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What Super Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts learned from Alabama coach Nick Saban

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What Super Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts learned from Alabama coach Nick Saban


Jalen Hurts’ one hour of fielding questions from media members at Super Bowl Opening Night in New Orleans on Monday included one “Roll Tide” from the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback.

Hurts also said something that he learned at Alabama while playing for coach Nick Saban had helped him find success on his football journey.

“I got this from coach Saban,” Hurts said. “I think one thing he taught us all – and he taught us all, but not everyone listened. I was one that listened. He taught us that every year is a new season, and it’s an opportunity to restart everything, so you start from the ground up. And you have to have that approach. I think just being able to improve from year to year since my freshman year at college and learn from all my experiences, learn from all of my lessons.

“Being able to stand here where I stand today, I think it’s because of that mentality — being determined, having that endurance to keep going and being diligent with the work. The No. 1 thing that I’ve always wanted to do was quantify my work and make the most of those opportunities. And it’s kind of spoke for itself.”

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Hurts and the Eagles are in New Orleans to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Caesars Superdome. FOX will televise the game.

JALEN HURTS ENDS 33-YEAR DROUGHT WITH HALL OF FAME RESILIENCE

While Hurts might try to treat every season as a new start, they have often ended in the same place for the quarterback.

The SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman, Hurts appeared to have capped an undefeated 2016 season for Alabama when he ran 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Crimson Tide a three-point lead over Clemson with 2:07 to play in the CFP national-championship game. But the Tigers took the title when Deshaun Watson threw a 2-yard TD pass to Hunter Renfrow with one second to play for a 35-31 victory.

Hurts and Alabama returned to the CFP national championship game for the 2017 season. But with the Tide trailing Georgia 13-0, Alabama changed quarterbacks at halftime, with Tua Tagovailoa replacing Hurts and pulling out a 26-23 overtime victory.

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In 2018, Tagovailoa became the Tide’s starting quarterback, with Hurts as the backup. But with Tagovailoa injured, Hurts came off the bench, threw for a touchdown and ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to rally Alabama to a 35-28 victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

Hurts transferred to Oklahoma for the 2019 season and finished as the runner-up to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

After going to the CFP in all four of his college seasons and reaching the national-championship game three times, Hurts joined the Eagles as a second-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Hurts became Philadelphia’s starting quarterback with four games remaining in his rookie season. The Eagles have reached the playoffs in all four of Hurts’ full seasons as a starter.

Hurts has helped Philadelphia reach the Super Bowl for the second time. In the 2022 season, the Eagles won the NFC championship but lost to Kansas City 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII.

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FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.





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Alabama

Alabama football to adopt HeatSense, cutting edge heat safety technology

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Alabama football to adopt HeatSense, cutting edge heat safety technology


Melissa Fortenberry saw a problem and sought a solution, a solution Alabama football is buying into. 

Fortenberry invented HeatSense, a fitness tracker that measures athletes’ individual core body temperature with the “goal of proactively managing heat strain.” In August, Alabama will be Heat Sense’s first customer. 

“They are all in,” Fortenberry told The Tuscaloosa News. “They very much want their player health to be at the top of the list.” 

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With a background in technology, Fortenberry came up with the idea of HeatSense as a fan, watching her three kids play youth sports in from the stands. She became sick, feeling dizzy and nauseous and coming to the conclusion that the pads and turf were hotter for athletes on the field. 

Fortenberry conducted her own research and saw more reactive solutions than proactive. 

“You can see heat strain forming in people and proactively cool them or keep pushing, where today, you’re flying blind,” Fortenberry said. 

Jeff Allen, senior associate athletic director for health and performance and Alabama football’s head athletic trainer, has already been on the forefront of innovation for player safety, introducing the injury tent in 2015 to allow training staff and medical personnel to examine athletes privately on the sideline during games. 

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When Carson Tinker, a former Alabama and NFL long snapper and Fortenberry’s neighbor, heard about her idea, Allen was the first person Tinker thought of.

“Jeff was like, ‘Man, this sounds super interesting. Keep me in the loop with this,’” Tinker said. “It’s something he felt he knew that he could use. That was over a year ago now. … Now it’s all kind of come together. It’s crazy how it all kind of works out.”

“Once we got Jeff’s attention, he was really intrigued,” Fortenberry said, adding Allen “wants to be on the forefront of making the game better.” 

Members of the HeatSense team attended an Alabama practice during its fourth-quarter program in March and put sensors on 10 players. 

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“I think the feedback they heard from players was validated in what we saw,” Fortenberry said. 

Tinker views this not only as a safety tool, but an advantage overall to find a player’s peak body temperature.

“You want to be able to use the heat to your advantage. You want to be able to play your best in all conditions, but nobody knows until it’s too late and you got to get through in the cold tub because you overheated.”

Alabama is just the start for HeatSense, which has the goal of reaching three to five Division I programs this summer. 

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According to Weather Spark, the average temperature in Tuscaloosa eclipses 90 degrees during Alabama’s fall camp. Fortenberry now has a way for the Crimson Tide to respond. 

“People, I think, are afraid of the heat, but you don’t know you can do something about it,” she said. “Now you can.” 

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews





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New Poll Shows Varied Dynamics Across Alabama Republican Runoff Races

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New Poll Shows Varied Dynamics Across Alabama Republican Runoff Races


A new survey of likely Republican runoff voters in Alabama suggests the state’s four statewide runoff contests remain at different stages heading into the June 16 election, with one race showing a clear leader, another appearing highly competitive, and a third remaining largely unsettled.

According to The Alabama Poll, which surveyed 600 likely Republican runoff voters on May 28, U.S. Senate candidate Jared Hudson leads Congressman Barry Moore 48.7% to 39.2%, while 12.1% of voters remain undecided. The poll indicates Hudson has built support among voters whose preferred candidates did not advance to the runoff.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Secretary of State Wes Allen holds a narrow overall lead over Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl, 41.9% to 38.4%. However, the survey found Wahl performing slightly better among voters who report they are certain to vote and among the most frequent Republican primary voters, highlighting the potential importance of turnout in the contest. Nearly one in five voters, 19.6%, remain undecided.

The attorney general runoff shows the largest margin among the four statewide races surveyed. Katherine Robertson leads Jay Mitchell 49.1% to 31.2%, with 19.7% of respondents undecided. Poll analysts noted that Mitchell’s path to closing the gap would likely depend on winning support from voters who view him favorably but have not yet committed to a candidate.

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Meanwhile, the Republican runoff for commissioner of agriculture remains the most unsettled race in the survey. Corey Hill leads Christina Woerner McInnis 33.1% to 27.3%, but nearly 40% of likely runoff voters remain undecided, leaving substantial room for movement before Election Day.

Beyond the candidate matchups, the poll found Republican voters generally optimistic about the direction of Alabama, with 63.6% saying the state is headed in the right direction. At the same time, economic concerns continue to dominate voter priorities. Nearly 79% of respondents identified an economic issue as the most important problem facing the state, with grocery prices and utility costs cited most frequently.

The survey also found President Donald Trump’s approval rating among likely Republican runoff voters at 83.2%. Researchers reported that endorsements from both Trump and U.S. Senator Katie Britt carried similar persuasive weight among respondents.

The Alabama Poll surveyed 600 likely Republican primary runoff voters using a combination of live telephone interviews and text-message surveys. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points and was conducted May 28 among voters who said they are likely to participate in the June 16 Republican runoff election.



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Two Alabama Players, One Coach Being Considered for 2027 CFB Hall of Fame Class

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Two Alabama Players, One Coach Being Considered for 2027 CFB Hall of Fame Class


Former Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones and linebacker DeMeco Ryans are under consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2027 class, the National Football Foundation announced on Monday.

Dennis Franchione, who was Alabama’s head coach during the 2001 and 2002 seasons, is also under consideration. Franchione was a two-time NAIA National Coach of the Year before moving into Division I, where he led New Mexico to its first bowl in 36 years and TCU to its first postseason win since 1957. He took over a 3-8 Alabama team and led the Tide to a 10-win season in 2002, later guiding Texas A&M to consecutive victories over Texas (2006-07) and a berth in the 2005 Cotton Bowl.

Jones is a two-time First Team All-American (2011-unanimous, 2012-consensus) and winner of the 2012 NFF Campbell, 2012 Rimington, 2011 Outland and 2011 Wuerffel trophies. He Led Alabama to three national titles and two SEC crowns.

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The three-time First Team All-SEC selection is arguably the most decorated offensive lineman in school history, winning national honors at three different positions (center, tackle, guard). The 2012 Alabama captain played through Lisfranc injury with at least two torn ligaments suffered in SEC Championship Game. He also played in the national title game before having surgery that kept him out of the NFL combine.

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DeMeco Ryans, who is currently the head coach of the Houston Texans, could be considered the best player of the Mike Shula years as he was the program’s top draft pick between 1998-08 (between first-round selections Dwayne Rudd and Andre Smith).

During his senior season, the linebacker led Alabama with 76 tackles including 9.5 for a loss, en route to being named a first-team All-American, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and Lott Trophy winner as college football’s best impact defensive player.

These three are among 80 players and nine coaches from the FBS, along with 99 players and 39 coaches from the NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks.

Alabama currently has 28 representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame, with the most recent inductees being Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mark Ingram in the 2026 class and seven-time national champion (six at Alabama) head coach Nick Saban in the 2025 class. Ingram was the first Crimson Tide player under Saban to be inducted.

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Alabama in the College Football Hall of Fame

(Member, Year Inducted)

  1. Don Hutson, 1951
  2. Frank Thomas, 1951
  3. Fred Sington, 1955
  4. Wallace Wade, 1955
  5. Don Whitmire (transferred to Navy after two years), 1956
  6. Johnny Mack Brown, 1957
  7. Pooley Hubert, 1964
  8. Millard “Dixie” Howell, 1970
  9. John Cain, 1973
  10. Lee Roy Jordan, 1983
  11. Riley Smith, 1985
  12. Paul “Bear” Bryant, 1986
  13. Vaughn Mancha, 1990
  14. Harry Gilmer, 1993
  15. Ozzie Newsome, 1994
  16. John Hannah, 1999
  17. Johnny Musso, 2000
  18. Billy Neighbors, 2003
  19. Cornelius Bennett, 2005
  20. Woodrow Lowe, 2009
  21. Gene Stallings, 2010
  22. Marty Lyons, 2011
  23. Derrick Thomas, 2014
  24. E.J. Junior, 2020
  25. Sylvester Croom, 2022
  26. Antonio Langham, 2024
  27. Nick Saban, 2025
  28. Mark Ingram, 2026

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