Jalen Hurts reaching out to Nick Saban midseason feels way too much like 2023 and I hate it

It feels like we’ve been here before, doesn’t it? Jalen Hurts once again searching for answers, except this time, he’s not waiting until the offseason to do it.

The Eagles’ offense is sputtering, the vibes are off, and instead of looking to his own coaching staff for help, Jalen Hurts is dialing up Nick Saban.

And honestly? Good. Someone has to light a fire under this offense, and if it’s not coming from Kevin Patullo or Nick Sirianni, maybe it’ll come from the man who built the modern college football dynasty.

Jalen Hurts Is Asking the Right Questions — Just Not to the Right People

Jalen Hurts said he spoke with Nick Saban recently, noting that one topic discussed was "winning the fourth quarter."

"We had a conversation and caught up a little bit. It's always good to get good direction from him and hear his voice and his perspective." #Eagles

— EJ Smith (@EJSmith94) October 7, 2025

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When Hurts reached out to Wink Martindale after the 2023 season, it was because he wanted to understand how defenses viewed him. I can’t help but be reminded of that with this Saban reach out. Maybe it’s nothing, or maybe it’s everything. The parallels between 2025 and 2023 are pretty evident, though I still believe this team is still better.

When the organization promotes from within to fill their OC vacancy, it doesn’t work. Both times they did it — 2023, 2025 — the Birds were coming off a Super Bowl appearance. It gave Sirianni the confidence to just bring in his guy. You got fooled once, and now, it appears you may have been fooled again. And as they say, fool me twice, shame on me, or shame on Sirianni, in this instance.

That’s a problem. Not because Hurts is wrong to reach out, but because it shows where his trust lies — and where it doesn’t.

Eagles’ Offensive Staff Should Be the Ones Giving Answers

This is supposed to be Kevin Patullo’s job. He’s the offensive coordinator, the man tasked with fixing this mess. Yet, here we are: Jalen Hurts talking to Nick Saban about how to “win the fourth quarter.”

It’s hard not to read into that. The Eagles have scored just 3.8 points per game in the fourth quarter this season — second-worst in the entire league. For an offense this talented, that’s not a “bad stretch.” That’s a crisis.

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You can spin this as “leadership” all you want, but it’s also a subtle indictment of the coaching staff. Hurts clearly feels like the answers aren’t in-house — and if your franchise QB is going outside the building for help five weeks into the season, that’s a red flag.

At Least This Time, He’s Doing It Early

If there’s any silver lining here, it’s that Jalen Hurts isn’t waiting for this thing to fall apart before he takes action. In 2023, he waited until the offseason to start picking brains. This time, he’s getting ahead of it. That’s progress and it shows he knows how fragile this season could become if the offense doesn’t snap out of it soon.

The Eagles still have time to right the ship. A convincing win against the Giants would make all this noise fade into the background. But if the offense comes out flat again, those sideline shots of Hurts staring off into space will start to look less like focus and more like frustration.

Jalen Hurts is doing what great leaders do — finding answers by any means necessary. But if those answers aren’t coming from his offensive coordinator, then maybe the question isn’t about Hurts’ leadership at all. Maybe it’s about whether the right people are calling the shots on the sideline.