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Jalen Hurts has been a star in the making for a long time
Aaron Suttles | Beat Writer
Jalen Hurts is a coachās kid.
You may not know what that means on the surface, but you recognize the qualities when you see them. The poise, calm and maturity the true freshman quarterback showed last Saturday night, even after fumbling away his first college play, are all qualities of a coachās kid.
Jalen is the son of Averion Hurts, the head coach at Channelview High School, where his son starred as one of the nationās top prep dual-threat quarterbacks.
So when he shook off that turnover on his first career snap and started making plays, the coaches in Texasā Class 6A, District 21 werenāt surprised. They knew it was only a matter of time before Hurts made his mark on college football.
Heād left his impression on Houston-area football for the previous two seasons.
āHe beat us on a Hail Mary his junior year. It was probably one of the most incredible individual performances Iāve seen since we played Vince Young in 2001,ā said Jon Kay, head coach at North Shore High School. āYou knew then that he was special.
āItās literally a last-second pass with time running off the clock. We had gotten to him and kind of rattled him and he pulled up in the pocket and let one fly in the back of the end zone that got tipped to another receiver and they ended up beating us in a high-scoring affair. Now looking back on it you can see what kind of special athlete that he was."
What makes Hurts special?
Fair or not, most dual-threat quarterbacks are stereotyped as runners first. Thatās not the case with Hurts. He can legitimately throw the football.He can run, too. That speed and elusiveness was on display against Southern Cal when he ran for two touchdowns.
Whatās not fully appreciated by his opponents, and sometimes his teammates, is how physical he is. Hurts was a track and field star at Channelview, where he threw discus, shot put, ran the 100 meters and 4x100 relay and was a power lifter. He has squatted more than 500 pounds.
āThat balance and power that he generates ... traditionally those power lifters and shot put guys are bigger kids,ā Kay said. āYou canāt tell by looking at him, but itās there. Heās just explosiveness. You canāt judge a book by its cover.
āWeāve got some pretty significant football players on our team that would hit him full speed and just bounce off. I donāt know that weāve seen a kid that had the combination of balance and power to go along with speed.ā
His talent was first brought to light at Alabama during bowl preparations when, as an early enrollee, Hurts played the role of Clemsonās Deshaun Watson, working as the scout-team quarterback. By all accounts, the veterans of an experienced, nasty defense didnāt exactly take it easy on him.
āI knew he was going to be special (after that first practice),ā Geno Matias-Smith said.
Smith was a senior safety on that squad. He remembers a young guy not exactly shrinking away from the challenge.
āHe ran scout team without any fear coming out of high school,ā Matias-Smith said. āYou know we had some guys on that defense who were roughing him up. He was taking it. Reuben (Foster) gave him a few good licks.ā
That Alabama defense was one of the best in the country, and against it Hurts made enough plays to turn the veteransā heads.
āI remember him breaking a few runs,ā Matias-Smith said.
When Hurts uncorked that 39-yard touchdown pass to ArDarius Stewart in the second quarter against USC, one that traveled more than 50 yards on a rope, Averion Hurtsā phone blew up. Those Houston-area high school coaches were as proud as if Jalen were their star pupil.
āThere wasnāt any question in my mind that Jalen would be a playmaker in college,ā Deer Park head coach Chris Massey said. āI think heās one of the best high school quarterbacks Iāve seen in a long time.
āTime and again, no matter what they say about Hurtsā ability, inevitably the phrase āa coachās kidā will get mentioned. How exactly Averion being a football coach affected Jalenās ability, personality and demeanor is hard to quantify, but those who know the family say there is no question it did.
It starts with his maturity level.āI was a coachās kid,ā Massey said. āCoachās kids donāt get away with stuff. I asked my dad one time, āWhy are you always on my rear end?ā And he said, āI canāt let you get away with anything. If I let you, I have to let everybody else and Iām not doing that.ā
āI think from that respect, heās probably been held to a higher standard all along. I think that shows in the maturity factor.āHeās grown up in it. Because heās a coachās kid, heās probably got a lot more experience than a normal true freshman would have just because youāre talking about it all the time, even at home.ā
The poise didnāt surprise Kay either.
āThatās really his mom and dadās personality,ā Kay said. āHeās a kid who has been in a field house since he was born. You just think of all the football conversations that heās heard. I really think it paid dividends for him.ā
UA coach Nick Saban hasnāt publicly named a starter for Saturdayās game against Western Kentucky, although itās a safe assumption that Hurts will log a lot of snaps.
Under Saban, Alabama has never really had a quarterback like Hurts. Even Blake Sims, who could make plays with his feet, wasnāt as developed a passer or as natural a runner in the zone-read scheme as Hurts.
āHeās so dangerous,ā Massey said. āThereās not one thing you can do to say, āOK, weāre going to take away this because this is his strength.ā No, heāll beat you in some other way.ā
TideSports.com - Jalen Hurts has been a star in the making for a long time
Aaron Suttles | Beat Writer
Jalen Hurts is a coachās kid.
You may not know what that means on the surface, but you recognize the qualities when you see them. The poise, calm and maturity the true freshman quarterback showed last Saturday night, even after fumbling away his first college play, are all qualities of a coachās kid.
Jalen is the son of Averion Hurts, the head coach at Channelview High School, where his son starred as one of the nationās top prep dual-threat quarterbacks.
So when he shook off that turnover on his first career snap and started making plays, the coaches in Texasā Class 6A, District 21 werenāt surprised. They knew it was only a matter of time before Hurts made his mark on college football.
Heād left his impression on Houston-area football for the previous two seasons.
āHe beat us on a Hail Mary his junior year. It was probably one of the most incredible individual performances Iāve seen since we played Vince Young in 2001,ā said Jon Kay, head coach at North Shore High School. āYou knew then that he was special.
āItās literally a last-second pass with time running off the clock. We had gotten to him and kind of rattled him and he pulled up in the pocket and let one fly in the back of the end zone that got tipped to another receiver and they ended up beating us in a high-scoring affair. Now looking back on it you can see what kind of special athlete that he was."
What makes Hurts special?
Fair or not, most dual-threat quarterbacks are stereotyped as runners first. Thatās not the case with Hurts. He can legitimately throw the football.He can run, too. That speed and elusiveness was on display against Southern Cal when he ran for two touchdowns.
Whatās not fully appreciated by his opponents, and sometimes his teammates, is how physical he is. Hurts was a track and field star at Channelview, where he threw discus, shot put, ran the 100 meters and 4x100 relay and was a power lifter. He has squatted more than 500 pounds.
āThat balance and power that he generates ... traditionally those power lifters and shot put guys are bigger kids,ā Kay said. āYou canāt tell by looking at him, but itās there. Heās just explosiveness. You canāt judge a book by its cover.
āWeāve got some pretty significant football players on our team that would hit him full speed and just bounce off. I donāt know that weāve seen a kid that had the combination of balance and power to go along with speed.ā
His talent was first brought to light at Alabama during bowl preparations when, as an early enrollee, Hurts played the role of Clemsonās Deshaun Watson, working as the scout-team quarterback. By all accounts, the veterans of an experienced, nasty defense didnāt exactly take it easy on him.
āI knew he was going to be special (after that first practice),ā Geno Matias-Smith said.
Smith was a senior safety on that squad. He remembers a young guy not exactly shrinking away from the challenge.
āHe ran scout team without any fear coming out of high school,ā Matias-Smith said. āYou know we had some guys on that defense who were roughing him up. He was taking it. Reuben (Foster) gave him a few good licks.ā
That Alabama defense was one of the best in the country, and against it Hurts made enough plays to turn the veteransā heads.
āI remember him breaking a few runs,ā Matias-Smith said.
When Hurts uncorked that 39-yard touchdown pass to ArDarius Stewart in the second quarter against USC, one that traveled more than 50 yards on a rope, Averion Hurtsā phone blew up. Those Houston-area high school coaches were as proud as if Jalen were their star pupil.
āThere wasnāt any question in my mind that Jalen would be a playmaker in college,ā Deer Park head coach Chris Massey said. āI think heās one of the best high school quarterbacks Iāve seen in a long time.
āTime and again, no matter what they say about Hurtsā ability, inevitably the phrase āa coachās kidā will get mentioned. How exactly Averion being a football coach affected Jalenās ability, personality and demeanor is hard to quantify, but those who know the family say there is no question it did.
It starts with his maturity level.āI was a coachās kid,ā Massey said. āCoachās kids donāt get away with stuff. I asked my dad one time, āWhy are you always on my rear end?ā And he said, āI canāt let you get away with anything. If I let you, I have to let everybody else and Iām not doing that.ā
āI think from that respect, heās probably been held to a higher standard all along. I think that shows in the maturity factor.āHeās grown up in it. Because heās a coachās kid, heās probably got a lot more experience than a normal true freshman would have just because youāre talking about it all the time, even at home.ā
The poise didnāt surprise Kay either.
āThatās really his mom and dadās personality,ā Kay said. āHeās a kid who has been in a field house since he was born. You just think of all the football conversations that heās heard. I really think it paid dividends for him.ā
UA coach Nick Saban hasnāt publicly named a starter for Saturdayās game against Western Kentucky, although itās a safe assumption that Hurts will log a lot of snaps.
Under Saban, Alabama has never really had a quarterback like Hurts. Even Blake Sims, who could make plays with his feet, wasnāt as developed a passer or as natural a runner in the zone-read scheme as Hurts.
āHeās so dangerous,ā Massey said. āThereās not one thing you can do to say, āOK, weāre going to take away this because this is his strength.ā No, heāll beat you in some other way.ā
TideSports.com - Jalen Hurts has been a star in the making for a long time
