Tua Tagovailoa Says You Have To Ask His Father Why He Chose Alabama Over USC
by Dan LyonsTua Tagovailoa will go down as one of the most talented quarterbacks in Alabama history. How he became a member of the Crimson Tide is still something of a mystery.
The Hawaii native grew up as a huge USC fan, and for a while, seemed like a lean to the Trojans. Instead, he wound up in Tuscaloosa, where his family wound up moving, and his younger brother Taulia now plays. Once, he even revealed that after he didn’t start as a freshman, he almost looked into transferring to USC. Of course, he got into the national championship and guided Alabama to its comeback win over Georgia, and the rest was history. Now, he won’t have a direct say in where he plays next, now that he’s elected to enter the NFL Draft.
Tagovailoa is in Miami this week, doing spots on radio row with a number of shows. The Miami Dolphins have been connected to him as a potential landing spot for the better part of a year. While Joe Burrow is the projected No. 1 pick for the Cincinnati Bengals, Tua could be the second quarterback off the board. The Dolphins are widely expected to take their “QB of the future” with the No. 5 pick.
He made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, and discussed a wide range of issues, including his recovery from hip surgery, the upcoming NFL Draft, his relationship with Nick Saban, and more. During the interview, the veteran broadcaster asks how he wound up committing to Alabama, and Tua couldn’t really answer the question. It’s long been known that his father Galu Tagovailoa is a major factor in all decisions, but it really sounds like he was the main factor in Tua choosing Alabama over USC, his favorite team growing up.
From the beginning of the interview:
Dan Patrick: You wanted to go to USC. You told us about this, you loved Matt Leinart. Did you worry about the Alabama offense being kind of… boring?
Tua Tagovailoa: Not really… What kinda went into that deciding factor was my father. We took a visit out there. We really only took three visits, to USC, UCLA, and to Alabama. I couldn’t really gauge what was good, what wasn’t good, because I heard Oregon had a great facility too.
DP: How did you pass up on USC if Matt Leinart is your idol?
TT: That’s a great question. I think that’s one for my dad, not one for me. My dad is kind of the reason why I went to Alabama.
DP: I don’t want to put dad on the spot here, but I was wondering about that. You loved Leinart, USC, had an opportunity to go there and you wind up at Alabama.
TT: Yeah, I don’t know how that worked out but I’m fine with it now.
Tagovailoa won a national championship and, when healthy, was arguably the best player in the country at Alabama, so he doesn’t have too much to regret. It is just strange that he can’t come up with a single reason why he chose Alabama, beyond that it was what his father decided was best.
As he says, though, it did certainly work out.