An SEC program was desperate to land Taulia Tagovailoa in 2023.
In an appearance at Big Ten Media Days last week, the Maryland quarterback told The Athletic's Audrey Snyder he was promised "crazy money" to enter the transfer portal this summer. When Snyder asked him to define what crazy money looks like in modern college football, Tagovailoa revealed he was offered $1.5 million on behalf of an unnamed team from the Southeastern Conference. He declined the offer.
Its been aggregated to death, but theres more to the story of Taulia Tagovailoa and why hes still at Maryland.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) July 30, 2023
Its indicative of where things stand in the Big Ten where transfer QBs are aplenty. I talked to those QBs too. https://t.co/w96GKF1PE1
“It can be eye-opening, but I think for my situation — if I was in a different situation where maybe I didn’t have a brother in the NFL or maybe my parents, it’d be a different situation,” Tagovailoa said.
The younger brother of former Alabama star and current Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Taulia has starred for the Terrapins for the past three seasons after he transferred from Alabama to Maryland in 2019. In back-to-back years, he has accounted for 6,868 passing yards and 50 total touchdowns for the Terps.
Tagovailoa's offensive prowess led to personal accolades for the Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native, including a Pinstripe Bowl MVP in 2021 and a second-team All-Big Ten honor in 2022. It has also generated team success for Maryland, who has won 15 games the past two seasons compared to five combined wins in 2019 and 2020.
Maryland will open its 2023 season against Towson with Tagovailoa at quarterback. After matchups with Charlotte, Virginia, Michigan State and Indiana, the Terps will face Ohio State in Week 6, traveling to Columbus to battle the Buckeyes on Oct. 7.
