In addition to Maryland and Miami, Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts is reportedly expected to draw interest from Lincoln Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Alex Scarborough of ESPN reported Friday evening that Hurts will be traveling to Maryland for a visit before heading to Miami, and that the Oklahoma Sooners are also expected to show interest for him as well.
The draw to Oklahoma is pretty obvious. The Sooners are going to be without Heisman Trophy winners Kyler Murray, and Riley has coached the past two Heisman winners in a row — so pedigree and prestige are certainly a huge factor there.
Hurts has a connection to Maryland, too, as former Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley is obviously the head coach of the Terrapins now. So the familiarity with his offense would make for an easy transition for Hurts if he were to transfer to Maryland.
However, Miami also has quite a nice draw in that not only do the Hurricanes have national clout but they also feature Hurts’ old quarterback coach at Alabama, offensive coordinator Dan Enos, who was hired on Friday.
Hurts is one of the most highly sought-after transfer student-athletes this cycle. He led the Alabama Crimson Tide to a title in 2017 and was a two-year starter for Nick Saban before being replaced by Tua Tagovailoa this past season. During his three seasons at ‘Bama, Hurts completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 5,481 yards with 46 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, adding 1,945 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground.