Not many people have a better grasp of the Alabama program than SEC Network host Paul Finebaum. So when the Tua Tagovailoa news came about him leaving for the NFL, Finebaum was an obvious destination for reaction.

Finebaum in a conversation with Peter Burns on the SEC Network said that he saw when there was a “black out” over the weekend that sentiment shifted from the notion that Tagovailoa would return, to thinking that he would leave.

“I think what happened was simply that he probably wanted to come back, he got caught up being with all his buddies and that word kept being disseminated,” Finebaum said. “We all heard the same thing. I was never 100 percent sure why everyone was hearing the same thing, other than someone in his family, and I have a pretty good idea of who it was, was steering the direction toward that.”

Finebaum believes when Tagovailoa went to New York on Friday to get another medical opinion and meeting with NFL executives that “everything changed.”

“I think he got a better indication of where he was with the NFL, and it was not a difficult decision,” Finebaum said, referring to recovery from hip surgery and his prospects for the NFL Draft. “He was optimistic by what he would hear. He’s being looked at by some of the best people in the world, even in Birmingham. So I don’t think he heard anything that was shocking. We all know, it’s a business decision and I frankly felt as if he was taking a bigger risk staying than leaving. By leaving, he is still going to be a high pick, I think everyone has said that. By staying, what if he gets hurt again and then nobody would want anything to do with him at that point.”