Taulia Transfers To Terrapins

Taulia Tagovailoa entered his name into the college football transfer portal last week. Today Tagovailoa has chosen a new school, he will continue his academic and athletic career at the University of Maryland.

There was speculation that the younger Tagovailoa would pursue schools close to Miami, Florida so that his family could stay close to one another with Tua being drafted by the Dolphins last month. Instead he chooses College Park, Maryland as his new home.

Tagovailoa and his family undoubtedly have a pre-existing relationship with current Maryland Head Coach Mike Locksley. Locksley was an offensive analyst at Alabama when the Crimson Tide began recruiting Tua and was promoted to offensive coordinator for Tua's freshman and sophomore season.

Locksley was on the Crimson Tide staff while Alabama was recruiting Taulia as well. He left to take over at Maryland prior to Taulia returning to Tuscaloosa. Maryland tight ends coach Mike Miller was also on the Crimson Tide staff while Tua was playing in Tuscaloosa.

Tagovailoa played in five games, he was 9/12 passing for 100 yards and one touchdown as the third string quarterback. He played against Duke, Southern Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Western Carolina. He will likely redshirt in 2020 at Maryland and have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Maryland returns three quarterbacks with varying degrees of experience in 2020. Senior Josh Jackson appeared in 10 games last season for the Terrapins and will likely be the starter in the upcoming year. Sophomore Tyler Desue appeared in five games but was only 4/14 passing last season. Redshirt freshman Lance Legendre played in three games but only attempted three passes, completing one. Tagovailoa will be competing with Desue and Legendre for the starting role in 2020 unless he is granted a waiver by the NCAA.

Tagovailoa was a four-star recruit out of Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama in the class of 2019. He led the Warriors to the State Championship in 2018 and was named Class 7A All-State team in 2017.