Tua Tagovailoa mounting a comeback for Alabama didn’t just change the result of the College Football Championship Game against Georgia, it may also have changed the quarterback situation for college football over the next few seasons.
Had the true freshman not gotten the nod from head coach Nick Saban with his squad trailing 13-0 at halftime, Tagovailoa would’ve transferred out, former ‘Bama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said Tuesday on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“If this second half doesn’t flip like this, and Alabama is moving the ball and doesn’t change (quarterbacks), people that really know what’s going on would tell you that Tua was leaving,” Kiffin said, via AL.com. “Because Tua thought that he should be the starting quarterback and had outperformed (starter Jalen Hurts) in practice and coach never gave him an opportunity.
“How this second half played out changes college football,” Kiffin continued, “Because Tua is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football. He plays just like Steve Young.”
Kiffin later doubled down on his statements, saying he had “no doubt” Tagovailoa would have left.
Here are his full remarks:
Tagovailoa did not start a game all season, and with so much promise after coming into Alabama as the top dual-threat QB in his recruiting class, it is no surprise he would want to go somewhere he could play, especially with Hurts — who started all 14 games this season — being just a sophomore.
Granted, Kiffin — who now is the head coach at Florida Atlantic University — hasn’t been with his former team at all this season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has no knowledge of the situation at all.
And if Monday is, in fact, any indication, certainly Tagovailoa just created a quarterback controversy in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
