Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa Says He Was 'Really Close' to Transferring to USC

A decision by Tua Tagovailoa could've transformed the entire landscape of college football. 

The Alabama quarterback explained Wednesday on the Dan Patrick Show that he considered transferring to USC after failing to get on the field early in his career:

"Making my parents happy and proud is probably the biggest thing I wanted to do, and I couldn't do it on the sidelines," Tagovailoa said.

The Hawaii native noted he grew up a USC fan and wanted his parents to see him play.

Tagovailoa sat behind Jalen Hurts as a freshman before throwing three touchdown passes in a win over Georgia in the national championship game. He won the starting job as a sophomore and thrived with 3,966 passing yards and 49 total touchdowns to finish second in the Heisman Trophy voting.

The Crimson Tide also won 14 straight games to start the year before falling to Clemson in the title game.

The quarterback is a Heisman favorite once again in 2019 and has his team among the top national title contenders, indicating he's made the right choice to stick with Alabama.

On the other hand, giving USC an elite talent at quarterback could've improved its fortunes in 2018. The squad instead finished with a 5-7 record, the program's first losing season since 2000. The Trojans are off to a 3-1 start in 2019, but Tagovailoa could've given the squad much more upside.

Meanwhile, the transfer likely would have seen Hurts remaining with Alabama instead of heading to Oklahoma in the offseason.

Tagovailoa's decision to remain at Tuscaloosa was clearly an important one, and not just for him.