Nick Saban has emotional reaction to Tua Tagovailoa being named Dolphins starter

Nick Saban could not be more proud of Tua Tagovailoa as a leader and as a man.

Tua Tagovailoa will make his first NFL start in two weeks and Nick Saban couldn’t be happier.

Tagovailoa’s Miami Dolphins are on bye in Week 7 before they host the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 1. Saban was Tagovailoa’s college coach with the Alabama Crimson Tide and previously served as the Dolphins head coach a decade and a half ago. Tagovailoa is the most talented quarterback Saban has ever coached. He is immensely proud of him and gave his endorsement of him starting.

“We haven’t had anybody in this program since I’ve been here, that’s been a better ambassador for the university, a better ambassador for the program, than Tua has been,” Saban said on Tua being named the Dolphins starter. “So our thoughts and prayers are always with him, and we hope that he does extremely well. It certainly won’t surprise me if that’s the case.”

Tua Tagovailoa will become the third rookie quarterback to start games in 2020.

With Tagovailoa taking over for journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick in two weeks, he will become the third 2020 NFL Draft pick to start a game at quarterback for his team. Joe Burrow emerged as the Week 1 starter for his Cincinnati Bengals, while Justin Herbert quickly won the starting job over Tyrod Taylor with the Los Angeles Chargers in September. Is Tagovailoa ready for the challenge?

This biggest difference between Tagovailoa taking over the Dolphins’ starting job over Burrow in Cincinnati and Herbert in Los Angeles is the Dolphins are a playoff-contending team. Miami went 3-3 with Fitzpatrick as their starter. The Dolphins won three of their last four games and are playing some fantastic ball right now for head coach Brian Flores. Is the timing right, though?

Look, if the Dolphins were going to go with Tagovailoa, it makes sense to do it during the bye week to give him the best opportunity to be successful vs. the Rams. While Tagovailoa’s first two starts vs. the Rams and the Arizona Cardinals won’t be easy, things ease up for the Dolphins in their next four games, including home games vs. the Chargers and the Bengals. Tagovailao will be ready.

Saban’s praise of Tagovailoa as a great ambassador is a glowing compliment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s not just the pinpoint accuracy, the beautiful spiral or the clutch gene that makes Tagovailoa such a compelling NFL prospect. At 22-years-old, he is wise beyond his years and has the maturity necessary to be the heir apparent to Dan Marino down in South Beach. He can do it.

Ultimately, Tagovailoa must prove he can stay healthy in the NFL. He has all the talent in the world, but health concerns are his biggest issue. While he can be some variation of Marino or Bob Griese for the Dolphins, let’s hope his NFL career is not as injury-riddled as his collegiate one. The last thing the Dolphins need is to have drafted the NFL’s next Sam Bradford with the No. 5 pick.

Tagovailoa is talented enough to win on the field, but his mental makeup will surely win off it.

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