progressions and all of that."
So, in addition to having improved mechanically, Hurts is now more adept at breaking down a defense and understanding why certain plays will work against certain coverages.
That showed during one of the biggest moments of the Tide's season thus far.
During Alabama's win over Mississippi State on Nov. 11, the Tide faced a third-and-15 with the score tied and only 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Recognizing that Mississippi State was coming with an all-out blitz, Hurts motioned to wide receiver Calvin Ridley to run a slant.
"Don't change it!" Ridley initially responded.
"Trust me," Hurts responded. "I got you."
Hurts then hit Ridley for what became a 31-yard catch-and-run. That was followed by Hurts' game-winning 26-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith that helped Alabama survive and remain undefeated.
"I think where coach Daboll has helped Jalen the most is pre-snap, knowing what you want to do and then post-snap, reaction to when the first option isn't an option any longer," Hurts' brother said. "It's basically having an answer for every situation that you deal with. And the progressions. You can literally see Jalen go from one to two to three. OK, one, two and three's not there. Now, I'll run. Versus last year when, oh, one's not there, I'm out of there. He's taught him, not so much where to go with the ball, but the proper way on making a decision where to go with the ball.
"And that's something I really admire about Jalen. I get excited because he's being patient with the route combinations and stuff like that. So many said that he was incapable of doing that. But you don't really hear that anymore because he's doing it now."
Now comes the biggest test yet for this Hurts-Daboll partnership.
In this winner-take-all Iron Bowl, it will be Hurts against an Auburn defense ranked among the top-20 nationally in most major defensive categories, including pass defense.
A win in this one, though, will put Alabama in the SEC title game. And would be worthy of celebrating with Daboll's new favorite song.
Continue reading...
The phone call wasn't football-related.
It was March, and Brian Daboll had a music question. Jalen Hurts had talked about the Houston rap scene during one of his early meetings with his new offensive coordinator, who took a liking to a particular song. But he couldn't remember the name of it, so he called Hurts to check.
And as Averion Hurts listened to his son talk to Daboll about that song -- Big Ballin, Shot Callin by Swishahouse -- he was both amused and encouraged.
"When he called about that, I could tell that they had spent some quality time together," Hurts' father said. "It just let me know that he was getting something he really wanted, that relationship."
This is what Nick Saban was hoping for when he hired Daboll in February.
Living up to his billing as a workaholic and as someone committed to player development, this former New England Patriots assistant has helped Hurts reach this point.
Hurts is showing week-by-week that he's a much better passer than he often gets credit for, thanks largely to Daboll's teaching and play-calling. And thanks largely to Hurts, Daboll has the No. 1 scoring offense in the SEC. And continues to learn more about the Houston rap scene than he probably thought he would when he first arrived in Tuscaloosa.
"We're on the same page on a lot of things and we push ourselves to do great things," Hurts said. "Our perspective, him being the OC, me being the quarterback, we push each other and we just have a good bond."
Hurts didn't have this last year as a freshman.
It's not that he didn't have a good relationship with Lane Kiffin. And Alabama broke school records with Kiffin as its offensive coordinator. But people around the program will tell you two things. One, this new system -- which Hurts has described to his brother as a mixture of the Patriots' offense with what's worked for the Tide in the past -- is allowing Hurts to show more of what he can do as a passer. And two, Daboll is much more committed to player development than his predecessor.
Hurts' brother, Averion, remembers being in town during the spring and his brother calling Daboll about going over some practice footage.
"Well, I'm actually supposed to be somewhere with my wife," Daboll responded. "But yeah, man, let's do it."
So Hurts and his brother met with Daboll, broke down practice tape for about an hour and then spent time just talking about life and, yes, music.
"Coach Daboll has been all about the grooming of not just Jalen but each quarterback in the program," said Jalen's brother, a former starting quarterback at Texas Southern and current junior high school coach in Texas. "And I feel like that's very evident. You can see it. He takes time meeting with them and he's adamant about the growth of each quarterback. And that parlays into better play when it comes time for the game because now you're not thinking before the snap 'What am I going to do?' You already have an idea where to go with the football and, if this isn't there, I can do this. You're better able to relax and just play your game."
Hurts only playing four full games has prevented him from posting bigger numbers, but his adjusted quarterback rating on ESPN (84.1) ranks first among SEC quarterbacks and is up from 68.4 last year.
In addition to having run for 686 yards and eight touchdowns, Hurts is completing 61.5 percent of his passes and has thrown 14 touchdowns with just one interception.
In all, he's accounted for 22 touchdowns with just one total turnover.
"I think that Jalen has made a lot of progress this year in terms of his pocket presence, his ability to make decisions down the field as to where to throw the ball," coach Nick Saban said. "I think Brian has done a good job of helping him develop those things, which was a goal going into the season, and I think we're much more effective in that part of our game than we were earlier this season or last season. I think it's a myriad of things that you work with on a day-to-day basis that are all attention to detail type things that help a guy be able to progress and develop, which I think Brian has done a good job with with Jalen."
It goes back to what ex-NFL coach Eric Mangini said during the spring.
Former NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Jake Delhomme had previously told AL.com that -- even at 35 -- there were "still many things" he learned from Daboll, especially regarding "the nuances of a defense."
"I think that's probably one of the most interesting things," Mangini said at the time, "is that a 35-year old pro quarterback, that Brian's able to teach him some different things. Now you put him in a room with young kids and him being able to accelerate their learning and the potential that has. That, to me, is what should be exciting to Alabama fans."
Hurts has told his brother that Alabama's quarterback room is being coached like an NFL quarterback room -- from "concepts to schemes to progressions and all of that."
So, in addition to having improved mechanically, Hurts is now more adept at breaking down a defense and understanding why certain plays will work against certain coverages.
That showed during one of the biggest moments of the Tide's season thus far.
During Alabama's win over Mississippi State on Nov. 11, the Tide faced a third-and-15 with the score tied and only 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Recognizing that Mississippi State was coming with an all-out blitz, Hurts motioned to wide receiver Calvin Ridley to run a slant.
"Don't change it!" Ridley initially responded.
"Trust me," Hurts responded. "I got you."
Hurts then hit Ridley for what became a 31-yard catch-and-run. That was followed by Hurts' game-winning 26-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith that helped Alabama survive and remain undefeated.
"I think where coach Daboll has helped Jalen the most is pre-snap, knowing what you want to do and then post-snap, reaction to when the first option isn't an option any longer," Hurts' brother said. "It's basically having an answer for every situation that you deal with. And the progressions. You can literally see Jalen go from one to two to three. OK, one, two and three's not there. Now, I'll run. Versus last year when, oh, one's not there, I'm out of there. He's taught him, not so much where to go with the ball, but the proper way on making a decision where to go with the ball.
"And that's something I really admire about Jalen. I get excited because he's being patient with the route combinations and stuff like that. So many said that he was incapable of doing that. But you don't really hear that anymore because he's doing it now."
Now comes the biggest test yet for this Hurts-Daboll partnership.
In this winner-take-all Iron Bowl, it will be Hurts against an Auburn defense ranked among the top-20 nationally in most major defensive categories, including pass defense.
A win in this one, though, will put Alabama in the SEC title game. And would be worthy of celebrating with Daboll's new favorite song.
Continue reading...
