Hurd attended Beech Senior High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He played for the Buccaneers' football team. As a junior in 2012, he rushed for a Tennessee state-record 3,357 yards with 43 touchdowns. In the state championship game of his junior season, Hurd rushed for a Tennessee state chamionship record 394 yards and 7 touchdowns leading his team to victory. As a senior, he played in only one game after suffering a shoulder injury against Station Camp High School. As a standout track & field athlete, Hurd competed in hurdles and sprints. Hurd was rated by the Rivals.com recruiting network as a five-star recruit and was ranked among the top running backs in the Class of 2014. He committed to the University of Tennessee to play college football under then-head coach Butch Jones. In 2015, Beech Senior High School retired his No. 18 jersey.
In 2014, Hurd appeared in all 13 games and made nine starts as a true freshman at Tennessee. He was called upon instantly as a contributor with the loss of senior running back Rajion Neal from the previous season to graduation. He shared the backfield with Marlin Lane, Devrin Young, and Justus Pickett. He made his collegiate debut in the season opener against Utah State. In the 38–7 win at Neyland Stadium, he had 11 carries for 29 yards and two receptions for 16 and his first career receiving touchdown, a 15-yard reception from quarterback Justin Worley. He had an expanded role in the next game, a 34–19 victory over Arkansas State, with 23 carries for 83 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. In the next game, a primetime game against #4 Oklahoma, he had 97 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards in the 34–10 loss. Two weeks later, in a game against #12 Georgia, he had 24 carries for 119 rushing yards in the 35–32 loss. He did have a crucial fumble late in the game that set Georgia defender Josh Dawson up for a fumble recovery touchdown. After a stretch of three games with 39 rushing yards in a 10–9 loss to the rivalFlorida Gators, seven rushing yards against the Chattanooga Mocs, and 40 rushing yards against Ole Miss, he played in his first game against Tennessee's longtime rival, the #4 Alabama Crimson Tide. In the 34–20 loss, he had 16 carries for 59 yards and six receptions for 27 yards. In the next game, a 45–42 2OT victory over South Carolina, he had 21 carries for 125 rushing yards and seven receptions for 58 yards and a receiving touchdown. He followed that up with 118 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 50–16 victory over Kentucky. In the next game, a 29–21 loss to Missouri, he had 40 rushing yards and 40 receiving yards. In the regular season finale, a 24–17 victory Vanderbilt, he was limited to five carries for 21 yards with a upper-body injury. Tennessee finished with a 6–6 record and earned their first appearance in a bowl game since the 2010 season. In the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, he had 16 carries for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the 45–28 victory. He finished the 2014 season with 899 rushing yards on 190 carries with five touchdowns.
2015 season
As the lone returner from the previous season, Hurd shared the backfield with transfer Alvin Kamara and true freshman John Kelly in the 2015 season. In the season opener against Bowling Green, he had 23 carries for 123 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 59–30 victory. In the next game, a 31–24 2OT loss to #19 Oklahoma, he had 24 carries for 106 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the first overtime. Following the tough loss to Oklahoma, he had 68 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with two receptions for 12 yards and a receiving touchdown in the 55–10 victory over Western Carolina. In the next game, a brutal 28–27 loss to the Florida Gators, he had 102 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Over the next six games, he totaled 485 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. In that stretch was 80 rushing yards in a 38–31 victory over #19 Georgia and 92 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in a narrow 19–14 loss to #8 Alabama at Bryant–Denny Stadium. In the 2015 Missouri game, he ran for a career-high 151 yards, which put him over 1,000 yards on the season, in the 19–8 victory. The next week, he had 120 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 53–28 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Vols finished the season with a 9–4 record and faced off against the #12 Northwestern Wildcats in the 2016 Outback Bowl. In the 45–6 victory, he had 24 carries for 130 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to earn MVP honors. He finished the regular season with 1,158 yards, the 12th most recorded by a Tennessee running back and the most since Arian Foster had 1,193 yards in the 2007 season.
2016 season
Hurd came into his junior season in the same personnel package with Kamara and Kelly. In the season opener, a 20–13 overtime victory over Appalachian State, he had 28 carries for 110 rushing yards. He scored a touchdown in overtime off of a Joshua Dobbs fumble to give the Vols the go-ahead score. In the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol against Virginia Tech, he had 22 carries for 99 yards in the 45–24 victory. On September 24, in the 38–28 victory over the #19 Florida Gators, he had 26 carries for 95 yards to go along with two receptions for 25 yards and a receiving touchdown. In the game against #25 Georgia, with the Vols trailing 10–0, he looked as if he was going to score a receiving touchdown, but he slowed down and coasted on the way to the goal line and was hit hard by Bulldogs defender Deandre Baker and fumbled. On October 31, 2016, after a 24–21 loss against South Carolina, head coach Butch Jones announced that Hurd would be transferring from the University of Tennessee. Hurd finished his Tennessee career with 2,638 rushing yards, 20 rushing touchdowns, 67 receptions, 492 receiving yards, and six receiving touchdowns. He finished sixth in school history in rushing yards.
Baylor University
On April 22, 2017, Hurd announced that he was transferring to Baylor.
2017 season
Hurd sat out the 2017 season as a transfer.
2018 season
Hurd entered into a new role at Baylor compared with his time at Tennessee. He became a primary receiver and handled some rushing duties for the Bears in the 2018 season. He had three games with at least 100 receiving yards. He had 136 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown against UTSA, 104 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown against Oklahoma, and 135 receiving yards against Kansas State. He finished the season with 69 receptions for 946 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns while adding 48 carries for 209 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. In the NFL Combine, he did 23 reps on the bench press. Hurd was named Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
Collegiate statistics
Professional career
Hurd was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round, 67th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was placed on injured reserve on October 3, 2019 with a back injury. Without Hurd, the 49ers reached Super Bowl LIV, but lost 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
