Nick Saban benching of Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa resurfaces, and Hurts' response shows why he still succeeded
Saban made one of the most consequential halftime decisions in college football history while at Alabama.
There were a lot of reasons for why Nick Saban was such a highly successful college football coach. His recruiting was as good as it gets, he surrounded himself with the best possible coaching staffs, and he made tough decisions when they needed to be made for the betterment of the team.
One of those tough decisions stands out above the rest. During the 2018 CFP National Championship , Saban made the call to bench starting quarterback Jalen Hurts at halftime. Alabama was down 13-0 to Georgia at that time , and Saban turned to true freshman Tua Tagovailoa to save the day. Tagovailoa did just that, leading the Crimson Tide to a 26-23 overtime win .
Saban's decision was obviously a polarizing one. Hurts had started all of the team's games up until that point and had turned into one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation. But the Bulldogs defense had thrown him completely off his game.
Nick Saban had thought about benching Jalen Hurts for Tua Tagovailoa for months heading into National Championship
This week, new footage of that consequential moment has surfaced. Taken from the " Saban " documentary on ESPN, it was clear that Hurts was emotionally hurt by the decision in the locker room . Saban admitted it was a "calculated" call, that he had thought about making for nearly two months .
It worked out flawlessly, and Hurts ended up succeeding regardless of that decision . He has already won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles - and made another one - and has outlasted Tagovailoa as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Hurts' postgame interview, talking about getting benched, is a good glimpse into why he has been able to overcome it.
Even though Hurts obviously wanted to finish that National Championship game under center, his hard work helped pave the way to winning that title. He had shared the locker room with all of those players, including Tagovailoa, and didn't let his own disappointment affect the rest of the team.
