As Taulia Tagovailoa mulled transfer from Maryland to Auburn, Tua stepped in: 'We're an Alabama family'
An excerpt from upcoming college football book "The Price"
www.cbssports.com
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"That big offer came his way: $1.5 million from an SEC school for a single season, according to the quarterback. Taulia didn't name the school, but according to sources familiar with the situation, Auburn was after Maryland's quarterback. That created a complicated situation for Taulia, who started his career at Alabama and whose brother won a national championship at the school. Could Tagovailoa really leave Maryland to play at Alabama's biggest rival?
At times, the answer looked like yes. Taulia hadn't entered the transfer portal yet, but that hadn't stopped a message from making its way to him and his family that there was a lot of outside interest in his abilities."
"You lose your starting quarterback? You lose your starting quarterback? For a school like us that's trying to build, that's harder to overcome," Evans said. "Michigan State lost their starting quarterback Payton Thorne, but Michigan State is a much more established program. Some programs can overcome that, but it would have knocked us back a couple steps and we don't need that right now."
"We're an Alabama family," Tua told his younger brother. "You're not going to Auburn."
Still, a day before Maryland's spring game on April 29, Taulia was still contemplating entering the transfer portal. Locksley had to work the phones of loyal Maryland football supporters to raise as much money as he could to keep what he thought was one of the nation's best quarterbacks in his program. Ultimately, Tagovailoa got a significant deal in six figures to stay at Maryland, but nowhere near the $1.5 million he publicly claimed to have turned down."
"I got a homeboy discount because we ain't paying him one point five [million]," Locksley said. "Now, down the road, would we? Who knows how this thing's gonna shake out."
"Maryland looked fantastic against Auburn, racing out to a 21–0 first-quarter lead that showed the country what the Terrapins could do against an SEC opponent that should have beaten Alabama in the Iron Bowl. It was a youth movement, with Maryland players fired up and flying around the field. "Maryland has put an infomercial for 2024 on ABC," play-by-play announcer Taylor Zarzour exclaimed.
Maryland finished strong and beat Auburn, 31–13. After the game, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze claimed he was too busy with recruiting to be involved much in the game planning ahead of the loss. It was another sign of the times. "
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