When Alabama coach Nick Saban pulled the plug on starting quarterback Jalen Hurts at halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last month, inserting true freshman Tua Tagovailoa in a desperate bid to save a season on the brink, most of the country watched in stunned disbelief. But for Mobile native and former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, the moment carried an unusually personal resonance. He had been on the other side of a nearly identical decision nearly a decade earlier, and he understood exactly what was running through his old coach’s mind.
McCarron, a St. Paul’s Episcopal School standout who went on to win two national championships as Alabama’s starting quarterback, sat down recently for an extended conversation touching on the Tide’s dramatic comeback win over Georgia, his own playing days in Tuscaloosa and his future in the NFL. The conversation, which aired on WNSP’s “Sports Drive,” offered a rare window into just how close McCarron himself came to being thrust into a title-game spotlight as a true freshman back in 2009.
That season, Alabama rolled into the BCS National Championship Game against Texas undefeated, but the passing game had grown shaky behind junior Greg McElroy, who was playing through a rib injury. McElroy would go on to finish that game and complete a perfect season, though he managed only six completions for 58 yards through the air. Watching from the sideline, redshirting freshman McCarron was, in his own words, essentially living out a preview of what Tagovailoa would go through years later.
“From what I heard from our coaching staff at that time, there were multiple weeks in a row that they were debating putting me in,” McCarron said of the stretch run of that 2009 season. “I was told three weeks in a row that if we didn’t score coming out of halftime they were going to put me in. All three weeks we got the ball first in the second half and all three times we scored. So, I’ve definitely had that same type of experience before as Tua had.”
The tension followed McCarron all the way to the championship game itself. “During the national championship game that year, I remember at one point I was warming up on the sidelines because Saban told me to get ready,” he said, describing a moment strikingly similar to the one that would play out on the same stage years later.
In hindsight, McCarron said he has come to appreciate that he never got the call that year, a decision that allowed him to redshirt, develop behind McElroy and eventually take over as a three-year starter who left Tuscaloosa as the winningest quarterback in Alabama football history. “As a competitor you want to play, it doesn’t matter when the opportunity comes,” McCarron said. “But quarterback is just so different from every other position because only one guy can play at a time in a game. So any time you feel like you should be playing it’s because you’re a competitor. It’s a tough situation to be in. But from a coaching standpoint, you can’t really pull a guy who has led you to the national championship game the year before and you’re undefeated late in the season this year. So it’s really hard.”
That personal history, combined with his ongoing relationship with Saban, is part of why McCarron said he wasn’t surprised when Tagovailoa replaced Hurts at halftime against Georgia. “I figured something had to change at halftime,” he said. “Sometimes if you’re struggling on offense you just have to show you’ll take a shot down the field, even if you don’t complete it. We didn’t have that in the first half. Tua came in at quarterback and did an awesome job. I think Bama had been fortunate to not have gone against a team all year long that would make them throw the ball. It just so happened that in the national championship game that’s what happened and we finally had to make a change.”
McCarron also pointed to the timing of the switch as a factor in its success. “Coming in at the half you at least have a chance to warm up,” he said. “As a backup it’s really better sometimes to say I’m just going to come out here and wing it and have fun.”
What impressed McCarron most, though, wasn’t just Tagovailoa’s arm talent, but his composure and understanding of the game at such a young age, particularly on the game-winning touchdown pass. “What he did on the last play was definitely rare for such a young guy,” McCarron said, referring to Tagovailoa’s ability to look off the safety before throwing deep down the left sideline for the win. “It shows that his football IQ is very high. I thought he played great. But now every coach he plays against in the future is going to have tape on him and know how to attack him based on what he does well and what he might struggle with.”
Looking ahead, McCarron said he expects a genuine competition at quarterback for Alabama going into next season, with both Hurts and Tagovailoa likely to get chances to prove themselves. “I can assure you both guys will be given a chance,” McCarron said. “When you have more than one good quarterback you never know when your number is going to be called.”
For McCarron, a hometown product who has become one of the state’s most recognizable football voices since leaving Tuscaloosa, the parallels between his own path and Tagovailoa’s sudden rise offer a reminder of just how thin the margin can be between a legendary career and a forgotten one, and how much of it comes down to a single decision made by a coach willing to gamble on a freshman when it matters most.