Taulia Tagovailoa has found a home in College Park, but hasn’t forgotten his roots in Ewa Beach

Ewa Beach, located along the southern shore of the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, runs less than two square miles and is a mere 10 feet above sea level. 

Consisting of roughly 15,000 people according to a 2010 U.S. Census, Ewa Beach is largely known for its stunning golf courses and its native fishponds, which are used to cultivate fish from the Pacific Ocean.

For Taulia Tagovailoa, it’s home.

Tagovailoa, who transferred to Maryland from the University of Alabama ahead of the 2020 NCAA Season, grew up in this small town, about 40 minutes outside of Honolulu. He was raised by Samoan-born parents Galu and Diane alongside current Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua, and two sisters, Taylor and Taysia.

“Growing up as a kid, the biggest thing was seeing my friends, seeing my cousins and stuff like that,” Tagovailoa said. “My parents, they always gave us everything we needed. Everything and everywhere we went was family.”

A former four-star high school recruit, Tagovailoa has now cemented his place among the most talented signal callers in Maryland history after leading the Terps to their first winning season since 2014 — setting records in the process.

While his performance was a welcome surprise for many of the Maryland faithful, those close to Taulia saw something like this coming for a long time.

As a freshman Tagovailoa attended nearby Kapolei High School, just five miles from his hometown. It was at Kapolei where Tagovailoa first burst on the scene, reaching stardom under head coach Darren Hernandez.

“I wasn’t big on promoting freshmen to the varsity level, especially at quarterback. I had never had a ninth grader play varsity at quarterback,” Hernandez said. “After about three games, Taulia started to separate himself on the varsity level.”

Tagovailoa’s success began almost instantly, as he threw for 367 yards in his first career start.

“It was huge to me [to make varsity],” Tagovailoa said. “I was kind of freaked out. But as I kept playing and the more experience I got, the more comfortable I got.”

In two seasons at quarterback for the Hurricanes, Tagovailoa racked up 6,703 passing yards along with 64 touchdown passes en route to a 16-7 overall record.

Following his sophomore season and Tua’s enrollment at the University of Alabama, the entire Tagovailoa family moved to the mainland. Taulia finished out his high school career at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama. 

“When Lia came in, it was such a great transition,” Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said. “Lia has a natural born leadership mentality. He was very conscious of his teammates and the people around him that he was gonna play with. Lia did a great job of committing to the school here, meeting new people, and just being a leader.”

Tagovailoa would finish his high school career with 14,207 passing yards between Kapolei and Thompson. If he had spent all four years in the Aloha State, that total would be good for first place in career passing yards by a long shot.

Even without this record to his credit, Tagovailoa fielded plenty of offers from Power Five schools when it came time to take his talents to the next level. From Florida, to Hawaii, to Oregon, to Syracuse, Taulia was highly coveted throughout the nation.

He ultimately chose to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, choosing Alabama for his next step.

“It was a very heavy recruiting process,” Freeman said. “As it went on I think he got some places that [he and his family] centered on, and I think that became the focus for what they were gonna try to do.”

Tagovailoa found himself third on the depth chart when he got to Alabama — backing up both his brother and another future first round pick in Mac Jones.

After being a high school star, Tagovailoa spent most of his freshman season on the bench. In his only year with the Crimson Tide, Tagovailoa attempted just 12 passes, completing 9 of them en route to 100 yards and one touchdown.

Following Tua’s departure to the NFL, Taulia also made a move — joining Mike Locksely in College Park in May of 2020. In four games in 2020, Tagovailoa threw for 1,011 yards and seven touchdowns, showing flashes of potential in his first season with the Terps.

In 2021, he got back to his standout ways.

Tagovailoa reset the Maryland record books while running the show for the Terps, setting program records for passing yards in a season (3,860), completions in a season (328), single season completion percentage (69.2%), and single season 300-yard passing games (7). His 26 passing touchdowns tied Scott Milanovich (1993) for most in a season in Maryland history. 

He enters the 2022 season with a strong chance to end up atop the Maryland record book in career passing yards and passing touchdowns, needing just 17 touchdowns and 2,431 yards to unseat Milanovich.

These feats aside, when Taulia speaks, his teammates listen. Chock full of humility, he hasn’t forgotten his roots — despite climbing to new heights.

“Ewa Beach is kind of rough, a little bit,” Tagovailoa said. “But everyone’s friendly and everyone’s just trying to make it out.”