Lane Kiffin Believes Tua Tagovailoa Would've Transferred If He Didn't Play In Title Game
Florida Atlantic head coach and former Alabama assistant coach Lane Kiffin believes that Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would have transferred if he did not play in the College Football Playoff National Championship against Georgia.
Alabama won its fifth national championship under head coach Nick Saban. Tagovailoa started the second half after Jalen Hurts struggled with the team trailing 13–0 at halftime. Tagovailoa finished the game with 14 of 24 passes completed for 166 yards and three touchdowns, including the 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime to clinch the title.
"The funny thing is, if this second half doesn't flip like this and Alabama's (not) moving the ball, it doesn't change — people that really know what's going on would tell you that Tua was leaving," Kiffin told The Dan Patrick Show. "Because Tua felt that he should've been the starting quarterback and had outperformed (Jalen Hurts) in practice, and coach (Nick Saban) never gave him an opportunity."
Kiffin was part of the Alabama coaching staff when Tagovailoa was being recruited. He also said that Alabama was making a serious run for Jake Fromm, who ended up quarterbacking the Bulldogs to the national championship.
Saban says that no decision has been made on who will be next year's starting quarterback.
