Saban not stressed about Tide QB competition

As Alabama coach Nick Saban sees it, Tua Tagovailoa versus Jalen Hurts puts the Crimson Tide in a no-lose situation.

Tagovailoa, who rescued Alabama with a stirring performance in relief of two-year starting quarterback Hurts in the national championship game, was ready to transfer had that game worked out differently.

What looks like a difficult decision from the outside is a simple matter of competition, and Saban is ready to let the best man win.

“It won’t be difficult at all,” Saban said prior to his charity golf tournament. “What we’re trying to do is give the guys an opportunity and that’s the fair thing for both of them, and that’s really what our goal is.”

Saban said his experience has been that the locker room, not the coaches or quarterbacks, winds up deciding most QB competitions. He also inferred the player that ends up starting Alabama’s opener Sept. 1 against Louisville might not be the starter in perpetuity.

“I think both players need to know that they need to win the team — that’s what they need to do — and the best way for them to do that is to stay focused on what they need to do,” Saban added. “And anything that they do that brings attention to themselves probably erodes the opportunity for that to happen.”

Down 13-0 to Georgia, Tagovailoa sparked Alabama with 166 yards and three touchdowns. He threw a 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime.

Hurts started as a freshman and sophomore but delivered consecutive uneven performances to open the door in the title game.

“I’d appreciate your help in just allowing it to happen,” Saban said. “Because it’s not going to happen any faster, you’re not going to make it happen faster. It’s going to be a process that we go through, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

–Field Level Media