Jalen Hurts' Drive for Improvement that Nick Saban Praised is Still Evident in NFL Career

Both Nick Saban and Nick Sirianni have praised former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts' character and drive to improve.

INDIANAPOLIS — Nick Saban still remembers a conversation he had with Jalen Hurts after he was benched for Tua Tagovailo in Alabama's 2018 season. Saban told him he needed to become a better passer. To improve on the fundamentals of being a quarterback.

Saban recalled the conversation in an interview with The 33rd Team in 2023.

"'You can’t just make plays with your feet. I want you to focus this season on reading coverages, being more instinctive with getting the ball out of your hands quickly, anticipating throws in windows, and understanding the passing game better. Focus on that because you want to play in the NFL someday, and that is what you need to improve on.'"

The constructive criticism from the legendary coach had a profound impact on the junior quarterback.

"His diligence in doing that on a daily basis, he wouldn't take off running in practice, he made himself stand in the pocket and learn how to do that."

Saban continued to praise Hurts' character and relentless pursuit to improve.

"I think Jalen is defined by his commitment to his development," Saban said. " I know firsthand what he went through to get there and how he dedicated himself to doing the things that he needed to do to make himself a better player, to make himself a complete player at the position."

Six years after Hurts was benched and heard the hard truth from Saban, his current head coach is singing similar praise of his drive. 

"Here's what I know about Jalen is whatever he's deemed, we see that he needs to work on or he sees that he needs to work on, he's going to get better at that because he puts everything he has into it," Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "Jalen sees something that he thinks is a weakness of his or we feel like is a weakness is, he's going to dive everything he has into it to get better from that."

One aspect of Hurts' game that Sirianni was asked about Tuesday was how Hurts can improve as a leader. He emphasized the importance of a leader being genuine and how Hurts fulfills that.

"One thing I learned early in leadership is that you have to be yourself," Sirianni said. "Because if you lead and you try to somebody your not and get that seen through. ... Everybody has to lead their way and Jalen has special qualities that people will follow and people will want to follow and he's gotta do what he needs to do to lead in that way and some people leadership's styles is loud and aggressive. Some people's leadership style is by example and some people's is a mix a both."

Sirianni said that Hurts' drive for improvement is one of the best ways to lead by example.

"That's leadership is being who you are and leading in example," Sirianni said. "At the end of the day, if you're leading by example, that's a great style of leadership. So Jalen needs to lead how he needs to lead and I think he's done a great job of doing so."

In the 2023 season, Hurts threw for career highs in both passing yards (3,858) and touchdowns (23). But he also threw for a career high in interceptions (15). But from the words of the two coaches that arguably know Hurts the best, there should be no question as to how he will look to improve from last season's mistakes.

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