Alabama transfer QB Taulia Tagovailoa gets NCAA waiver to play immediately for Maryland
Six Terps, including Josh Jackson and offensive linemen Johnny Jordan and Austin Fontaine, opt out over COVID-19 concerns; TE Okonko out for medical reasons
On the day that Maryland officially opened preseason practice, the revolving door to the team’s quarterback room took an interesting turn.
A few hours after second-year coach Mike Locksley announced that senior Josh Jackson was one of six players to opt out for the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns, the team announced sophomore Taulia Tagovailoa had received a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately.
“He has an infectious personality, players gravitate to him,” Locksley said of Tagovailoa, the younger brother of former Alabama star and current Miami Dolphins’ rookie Tua Tagovailoa. “He came in here with the right mentality, that ‘I’m no different, I’m just here to be a member of the team.
“He’s made the quarterback room better.”
In a news conference over Zoom Friday morning, Locksley also announced offensive linemen Johnny Jordan and Austin Fontaine, both of whom were expected to compete for starting jobs, planned to sit out the season over their concerns about COVID-19.
Three other players - sophomore defensive end Jalen Alexander, sophomore defensive back Vincent Flythe and junior linebacker T.J. Kautai, a junior college transfer - also opted out for the season.
“We’re in complete support of each and every one of their decisions for their own individual reasons,” Locksley said.
Junior tight end Chig Okonkwo will miss the season because of an undisclosed medical issue, Locksley said. In the case of Jackson, coming off a disappointing season as a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech, it marks the end of his college career, Locksley said.
“My conversations with Josh was he wanted to pursue obviously the academic piece of it, I did pursue that question with him (about playing next year). I would venture to say that Josh Jackson has probably played his last football,” Locksley said. “We thank Josh for what he did last season.
“Obviously coming in as a grad transfer with a new program, it wasn’t what either of us expected, it wasn’t the season he wanted or we wanted. But he was a valuable member of our team. He brought a lot of things to our program from a leadership standpoint. I’m proud of him being able to make a tough decision.”
After throwing seven touchdowns in leading Maryland to a pair of victories to start the season, Jackson battled inconsistency and injury. His 47.3 percent completion rate was the lowest among starters in Football Bowl Subdivision. After throwing for 3,000 yards in his one full season at Virginia Tech, Jackson threw for fewer than 1,300.
There were many who believed that Jackson might have had a tough time reclaiming his starting position, especially if Tagovailoa was granted he waiver. The younger brother of former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will now compete with redshirt freshman Lance LeGendre.
LeGendre, a former four-star prospect, played sparingly in three games as a true freshman behind Jackson and Tyrrell Pigrome, who transferred after the season to Western Kentucky. Tagovailoa was the No. 4 rated pro-style quarterback in the 2019 class and also played mop-up duty in five games for the Crimson Tide.
ESPN first reported the news that Tagovailoa had received the waiver.
“We were thin coming in, because we had two scholarship quarterbacks (before Tagovailoa transferred)” Locksley said. “With Josh opting out, now going into the year our expectation is we’re going to need every player on our team. - walkons, scholarship…Challenging yes, but we went into this knowing this could be the case.”
LeGendre played in three games and saw his freshman year end with a shoulder injury.
What hurt Jackson’s development last season was adjusting to the system Locksley brought in with him from Alabama, where he had served as offensive coordinator in 2018 and co-offensive coordinator the previous season. Locksley won the Frank Broyles Award in 2018 as the nation’s top assistant.
Tagovailoa should have a much easier transition, having watched his older brother run it with great success and having used a similar offense in high school.
“Taulia has tremendous hands (in the run-pass option) and great vision, great leadership ability,” said Maryland offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery. “Can really throw the ball on the intermediate level, down the field. [I’m] really, really pleased with where he is physically, but probably the most pleasing thing of it all, I’m thankful that he knew our system.
“But we have tweaked our system a lot. But he has picked up the playbook as fast as anyone that we’ve had in the program. He has more knowledge right now than our guys did last year coming in, even with [spring football] under their belt.”
While most believe Tagovailoa is now the favorite to win the starting job, LeGendre will certainly be given a chance to compete.
“Lance LeGendre has continued to make strides in our program,”Locksley said. “The competition is still there. We’re excited about what Lance brings to the table. Obviously we’re concerned with depth, but that is where we’ve got quite a few guys, new faces in our building and in our program that we’re going to need to count on to get us through , this year, which will be very challenging and different.”
The Terps also got good news regarding defensive lineman Joseph Boletepeli, a transfer from North Carolina State. Boletepeli, a 6-4, 262-pound sophomore who played in three games last season for the Wolfpack, will provide some depth to the defensive line,
Picked to finish at or near the bottom of the Big Ten East, Maryland begins the 2020 season Sept. 5 at Iowa, one of six ranked team on what has been rated as the toughest schedule in the country.