Taulia Tagovailoa
Taulia Tagovailoa
Watch Mac Jones and Taulia Tagovailoa warm-up before Western Carolina
Taulia Tagovailoa is a student athlete that plays as the backup quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, at the University of Alabama. Crimson Tide initially planned to redshirt him for his first season. On November 21, 2019, Crimson Tide announced Taulia would not be redshirted and would play as quarterback in Crimson Tide's game against Western Carolina Catamounts football on Saturday November 23, 2019. The decision came after his brother Tua Tagovailoa, who plays quarterback for the team, was injured. [31] [1]
Early Life
Taulia Tagovailoa was born to parents Galu and Diane Tagovailoa in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The family are of Samoan ethnicity. Taulia's passion for football comes from his family. Taulia is the younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa, who plays quarterback for Alabama Crimson Tide football. Their grandfather Seu "Papa" Tagovailoa is an avid football fan. Their father Galu played as a defensive lineman for the Santa Rosa Junior College football team from 1989-91 but did not play after he graduated instead returning to Hawaii to support his family financially. [2]
Football Career
High School
Taulia throwing for Crimson Tide
Taulia Tagovailoa played high school football for Kapolei High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2017, he transferred to Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama after his brother, Tua Tagovailoa joined the Alabama Crimson Tide football team in nearby Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [12] [2] [1]
Taulia was rated a four-star recruit on both 247Sports and Rivals.com. 247 Sports ranked Taulia as the No. 5 pro-style quarterback in the United States. Rivals classifies Taulia as a dual-threat quarterback and ranked him No. 5 in the country. [3] [16]
Taulia describes his mobility as a way to make his passing ability even more impactful.
“I see myself as a pocket passer with the ability to run and extend plays,” Taulia told AL.com. [17] On December 19, 2018, Taulia signed with Alabama Crimson Tide football, after receiving offers from 15 college football teams. [1] [16]After signing Taulia and Paul Tyson, Alabama Head Coach, Nick Saban, said:
“We were excited about both guys,” Saban said.
“They’re two really good quarterbacks here in the state.
There are other good quarterbacks, too, but we were happy with the two we got.
They were both very productive.
They have great character.
They have a lot of potential."
[18]“Taulia had a lot of success and led his team to the state finals.
I know he was banged up at the end of the year and it didn’t work out, but had some great games where he led his team to come from behind.
We’re excited about him.
Paul has been in a very successful program and very productive, great character.
I’m happy we got both guys here.
I think we should have at least four quarterbacks on scholarship.
Five is OK, too.
We’re kind of in the ballpark now.”
College
Taulia Tagovailoa went 7-of-9 for 65 yards in his three games of action... added one rush to his freshman totals.
In a game against Duke, he saw his first collegiate action in the season opener but did not record any stats.
In a game against Southern Miss, he completed his first career pass for a gain of 20 yards, finishing 1-for-1 on the day.
In a game against Arkansas, he entered in the third quarter for his most extensive action to date.
He finished 6-of-8 passing for 45 yards added one rush for no gain in a game against the Razorbacks.
In a game against Mississippi State, Taulia came in late for the Tide, handing the ball off to run out the clock in Starkville.
On November 21, 2019 Crimson Tide announced they would not redshirt Taulia Tagovailoa.
With his brother, starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, out for the rest of the season, Crimson Tide decided to play Taulia instead of redshirting him.
Taulia is the team’s new backup quarterback and he’s set to get some playing time against Western Carolina this weekend.
Head Coach Nick Saban explained the decision to play Taulia instead of redshiritng him:
“We’re gonna play him this week in this game some kind of way regardless of how the game goes to try to get him some experience, some playing time and hopefully some confidence.
When we had the unfortunate injury last week to Tua, that kind of negated the opportunity to be able tor redshirt to Taulia.”
“With him being now the backup quarterback, we thought we needed to play him because if something happens to this quarterback, Mac Jones, he’s going to be the guy that’s got to go in the game and try to win the game for us.”