Taulia Tagovailoa, who played in five games as the University of Alabama’s No. 3 quarterback in 2019, has entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal and is not expected to return to UA next season.
Tagovailoa, the younger brother is former UA quarterback and Miami Dolphin first-round draft choice Tua Tagovailoa, signed with Alabama in December 2018 after playing at Thompson High School in Alabaster. He narrowed his college choices to Alabama and LSU before joining the Crimson Tide.
The younger Tagovailoa came out of 2019 spring practice as the No. 3 quarterback on the Alabama depth chart behind his older brother and junior Mac Jones, who took over as the starting quarterback when Tua Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending hip injury against Mississippi State.
In five games last season, Taulia threw for exactly 100 yards and a touchdown, completing nine of 12 passes (.750) and a true freshman at Alabama.
Taulia would be a sit-one, play-three non-grad transfer at this point but NCAA transfer eligibility rules are undergoing changes that could affect his status, or perhaps grant him immediate eligibility, in the future.
With Tagovailoa expected to follow through with a transfer, Alabama will begin practice for the 2020 season (at a yet-to-be-determined date) with three quarterbacks on scholarship — Jones, redshirt freshman Paul Tyson and early-entrant signee Bryce Young, who was rated the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country by most services last season.
Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or via Twitter @cecilhurt
