COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Taulia Tagovailoa, one of the backup quarterbacks at Alabama behind star brother Tua Tagovailoa this past season, is transferring to Maryland.
He announced the move via Twitter on Friday, a week after it was reported he had entered the NCAA transfer portal.
"This decision was not easy & has been prayed on non stop. Thank you to my Pastors & my family for always interceding on my behalf," Tagovailoa said. "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!"
The 5-foot-11, 208-pounder will need a waiver to be eligible in the 2020 season. He played five games as a freshman in 2019, going 9-of-12 passing for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Maryland's Mike Locksley coached Tua, selected fifth overall in the NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins last month, as Alabama's offensive coordinator.
In 2018, the Locksley-Tua combination helped the Crimson Tide set school records for points scored (623), total offense (6,859 yards) and passing yards (4,231) in a season.
Entering his second season as coach of the Terrapins, Locksley is delighted to have the younger Tagovailoa in the mix at quarterback.
"Taulia has outstanding field vision and excellent pocket awareness," Locksley said. "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."
Taulia became the only quarterback in Alabama high school football history to have at least four 400-yard passing performances in his career. He threw for 3,728 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior at Thompson in the Birmingham suburb of Alabaster, where his family moved from Hawaii to be closer to Tua.