Tua telling Lia to turn down a $1.5M Auburn offer says much about the Tigers and the Crimson Tide

The business of college football has more interesting storylines than ever before. The recent most interesting is not about the claim the Alabama Crimson Tide tampered to land Miami-Ohio transfer, Graham Nicholson. Kalen DeBoer denies the accusation and the facts are Nicholson was in the Transfer Portal for a week before he announced a transfer to Alabama.

The far more interesting story is about the Tagovailoa family and the attempt by Auburn to lure Taulia away from Maryland. In a new book, The Price, co-authored by the highly respected Armen Keteyian, it is reported that Auburn offered Lia, a cool $1.5M to join the Tigers.

According to the book, Lia was very interested in landing a strong NIL deal and Maryland could not compete at the $1m-plus level. Galu Tagovailoa was uber-active in shaping the football careers of both his sons. There were repeated rumors that Galu pushed for Lia to transfer from Maryland to Miami.

Tua a Crimson Tide Gump Story

What did happen is Lia decided to take much less money and remain at Maryland. A big reason why Lia said no to Auburn was because Tua said no way. In The Price, Tua is reported to have said, "We're an Alabama family. You're not going to Auburn."

Alabama football fans will be calling that a prime 'Gump' story for many years. And it might have been that simple; that big brother held as much sway over Lia as Galu. It is important to remember that Tua and then Alabama OC, Mike Locksley developed a close relationship while together in Tuscaloosa.

Locksley and the Maryland program could not afford to lose Taulia. Locksley was relieved when a six-figure NIL deal was enough for Lia to remain with the Terrapins. Locksley said, "I got a homeboy discount because we ain't paying him one point five [million]." It is believed Maryland would have done so if the funds had been available, but they were not.

What does the story say about the Auburn program and about Hugh Freeze? The Tigers ended up with Payton Thorne instead. Many college football fans would guess the Big Ten all-time passing yards leader is Drew Brees. But Taulia surpassed Brees and another Purdue QB, Cutis Painter by compiling 11,256 passing yards. Taulia would have been much better for Auburn than Thorne. With a significantly larger offer than Maryland, Auburn failing to land Lia says much about Auburn and Freeze.