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Jalen Hurts primed to be Lincoln Riley’s next Heisman Trophy winner

By John Mitchell

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Kyler Murray #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners congratulates Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide after Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Oklahoma Sooners 45-34 to win the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Kyler Murray #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners congratulates Jalen Hurts #2 of the Alabama Crimson Tide after Alabama Crimson Tide defeat the Oklahoma Sooners 45-34 to win the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Former Alabama QB Jalen Hurts has decided to transfer to Oklahoma, potentially giving Lincoln Riley his third straight Heisman Trophy winner in Norman.

After graduating from Alabama in December, Jalen Hurts has decided to transfer to Oklahoma for his final year of eligibility. Hurts’ decision seemed to come down to Oklahoma, Miami, and Maryland, with Hurts taking a one-day visit to each school this past weekend.

Miami and Maryland offered the coaching staff continuity. Alabama’s offensive coordinator this past season, Mike Locksley, is now the head coach for the Terps. Hurts’ visit to College Park was likely more of a courtesy to Locksley than genuine interest. Locksley is facing a rebuilding job at Maryland, and in a division with Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State, the one-year addition of Hurts wasn’t likely to push them toward the top of the division this year.

At Miami, Alabama’s QB’s coach this past season, Dan Enos, is now the offensive coordinator for Manny Diaz. Enos is credited the most with Hurts’ progression as a passer in 2018.

Oklahoma couldn’t offer the continuity, but Lincoln Riley could offer a path to the College Football Playoff, and college football immortality with the potential to win a Heisman Trophy. Riley, in his two seasons as the head coach in Norman, produced back-to-back Heisman winning quarterbacks off of the transfer market.

Baker Mayfield was a walk-on at Texas Tech before transferring to Oklahoma and leading the Sooners to three straight Big 12 Championships and two trips to the College Football Playoff. He won the Heisman Trophy in 2017.

Kyler Murray transferred to the Sooners from Texas A&M, and put together an even better season than Mayfield in his lone year under Riley. He threw for over 4300 yards and rushed for 1000 more as Oklahoma captured another Big 12 title and made the playoff once again.

Beyond the potential to win at a level that he is accustomed to, and compete for a Heisman, Hurts’ ultimate goal is to play QB in the NFL. Riley brings that pedigree to the table as well. Mayfield turned his tenure at Oklahoma into being the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 to the Cleveland Browns, and Murray recently declared for the NFL Draft and is widely expected to be chosen in the first round despite his size limitations.

Hurts is impossible not to root for after the nation witnessed how he dealt with adversity over the last year. After going 26-2 as the starting QB for Alabama over his freshman and sophomore seasons, Hurts was famously benched in the CFP National Championship Game against Georgia last year. Freshman Tua Tagovailoa came off the bench and led the Crimson Tide to a come-from-behind overtime victory over the Bulldogs, providing the needed spark for a listless offense.

There was a QB battle over the offseason, but it always seemed inevitable that Tua would win the job and relegate Jalen to a backup role, prompting plenty of rumors that he would transfer. Even after the season started and that inevitability became a reality, pundits called for Hurts to take advantage of the new redshirt rule that allows athletes to compete in up to four games and maintain their redshirt.

Hurts refused, and stuck out a tough season in Tuscaloosa, humbling himself as the backup QB. All of that paid off in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia, in the same building and against the same opponent that his job was lost a year before. Hurts came off the bench for an injured Tua and led Alabama back from a 28-21 deficit in the fourth quarter with two expertly engineered touchdown drives to win the conference title and clinch Alabama’s fifth straight appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Hurts cemented himself as an Alabama legend, and became an inspiration for kids everywhere due to his selflessness.

At Oklahoma, Hurts now has the opportunity to write the final chapter of his college football career, with the Sooners serving as a perfect landing spot for him.

Here’s five reasons why Hurts could win the Heisman Trophy next year, allowing Oklahoma to become the first program in college football history to win three in a row:

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