Oregon's Willie Taggart Will Visit With Alabama QB Commit Tua Tagovailoa
Willie Taggart is hitting the ground running as Oregon head coach, and is set to go try and flip one of the nation's top quarterbacks: Alabama commit Tua Tagovailoa.
Taggart is heading to Hawaii to recruit Tua Tagovailoa, the nation's No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and a solid Alabama commit. From 247Sports:
Sources tell DuckTerritory Coach Taggart is boarding a plane "soon" headed for Hawaii to see Tua Tagovailoa.
That "soon" is expected to be this evening.
After Ed Orgeron got the head coaching job at LSU, the Tigers were reportedly making a push after Tagovailoa. However, in late November the quarterback announced that he was not taking any more official visits, and will enroll early at Alabama. His father has confirmed that he will meet with Taggart, though. SEC Country spoke with Galu Tagovailoa:
“They’re supposed to be out here to see my nephew (3-star defensive end Myron Tagovailoa) and they just wanted to speak to Tua. I’m fine with it,” Galu Tagovailoa said. “I know he’s a new coach and he wants to get the energy going, but at the same time, we expressed to him that Tua is locked in to Alabama. He just wanted a chance to speak with him, and I’m fine with it.
[...]
“He’s a very respectful and nice guy. The thing with Coach Taggart — Oregon got him in early enough to do his recruiting. He’s so aggressive with his recruiting. He was saying what Tua can bring to the program, and I totally understand that.”
Unless Taggart makes a huge impression, we wouldn't expect Tagovailoa to budge, but weirder things have happened in recruiting. He does play at the alma mater of Marcus Mariota, who he clearly looks up to. The Ducks would love to bring another acclaimed St. Louis quarterback into the program.
