Steve Sarkisian remembers specific details, including weather, about first meeting with Tua Tagovailoa
By Keith Farner
Published:
Steve Sarkisian was the head coach at Southern Cal when he got his first glimpse of Tua Tagovailoa.
It was five years ago, and now the Alabama offensive coordinator is trying to draw up plays to get the most out of his junior quarterback. Sarkisian, at a recent media day, recalled that first meeting in Hawaii watching the young left-hander go to work.
“I’ll never forget,” Sarkisian said, according to AL.com, “he was in high school, the 10th grade, and it was a really windy, windy day in Hawaii, and he was cutting the wind. I mean it was extremely accurate, not only stood out to me and still does to this day.”
That original meeting helped the transition this year when Sarkisian took over the offense, he said.
Tagovailoa, who owns the Alabama single-season passing touchdowns record with 43, is coming off a Heisman Trophy runnerup season and Sarkisian has seen the development first hand.
“Now after watching him play college football, studying the tape, being attentive in spring ball, he’s a very instinctive player,” Sarkisian said. “He has a natural feel for passing the football and the passing game. Just on that note, I think those two things stand out to me – his ability to stay accurate regardless of the elements and his quick release, and then the instincts he plays with.”
Sarkisian is the third offensive coordinator in three seasons for Tagovailoa. But the assistant coach is focusing on the offense working through progressions this season as the next step in his progress as a quarterback.
“We really felt if we could continue to grow in that area of full progression reads so that people … you know, when you become one-dimensional in some capacity,” Sarkisian said, “you do a few things well… our feeling is the more things you do well, the harder you are to defend. We thought that was an area we thought we could improve in. I think Tua has bought into that. He’s worked extremely hard. He’s shown drastic improvement. I think the receivers see it as well.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
