Considering Jalen Hurts was on his way to winning SEC Offensive Player of the Year in his true freshman season for Alabama, it’s fair to question whether the nation’s top dual-threat quarterback prospect Tua Tagovailoa had any second thoughts regarding his commitment to the Tide.

According to his father, Galu Tagovailoa, staring elite competition in the face wasn’t about to scare his son off.

The elder Tagovailoa recently gave an interview to Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Gorney and stated that while many would have seen Hurts’ presence on the roster as a negative, his son sees it as an opportunity.

“To watch Jalen Hurts just tear things up, awesome season, and I felt like I needed to talk to Tua and reconfirm to see if that’s what he really wants,” Galu Tagovailoa said.

“He said, ‘Dad, if I’m going to play for the best team, if I’m going to be the best, then I have to compete against the best. I can’t second-guess myself.’ I said if he was set with his mind then let’s make it happen.”

In an age where so many quarterbacks are eager to cut and run at the first sign of competition, something the Alabama program suddenly knows all about following multiple quarterback transfers over the last few months, it’s refreshing to see an elite prospect understand that he could benefit from the competition — instead of taking the easy route and running from it.

Whether Tagovailoa sees the field or not in 2017, given his massive talent and performance on the camp circuit, you can expect the young player to consistently push Hurts all season long. No matter how much Hurts progresses in his second season in Tuscaloosa, a true freshman will likely only be a play away from running the Alabama offense should the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year need to miss any action. Thankfully for the Tide, the team now has a backup eager to compete for that playing time and not looking to run from it.

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