When Nick Saban sent freshman Tua Tagovailoa into the national championship game against Georgia, it looked like a bold gamble. To Mobile native AJ McCarron, it looked familiar.
McCarron, who won two national titles as Alabama’s starting quarterback after growing up in Mobile and starring at St. Paul’s Episcopal, said he experienced a similar moment of his own nearly a decade earlier. In 2009, as the Tide marched toward their first Saban-era title, the coaching staff repeatedly debated whether to insert the talented young McCarron in relief of veteran Greg McElroy.
“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,” McCarron recalled. “All three weeks we got the ball first in the second half and all three times we scored.”
McCarron eventually redshirted that season and went on to become the winningest quarterback in Alabama history. Speaking on WNSP’s “Sports Drive,” he said he was not surprised Saban turned to Tagovailoa against the Bulldogs.
“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.”
McCarron praised Tagovailoa’s poise on the game-winning drive, noting the freshman’s ability to manipulate the safety before delivering the decisive throw down the left sideline. He also cautioned that opponents would now have film to study.
Before Tagovailoa can live up to the soaring expectations, McCarron noted, he must first win the job outright over Jalen Hurts. “When you have more than one good quarterback you never know when your number is going to be called,” McCarron said.