Alabama quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa announces transfer to Maryland
Former Alabama quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has announced his decision to transfer to Maryland.
"Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow. Thank you to Coach Saban & The great U of A staff for giving me an opportunity to stay in sweet home Alabama my 1st year in college."
"This decision was not easy & has been prayed on non stop. Thank you to my Pastors & my family for always interceding on my behalf."
"Today, I am blessed to share that I will be continuing my academic & athletic journey at the University of Maryland. I'm grateful to coach Locksley & the staff for giving me this opportunity. I can't wait to get to College Park. God bless & Go Terps!" Tagovailoa wrote on Twitter.
Taulia, the younger brother of Miami Dolphin quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, comes to College Park with three years of eligibility remaining. The younger quarterback played a reserve role for the Crimson Tide as a freshman, but elected to enter the transfer portal last week.
The connection to head coach Mike Locksley dates back to his three years at Alabama, where he developed a strong relationship with Tua and his family. When Taulia elected to enter the transfer portal last week, Maryland was among the immediate candidates for his pledge for obvious reason. With just three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster heading into fall, the available playing time to the rising sophomore made the fit with the Terps a seamless transition.
"I'm so excited to start the next chapter of my career at the University of Maryland," said Tagovailoa as Maryland announced his transfer. "I'm incredibly grateful to all of the amazing people at Alabama, but am also thrilled to join the Terrapin Football Family. I have a great relationship with Coach Locksley and am excited to see what he's building. I can't wait to be part of it and I plan on working incredibly hard both on and off the field to make my family, teammates, coaches and fans proud."
Tagovailoa joins senior quarterback Josh Jackson and sophomore Lance Legendre as the scholarship quarterbacks for offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery.
“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.”
