How a brotherly bond helps Jalen Hurts on and off the field

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Averion Hurts waited anxiously, hanging on to every word over the phone. His brother, Jalen Hurts, then just a junior in high school, was in the process of leading Channelview to a comeback victory over rival North Shore, a feat Averion never accomplished. Away at college, Averion was limited to the play-by-play of one of his former teammates for updates.

With Channelview down by six at the North Shore 36-yard line with just 5.6 seconds left on the clock, Averion awaited impatiently for a final update. A couple moments and a deep touchdown pass later, the older brother would need a new phone.

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“I went crazy on the phone. They could probably hear me screaming all the way back in Houston,” Averion recalled to BamaInsider.com. “He threw the Hail Mary and I heard, ‘He caught it, he caught it!’ I dropped my phone, cracked it, I was just going crazy.”

A lot has changed since then. Jalen is now the defending SEC Offensive Player of the year and in the midst of his sophomore season at Alabama. Meanwhile, Averion, an ex-college quarterback himself, graduated from Texas Southern in December and now serves as the head coach at Alice Johnson Junior Highschool back in Channelview, Texas.

One thing time hasn’t changed is the bond the two brothers have off the field.

Following Alabama’s 66-3 victory over Ole Miss last week, Jalen knew what he had coming. Sure, the sophomore had just completed 12 of 19 passes for 197 yards while adding 101 yards and another score on the ground. That’s great, but in the Hurts household great isn’t good enough.

Jalen swore off social media this season, electing not to deal with the distractions and ridicule that comes with being the starting quarterback on the No. 1 team in the nation. However, there is one bit of criticism worth powering up his phone for following games.

“I come back after the game and check my phone and he’ll have his little comment sheet ready,” Jalen said of the stream of texts he receives from Averion during games. “It’s all good, I don’t mind seeing what he has to say. Some of the stuff he doesn’t really understand because he doesn’t know the play and he doesn’t know specifically what’s going on, but he’s a quarterback himself and he kind of understands everything he’s talking about.”

Now that Averion isn’t playing in games himself, those comment cards are getting a bit longer. The older brother said he originally planned on making it out to all of Jalen’s games this season before landing a head coaching job. For now, texts work just fine.

“Last week, I’d give him a B+,” Jalen’s older brother said of his latest review. “Just because Jalen’s never satisfied. It was 66-3, but Jalen was mad because he left some throws on the table. Jalen knew that he missed those throws and he knew I was going to say something about them, but he already knew what his mistakes were. I told him he played a great game, and he said ‘Nah, I left too much on the table.”’

There’s one phone call that stands out more than the rest for Averion. It came during his freshman year at Kilgore Junior College, his first extended period away from home.

Like most brothers, the Hurts boys grew up constantly at one another’s throats. Although, deep down that competition and bickering masked a healthy level of trust and respect between the two. In the end, it took a bit of distance to figure that out.

“When I went away to school my first year, I’ll never forget it. My brother called me and told me that he missed me,” Averion said. “It was something that I never heard coming from him. It really touched me. I knew then that my brother needed me, and whatever way that was I tried to do that for him.”

These days, Jalen’s admiration for his older brother is no secret. When asked last year which quarterback he models his game after, he didn’t spout out the typical answers. Sure, the Texas native grew up rooting for Vince Young and almost joined Mississippi State to follow in the footsteps of Dak Prescott. However, when it comes to role models Averion has always been the gold standard.

“I watched him and kind of went after his game,” Jalen said prior to his freshman season last year. “He’s not as mobile as I am, and can’t do the things I can do. But he is my hero; I look up to him.”

At 6-foot, 195 pounds, Averion is Jalen’s big brother by age only. Jalen, 6-foot-2, 218-pounds, has always been the more gifted athlete.

“Growing up, I’d be outside playing basketball and he’d be out there trying to juke a tree that doesn’t even move,” Averion said with a laugh. “He’s always been about his athleticism. You could see that early in middle school when he started making people miss. We knew he was going to be special.”

The mental side of the game was a different story. Much of Jalen’s poise and work ethic were inherited from his brother.

Both Hurts brothers were coached by their dad, also named Averion, during high school. That meant while his older brother developed into a quarterback, Jalen was always on the sidelines soaking it up. Serving as a ball boy before his varsity days, Jalen watched wide-eyed as his brother slung the ball around the field.

While not the biggest kid, the older of the two Hurts boys had a cannon for an arm. Although, according to his father, his work ethic was even stronger.

“The thing about [Jalen’s] brother is he had to work every day for what he’s got,” Jalen’s dad said. “It would have been easy for a kid like Jalen to rest on his laurels, get a big head and that kind of deal. We’re not wired that way. You got to go to work every day.”

The younger of the two Averions can’t help but chuckle when asked about his new title as “Jalen’s older brother.”

“It’s the nature of the beast,” he said. “My dad’s Jalen’s dad now, my mom’s Jalen’s mom and my little sister is Jalen’s sister. I’m either my dad’s other son or Jalen’s brother.”

He has no problem with Jalen hogging the spotlight. In fact, it’s been that way for a while now.

Jalen posted solid numbers as a junior in high school but began really making a name for himself during his senior season when he passed for 2,384 yards with 26 touchdown passes while adding 1,391 yards and 25 more scores on the ground. It was around that time that Averion remembers making a visit back to Channelview to watch his brother play while Texas Southern was on a bye week.

Showing up to the game a couple minutes late, he almost didn’t make it onto the field before his brother began to put on a show.

“As I was walking down the track and Jalen was running at me down the field carrying the ball for a touchdown and he chunked the deuce at me,” the older brother recalled. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy is special.’ It was crazy, I’m just walking down the stadium and he casually runs down the sidelines and chunks me the deuce like nothing happened.”

It didn’t take college coaches long to notice how easy Jalen made things look on the field either. Ranked as the No. 9 dual-threat quarterback in the 2016 class, Jalen soon had interest from several colleges across the nation.

That’s something his older brother couldn’t help him with. Despite posting solid numbers in high school, the younger Averion didn’t receive any offers until after he played at Kilgore Junior College. That meant any recruiting advice Jalen received would come through his father, who had some experience working with former players in the past.

Due to Jalen’s desire to play in the SEC, three leaders emerged: Alabama, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Originally, Jalen’s dad preferred Texas A&M, due to its proximity to the family’s home in Houston. Ultimately, distance was never going to get in the way of his son’s potential.

“He’s not the type of kid who needs to be home and needs to be nurtured,” Jalen’s dad said. “He’s not a momma’s boy or daddy’s boy from the standpoint that he doesn’t want to be too far away. He understands what he wants, and at the end of the day Alabama offered the best opportunity.”

After all, when it comes to support, the Hurts family knows no borders.

Averion’s favorite memory of him and Jalen comes complete with a plate of chicken wings and a failed attempt at a surprise. It happened during one of his games last season as Texas Southern took on Alabama State in Montgomery, Ala.

Knowing that Alabama had an 11 a.m. kickoff against Kent State two hours away in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the older brother figured he might see Jalen make an unannounced appearance at his 6 p.m. game that evening. Nevertheless, he went along with the act for the fun of it.

“He tried to surprise me,” Averion said with a laugh. “He didn’t think I was smart enough to realize he’d be at the game. I walked in the locker room and he was in there with a plate of chicken wings saying, ‘What’s up?’ I just played along and acted like I didn’t know he was going to be there.”

Despite the lack of surprise, the moment touched Averion. As luck would have it, he’d be able to repay the favor later in the season.

The two both played in Baton Rouge, La., last November as Texas Southern had a game at Southern University at 4 p.m. while Alabama played at LSU at 7 p.m. Despite breaking his ribs earlier in the day, Averion made it to Tiger Stadium to cheer on his younger brother in a sling.

That was his first time getting to watch Jalen play for Alabama live. The older brother would eventually attend the Iron Bowl, Peach Bowl and national championship game as well. This season, he made time to travel to Atlanta to watch Jalen in Alabama’s season opener against Florida State.

“It was my plan to go to every game this year, but I lucked up and got the head coaching job,” the older brother explained.

That doesn’t bother Jalen. While he appreciates his brother’s support, both the Hurts boys were raised not to let factors like that affect them before games. As a high school head coach, Jalen's dad has seen what happens when kids worry about who’s at their games and stressed to his boys that “you should play football for yourself.”

That rings true even in weeks like this one where Alabama travels to Texas A&M in College Station, roughly an hour and 40 minutes from where Jalen grew up.

“At the end of the day, I could care less who’s at the game,” Jalen said. “At the end of the day, the game’s going to go on if they show up or not. I have to go play, that’s just how I was raised.”

Due to the high demand, Jalen said he lets his dad take care of doling out tickets to friends and relatives this week. Make no mistake, though, his older brother will be there.

You can bet he’ll have something to say after the game as well.

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