JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trinity Christian’s Colin Hurley joined a short list among area players by making the Elite 11, an exclusive list among the top quarterbacks in the country. Competition in the three-day event wrapped up on Saturday in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Hurley is just the fifth player from the News4JAX coverage area to earn an Elite 11 honor. Hurley, an LSU commit, was originally in the Class of 2025, but reclassified to 2024 last November. Hurley has been on two state championship teams at Trinity, as a backup as an eighth grader and then as the starter as a freshman. In his career at Trinity, Hurley has passed for 3,673 yards and 40 touchdowns. He missed three games last season with a wrist injury.
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Julian Sayin, an Alabama commit from Carlsbad, Calif., was named the top quarterback at the event.
Sandalwood’s Jeff Sims and Mandarin’s Carson Beck were the last local players to make the final 11, accomplishing the feat in 2019. While a handful of area players have qualified for the Elite 11 over the years, only two before Hurley, Beck and Sims had garnered elite status when all was said and done.
Nease’s Tim Tebow was an Elite 11 finisher in 2005, a group that eventually yielded four NFL first-round picks — Josh Freeman, Jake Locker, Tebow and Matt Stafford.
Bartram Trail’s Kyle Parker followed as an Elite 11 finisher in 2007. That class also yielded four first-round picks, Blaine Gabbert, Andrew Luck, E.J. Manuel and Parker, albeit his was by Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies. Other area notables such as Camden County’s Brice Ramsey (2012), First Coast’s De’Andre Johnson (2014), Bolles’ Mac Jones (2016), Bartram Trail’s Joey Gatewood and Carter Bradley (both 2017) have competed in the event but didn’t make the final 11.