Lincoln Riley recalls his time coaching Jalen Hurts, happy to see him having success in NFL

Jalen Hurts has taken the NFL by storm during the undefeated start from the Philadelphia Eagles this season. He’s near the front of the line of the MVP conversation and his college coaches have been happy to see him reach the level of success he’s found. USC’s Lincoln Riley, who was formerly Hurts’ head coach at Oklahoma, has been more than happy to see it all unfold.

Riley spoke about Hurts’ success during media after the Trojan’s practice on Tuesday. He said even he didn’t know how to project how great Hurts could be because of some of the inconsistencies he had during his college career.

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“I told every NFL team that came through the positives and negatives. The question from every team was how do you project this guy? And I told them all I think he’s gonna be a really good player, he’s got a pro mentality. But I said I don’t know where his ceiling is because, at that point, he had five straight years of new offensive coordinators,” said Riley. “I told somebody if he ever got some continuity in a system, watch out.”

Hurts spent one season with Riley in Norman after transferring in following three seasons at Alabama. He completed 69.7% of his passes in Riley’s offense for 3,851 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Riley thinks the biggest thing they did for Hurts was helping him come out of his shell. He says Hurts was a pretty serious guy, specifically after coming to them from Tuscaloosa. From there, they were able to help him ease up, play his game, and learn at his stop at OU.

“Our time together was short. It was fun. He made me a better coach because his approach was really unique. It was fun and challenging at the same time to coach. He probably said the same thing about his experience with us,” Riley said. “Maybe more than anything, we would get him to loosen up a little bit. Got him to relax. Jalen is a pretty serious, at times stoic, guy…We allowed him to be able to relax, enjoy, and play the game maybe a little bit more free flowing. What the guy’s done, though, is…I’ve had all these coaches and I’m just trying to take the best of each one and I think that’s why he’s playing the way he is.”

Riley and Nick Saban each have a claim to fame to the NFL star after playing for both of them. Their teachings have paid off for Hurts in the pros and both coaches get to enjoy watching it play out for him.