Matt Johnson
Maryland Terrapins coach Mike Locksley built the team’s football program to make it feel like a family for players. It’s that culture and Locksley’s coaching that seemingly convinced quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa to stay at Maryland over a huge offer from an SEC school.
Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, is plenty familiar with the benefits of the transfer portal in college football. After finishing his freshman season at Alabama in 2019, the 5-foot-11 quarterback announced he was transferring for a better opportunity.
- Taulia Tagovailoa stats (2022): 18-8 TD-INT, 142.7 QB rating, 67% completion rate, 3,008 passing yards, 7.7 yards per attempt in 12 games
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He entered the portal right as Locksley became the Terrapins’ head coach. After spending a year with the former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator, Tagovailoa quickly decided to follow him to Maryland. He’s been one of the most underrated quarterbacks in college football since and apparently attracted interest from at least one SEC school.
In an interview with Audrey Snyder of The Athletic, Tagovailoa touched on his special relationship with Maryland. While discussing the Terrapins’ importance to him, Tagovailoa said an SEC school offered him $1.5 million to transfer but he declined.
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“It would be hard for me to go to another place and not be happy but have all the money in the world. (I’d rather) be at a place where maybe I don’t have as much, but I’m happy and I’m here to work.”
Maryland Terrapins quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa
While Tagovailoa doesn’t name the school that tried to lure him into the transfer portal, it’s obvious why multiple Power 5 programs would love an opportunity to have the 23-year-old quarterback. In the past two seasons, Tagovailoa has amassed nearly 7,000 passing yards with a 68.2 percent completion rate on 865 pass attempts with a 140-plus quarterback rating each year.
However, even in a year when some of the top quarterbacks in college football entered the transfer portal, Tagovailoa remained. He’ll finish out his collegiate career with the Terrapins, leading a team that hopes it can appear in the college football rankings this season.
