5 Taulia Tagovailoa transfer predictions: Family reunion in Miami on tap?

Five Taulia Tagovailoa transfer predictions for the Alabama quarterback and younger brother of Tua. Could he transfer to Miami to be close to the family?

After seeing his older brother Tua Tagovailoa leave school a year early and enter the 2020 NFL Draft, Taulia Tagovailoa‘s journey at the University of Alabama has drawn to a close. This comes as no surprise, as his family will move from Alabama to South Florida to watch their son play in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins. The younger Tagovailoa has entered the transfer portal.

Tagovailoa was the third-string quarterback for Nick Saban last year behind his older brother and redshirt sophomore Mac Jones. With Jones looking like the Week 1 starter, top high school recruit Bryce Young coming over from California and Paul “Bear” Bryant’s great-grandson Paul Tyson in the quarterback room, you can understand why Tagovailoa opted to transfer.

Tagovailoa was a four-star recruit who played in five games last year for the Crimson Tide as a backup. He still has three years of eligibility but will need to sit out a season due to transferring. Though he may not be the pro prospect of his brother, Tagovailoa can help several Division I teams achieve new heights with him as their starting quarterback.

Here are five potential transfer destinations for the younger Tagovailoa brother for 2020.

Who says you can’t go home? One would think Tagovailoa would at least entertain the possibility of playing for his home state’s major college football team. Though the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are only a middle-of-the-pack Group of 5 team out of the Mountain West, there are several reasons he should at least consider a return to the Aloha State.

First off, it’s home, and that matters. Tagovailoa already has a built-in fanbase over there based on his high school accolades before spending two years in Alabama in the shadow of his older brother. If he goes back, the state will embrace him, unlike any great Hawaiian signal-caller before him. He doesn’t have to be Tua Tagovailoa, Marcus Mariota or anybody else, just himself.

The Rainbow Warriors also have a rich history of great quarterback play stemming from Timmy Chang, to Colt Brennan to most recently Cole McDonald. June Jones may not be running the Run and Shoot over on Oahu, but the Rainbow Warriors did land a proven head coach in Todd Graham to replace Nick Rolovich who now leads the Washington State Cougars in the Pac-12.

Graham might be a defensive-minded coach, but his greatest disciple is new Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell. Georgia’s defensive coordinator Dan Lanning also stems from this coaching tree. In short, Tagovailoa will be coached up by Graham in a favorable home environment like Hawaii. Plus, adding the younger Tagovailoa brother makes Hawaii relevant.