As Florida’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Doug Nussmeier couldn’t convince Channelview High School quarterback Jalen Hurts to play for the Gators. Eight football seasons have passed since then, but Nussmeier hasn’t forgotten now that he’s finally working with Hurts as the Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach.
“You guys haven’t seen us run all the extra gassers out there yet, have you?” Nussmeier told reporters during the Eagles’ offseason program. “I’m still getting back at him for all those trips I took to Houston and had to come back and tell the head coach I struck out.”
Hurts chose to attend Alabama. As a freshman for the Crimson Tide, Hurts won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award with a performance that included leading Alabama to a 54-16 victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 3, 2016.
“Listen, it was interesting going to his high school,” Nussmeier said. “Obviously, he played for his father. Going there, I’ll never forget it, because I go there to see this kid – and had watched him on tape, was very impressed with his tape. Get there, and you’re thinking Texas high school football, and I walk out there and he’s the biggest guy on the field. From that point, I had a lot of respect for him because their team hadn’t had a ton of success, and here was a guy who had basically taken the team to the playoffs. I believe they were 5A, which is the second-to-highest level, which is really, really good high school football.
“Just a lot of admiration for him and the type of player that he was. And, obviously, when you talk to the other coaches in the area when you’re out recruiting, they all had a tremendous amount of respect for the way he played the game.”
Nussmeier said Hurts hadn’t change much over the years in at least one aspect.
“This guy’s been ultra-driven since the first time I met him,” Nussmeier said. “You look at his career and the things he did post-high school through college and then here in Philadelphia, he’s a very driven individual.”
Nussmeier came from the Los Angeles Chargers with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to join the Philadelphia coaching staff this offseason. Hurts is working with his fourth offensive coordinator as he prepares for his fifth NFL season.
“Give him a lot of credit,” Nussmeier said. “To have the success he’s had early in his career playing in different systems with different coaches, that’s not easy to do, so I think me coming in new, trying to learn Jalen, what he knows, how he’s been taught, I think that’s a big part. It’s a collaborative thing. It’s like anything else: I think you make a mistake if you say, ‘This is exactly the way it’s done.’ You have to learn some of the background so we can grow forward, and that’s kind of what we’ve been focusing on since I’ve gotten here.”
Nussmeier said Hurts had impressed him “by the way he wants to have all the answers.”
“It’s important for him to understand the details of everything we’re doing,” Nussmeier said. “He’s going to ask all the right questions. It’s really been a fun process.”
Nussmeier preceded Hurts at Alabama. Nussmeier served as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Hurts played for Alabama in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons.
The Eagles are on their summer break. They report for training camp on July 23.
Philadelphia opens its three-game preseason schedule on Aug. 9 against the Baltimore Ravens and kicks off the regular season on Sept. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against the Green Bay Packers.
