Tua Tagovailoa’s football career spanned the United States, starting in Hawaii before heading to Florida. But before the Miami Dolphins made him the 5th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tagovailoa was dismantling SEC defenses in the middle of the country.

Where did Tua Tagovailoa go to college?

Tagovailoa probably doesn’t remember a time before football, as his father Galu began training Tua when he was just two years old in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. And although Tua is one of the few left-handed quarterbacks in the NFL and the first to be drafted since Tim Tebow in 2010, he’s actually a natural right-handed hitter.

In an interview that aired on ESPN’s “College GameDay” while he was a student at Alabama, Tagovailoa explained that he writes and eats with his right hand, but his father forced him to switch to his non-dominant hand when playing football.

“Because I’m the only left-handed person in the family, I thought, ‘OK, I’ll make my son left-handed,'” Galu said.

However, this was only the beginning of a strict regime, as Galu was Tua’s biggest critic during his upbringing.

“If I don’t do well or perform as well as I’m supposed to, I’m going to get it afterward,” Tua said. When asked what he meant by “get,” Tagovailoa replied, “Just know that it was about the belt and other things as well. And it’s almost the same with school. If I don’t get that grade… I’m going to have to face the consequences.”

Say what you will about Galu’s coaching style, but it produced results. Tua finished his three-year high school career with 8,158 passing yards (then the most in Hawaii high school football history) and 84 passing touchdowns. He also added another 1,727 yards and 27 touchdowns on the ground.

But Galu wasn’t the only influential mentor in Tua’s football career. Oregon legend and longtime NFL quarterback Marcus Mariota took Tagovailoa under his wing as the two were growing up. The two first met at a passing camp when Tua was in fourth grade, and Mariota gave him advice and encouragement.

“Everyone looked at me in a different way, but the person that stood out was Marcus,” Tagovailoa told OregonLive in 2014. “He didn’t really separate me from everyone else. He taught me something. While everyone else was saying, ‘Get out of the way,’ Marcus just pulled me aside — and he was one of the best quarterbacks there. To learn from him and give me attention that I didn’t deserve was just great.”

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While Mariota began his career with the Tennessee Titans, Tagovailoa tormented the defense at his old stomping ground: St. Louis High School. Tua was named Hawaiian Offensive Player of the Year. And He was named Player of the Year in 2015 before winning the HHSAA District 1 State Championship as a senior. But that wasn’t all: He was also named MVP of Nike’s “The Opening” and the Elite 11 QB Contest.

As one might imagine, Tagovailoa was the unanimous first high school recruit in Hawaii as a five-star talent and received scholarship offers from several elite programs, including LSU, Oregon and UCLA. Although he envisioned playing in the Pac-12 and possibly following in Mariota’s footsteps at Oregon again, his father made the final decision.

“My dad is the decision maker in the family,” Tua said. “Whether I wanted to go to other schools or not, my dad had the final say on where I went.”

As a result, Tagovailoa found himself in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in January 2017, preparing for his first season as a freshman. Although he served as a backup to Jalen Hurts, he still got plenty of playing time due to several losses. However, Tua’s breakout moment came during the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, when he replaced an ineffective Hurts in the second half against Georgia.

In a dramatic overtime victory, Tagovailoa threw a game-winning 41-yard touchdown to fellow freshman DeVonta Smith to seal Alabama’s 26-23 victory. Tagovailoa’s performance, 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, earned him the game’s offensive MVP award.

In 2018, Tagovailoa won the starting job over Hurts and led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated regular season. His exceptional play put Alabama in great position for another national title shot. However, in the SEC Championship game against Georgia, Tagovailoa suffered a sprained ankle. In a twist on the previous season’s national championship, Hurts came off the bench and led Alabama to a 35-28 victory over the Bulldogs.

However, Tua was back in the starting lineup in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma. The game meant even more to the Hawaii native because Sooners QB Kyler Murray beat him in the Heisman Trophy battle. Tagovailoa just delivered a nearly flawless performance, completing 24 of 27 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns to help Alabama make it to the CFP National Championship for the fourth consecutive year.

Unfortunately, Tagovailoa’s stellar 2018 season ended with a disappointing loss at the Natty, where Alabama lost 44-16 to Clemson. Despite the loss, Tagovailoa set a new school record for passing yards in a season with 3,966 and led the SEC with his 48 touchdowns. His dominance was all the more impressive considering he often sat out the second half of games as Alabama outscored its opponents.

In 2019, Tagovailoa’s journey took a difficult turn. He suffered a severe ankle sprain early in the Crimson Tide’s game against Tennessee and underwent surgery the following day. Just three weeks later, he returned to face LSU, though Alabama lost narrowly 46-41. Then misfortune struck again.

Against Mississippi State, Tagovailoa suffered a blow that could have ended his career.

During a sack, his knee was forced into the ground, dislocating his hip and breaking the back wall. But the physical trauma didn’t end there, as Tua suffered a broken nose and a concussion from the force of his head hitting the ground.

He was immediately carried off the field and flown to a hospital where he underwent surgery. Dr. Louis Levitt, an orthopedic expert, compared the severity of the injury to car accidents in an interview with CBS Sports:

“The problem is that as laypeople we don’t really know the extent of his injury. The injury itself is one of the few true orthopedic emergencies… It takes tremendous force to dislocate the hip of a young player like him. Usually that happens in car accidents where the leg is pushed in and out of the socket.”

Despite the injury and after successful surgery, Tagovailoa declared for the NFL Draft and forwent his senior year. He left Alabama with several school and NCAA records, including the highest passer rating (199.4) and the best yards per attempt (10.9).

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Tua’s time at Alabama was marked by brilliance on the field but also marred by injuries, leaving behind a legacy that combines tremendous talent with resilience in the face of adversity.

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