Nick Saban has lost control of Alabama's QB competition

Paul Myerberg | USA TODAY

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The public version of Nick Saban called Alabama’s offseason quarterback competition a media creation, as if the media were responsible for the inevitable dilemma that ensues when a team removes its starter at halftime of the national championship game in favor of a true freshman, who then pulls out an overtime win.

“I think the number one thing that you will want to talk about is the quarterback controversy that you'd love to create, that you've already created, that you will continue to create,” Saban said at last month’s Southeastern Conference media days.

Since the final pass of last season, Saban has been attempting to exert control over what has proven to be an uncontrollable situation. The Crimson Tide have spent the past seven months embroiled in a debate that even Saban has proved ineffective at quieting: Jalen Hurts, the junior, two-year starter, against Tua Tagovailoa, the sophomore who replaced Hurts in January’s win against Georgia.

The debate boiled over on Saturday, in comments made by Hurts that erases any attempts Saban made to tame the controversy and casts a glare on the final weeks before the Tide begin their latest quest at a repeat.

“I mean, this is a situation that is uncontrollable," Hurts said. "Coaches can't control this situation. They dictate who plays, but as far as the other variations to it, they don't control it, honestly.

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“Like I said, this whole spring ever since the game, they kind of wanted to let it play out and I guess didn't think it was a thing to let it die down like there wasn't something there. But that's always been the elephant in the room.”

There’s more. Hurts said “no one came up to me the whole spring” to ask how we felt, let alone to explain the strange dynamic at play when a program opens to competition a spot once owned by a two-year starter – and essentially avoids discussing the competition at all.

Hurts said he was “shocked” when, at media days, Saban said he “no idea” whether the junior would even be on Alabama’s roster for its opener against Louisville.

"I just don't think that maybe they were bold enough to ask,” said Hurts. “I definitely think it was something that should have been talked about a long time ago instead of being talked about when it's here.”

At this point, it’s fair to ask whether the relationship is unsalvageable. While not a graduate transfer – he is just shy of graduation, and would need to sit out the coming season – Hurts would be as accomplished a quarterback prospect to hit the transfer market in recent history. Not every program runs an offense catered to dual-threat quarterbacks who lean more toward the run than the pass; those that do, however, would be heavily interested in adding Hurts’ skill set.

“Now it's like when we try to handle the situation now, for me, it's kind of late, it's too late, the narrative has already been created,” Hurts said.

The question of how Saban could’ve better handled the competition is moot, since this was always how Saban was going to deal with this situation. Control what you can control, Saban and every other coach tells their teams, but with Saban it’s different: He aims to control everything, even what he could never control.

This is now out in the open, with the better question asking how it might impact Alabama’s season. The answer? Not much, probably. Tagovailoa has been seen as the likely starter since the championship game. Losing Hurts would rob the Tide of depth, which is Saban’s obvious fear. But it likely wouldn’t impact the bottom line.

It’s nonetheless a distraction. Saban’s program despises distractions. Normally, the Tide effectively shut out the noise and focus on, as Saban calls it, the process. But this distraction is different: Saban helped to create it. Now he has to manage the consequences.