Tua Tagovailoa's emergence not only helped Alabama win the 2018 national championship over Georgia. It not only impacted the Crimson Tide's quarterback plans and Jalen Hurts' future. But he also indirectly impacted the recruitment of quarterback Bryce Young and the long-term future at Alabama.
Young, the No. 1-ranked QB in the Class of 2020, committed to Alabama after he decommitted from USC, in part because of the path Tagovailoa paved for an undersized, dual-threat quarterback.
"Three years ago, we never would have considered Alabama," Young's father, Craig, said. "Even though it's an amazing institution, they weren't throwing the ball like that. They weren't [dual-threat]. The Tua offense at Alabama isn't what it had historically been, so prior to three years ago, I don't think we would have considered Alabama, and I don't think they would have considered Bryce."
The similarities between Young and Tagovailoa are plenty. Young is 6-feet, 180 pounds. Tagovailoa is 6-1, 218 pounds. Both are mobile but pass-first quarterbacks. Both are from the West Coast, Young from Santa Ana, California, and Tagovailoa from Honolulu. Both at one point considered USC.
Young had been committed to the Trojans since July 2018. A face of the class and a potential future local hero with the opportunity to help bring USC back to dominance.
That all changed when Young decommitted this past September and announced his commitment to Alabama, a decision that did not happen hastily. The family struggled with his indecision, prayed and even shed a few tears at the thought of going back on Young's initial commitment.
"Really, it was nothing that USC did wrong. We just felt like the best opportunity for me and my future was at Alabama," Young said. "It wasn't something that came overnight. There was months and months of deliberation. There was a lot of prayer, a lot of discussion with my family. It was a lot for us, and I'm definitely glad and happy I'm in the situation now, but changing my decision wasn't easy."
USC had been dealing with rumors of coaching changes, losses on the field and a struggling recruiting class, and adding on to that plate was something Young and his family did not want to do to head coach Clay Helton and his staff.
Ultimately, the program's instability weighed too heavy on the family, and while they didn't actively pursue other schools once Young committed, opposing coaches never stopped contacting the talented quarterback trying to keep the relationship alive in case a scenario like this popped up.
One of those coaches was Steve Sarkisian, now Alabama's offensive coordinator, who had a previous relationship with Young dating back to his seventh-grade year when Young helped lead a high school 7-on-7 team to the finals of a tournament held at USC.
Ironic now that a relationship formed at USC would come back to hurt the Trojans and help the Crimson Tide.
"Emotionally we were so drawn to USC," Craig said. "When you're making decisions about where you want to play and what situation sets you up the best, you can't make emotional decisions. That's when we started more and more considering Alabama."
Young found himself in a predicament most quarterbacks would love to face, now as one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the country, ranked No. 24 overall in the ESPN 300. But that wasn't always been the case given his size.
He didn't have the prototypical size and stature of a college quarterback, especially the likes that USC had seen in its past.
Playing football since he was 3 years old, Young had always shown flashes of superior ability. Understanding there was a gap between his ability and his size, Young's father wanted to set his son up for success to have a real shot at succeeding as a quarterback.
At 7 years old, the family hired a quarterback coach to work with Young and hone his skills so he wouldn't have to move positions at camp once the coaches saw his stature; they had to give him a shot given his arm talent and skills with the ball in his hand.
"The Tua offense at Alabama isn't what it had historically been, so prior to three years ago, I don't think we would have considered Alabama and I don't think they would have considered Bryce." Bryce Young's father, Craig
"You have to be very fundamentally sound, because a lot of times when you go to camps, it's literally two throws and then they put you in two groups," Craig said. "The evaluation group everyone is looking at, and then it's the other group no one is looking at. So I always wanted him to be in the group where he was going to be evaluated."
That intuition and ground work eventually paid off when Young earned his first offer in eighth grade from then-Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Not surprisingly, Kingsbury was ahead of the curve and comfortable with undersized, mobile quarterbacks, having recruited Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and coached Johnny Manziel.
That level of comfort with smaller quarterbacks wasn't as prevalent among other college coaches at the time, though. Despite what he could do on the field, coaches initially couldn't get past Young's size and made him prove himself more than the prototypical quarterbacks coming through camps.
The tide eventually turned in his favor as the likes of Mayfield, Murray and eventually Tagovailoa saw more and more success on the field at the highest level. That, plus Young's mentality to keep competing and improving on the field.
"Being 'undersized' and being African American, that had a lot to do with it," Young said. "That wasn't easy, but for me it was more just about keeping to myself and making sure I stayed true to myself. Getting better and trusting that if I worked on myself enough, eventually I would get the recognition I sought and the opportunities I wanted."
Young became the starting quarterback at Mater Dei High School, one of the most prominent high schools in the country, and helped guide his team to state and national championships in 2018.
He did it against the highest level of competition, including a potential future foe in Clemson quarterback commit D.J. Uiagalelei, the No. 2-ranked quarterback in the class.
The two have gotten to know each other on and off the field, becoming close friends from working with the same trainer in the offseason and attending many of the same camps throughout the past few years.
They have also become familiar with each other through competition, as Uiagalelei and his St. John Bosco team beat Young and Mater Dei during the regular season in 2018, while Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in the playoffs, eventually winning the state title. This season, the exact opposite happened with Uiagalelei's team losing in the regular season, but making an incredible comeback in the playoffs to win the state championship.
They have built a healthy, friendly rivalry between each other that has resulted in a 2-2 record as starters that very well could eventually be decided in college if the two were to meet in the College Football Playoff.
"For me, the way I look at it, that's a long way down the road, there's a lot of stuff that has to happen, a lot of stuff I would have to do and a lot of work to do to ensure an opportunity like that happens," Young said. "That's something that's cool to think about, but I'm not really a believer in looking that far ahead. I just like to control what I can control. Having that opportunity requires a lot of hard work, there's a lot I need to improve on, there's places I need to be that I'm not at yet, so that would be great in the future, but there's a lot more I have to improve on in the time being."
Young's mentality comes from understanding he can't take opportunity for granted, similar to Tagovailoa, who never looked back after replacing Hurts in the national championship game. Tagovailoa beat out Hurts for the starting job in 2018 and threw for 3,966 yards, 43 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Hurts initially opened up the offense at Alabama with his dual-threat ability, and Tagovailoa expanded on it, flourishing in the system. Tagovailoa didn't know it, but his success, in a roundabout way, helped his coaches bring in a future version of himself.
Young isn't expecting anything to be handed to him and knows he has some big names -- literally -- in front of him on the roster: Mac Jones, Tagovailoa's younger brother, Taulia, and Paul Tyson, who is the great grandson of former Alabama coach Bear Bryant.
No matter who is in front of him and no matter their name, stature or size, Young is going to Alabama with hopes of emulating Tagovailoa's success and seizing the opportunity the way he did in those high school camps, having to prove himself over and over again.
"That's the beauty of college football," Young said. "You throw the ball out and you compete. All I can do is improve myself and hopefully show what I can offer to the coaching staff and the team, and try to do everything in my power to earn a spot."