Former Alabama quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa, announced on Friday that he’ll transfer to Maryland. Tagovailoa entered the transfer portal last week.
God bless! #GoTerps pic.twitter.com/BvOSv8CsG7
— Taulia Tagovailoa (@tauliaa12) May 15, 2020
Aloha, @tauliaa12! 🤙🐢 pic.twitter.com/GFJCTqvIOx
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) May 15, 2020
The rising sophomore played in three games for Alabama as a freshman in 2019, completing 9-of-12 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown. He was third on the Alabama depth chart last season, behind Tua and Mac Jones (and was the No. 2 quarterback when Tua was injured in November).
Tua is no longer at Alabama, and went on to be selected by the Miami Dolphins with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Perhaps Tagovailoa had less interest in staying at Alabama with his older brother gone.
Additionally, Tagovailoa gets to play for Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, who was an assistant coach at Alabama from 2016-18. Locksley was the offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2018, when Tua threw for 43 touchdowns, six interceptions, and 3,966 yards. So, there’s a valuable relationship already in place with the family.
Maryland released a statement from Locksley on Tagovailoa joining the Terrapins:
“Taulia has outstanding field vision and excellent pocket awareness,” said Locksley. “He’s a twitchy passer that has the ability to make and extend plays in and outside of the pocket because of his above-average athleticism. Taulia has terrific touch and trajectory on his throws and delivers the ball with above-average accuracy. He’s a highly competitive player that will bring great competition to a good quarterback room.”
Tagovailoa — listed at 5’11”, 208 pounds — was a consensus four-star recruit out in the 2019 class, and has three years of eligibilty remaining (but would need to seek a waiver to play in 2020).
Former Virginia Tech quarterback Josh Jackson has the inside track for the Maryland starting quarterback job in 2020, after playing 10 games for the Terps in 2019.
Update: Taulia Tagovailoa was granted immediate eligibility with Maryland.
Maryland sophomore QB Taulia Tagovailoa, a transfer from Alabama, is granted immediate eligibility w/the Terps
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 7, 2020
However, just four days after that news, the Big Ten postponed its football season.
😪
— Taulia Tagovailoa (@tauliaa12) August 9, 2020
Related: Tua Tagovailoa is No. 1 and 2 in NFL jersey sales since the draft
