Kiffin wants Dolphins to draft Tua
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin hasn’t given up on the “Tank for Tua.”
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who suffered a season-ending hip injury in the Crimson Tide’s 38-7 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday, has been linked to the Dolphins all season. He was considered the favorite to be selected No. 1 in the 2020 NFL draft before getting injured.
The Dolphins, who have a 2-8 record, still have a chance of getting the No. 1 pick and currently hold three first-round picks.
“He’d be right here,” Kiffin said. “It sounds like they need a quarterback. It’d be pretty good for him. The weather’s a bit like Hawaii, so it’d be good for his family.”
Kiffin, who was Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16, recruited Tagovailoa to Alabama before taking over the Owls’ head-coaching reins in December 2016.
He tagged the Dolphins’ official Twitter account in a tweet about Tagovailoa, saying
“Will always remember on [Tagovailoa’s] recruiting visit he was holding a bible study with recruiting hostesses!”
When asked why he tagged the Dolphins, Kiffin responded, “So I can hang out w[ith] him and get the [Dolphins] in the super bowl.”
Kiffin said Tagovailoa is an awesome kid who comes from a great family and called him a “one of a million type deal.”
“After going to see him, you always try to compare guys to someone,” Kiffin said. “I thought he was like Steve Young with how smooth he was, how quick his release was, left-hander, the ability to move around.”
Kiffin said he was “really upset” about Tagovailoa’s injury, which came when Alabama led 35-7 with three minutes left in the first half. He tweeted that he was “beyond sad” about the injury and that he almost broke his TV watching it happen.
“It was just a sad deal,” Kiffin said. “Everyone has a reason for when they play people, but it was just really difficult to watch. I was sitting there watching it saying ‘why is he going back in?’ and I almost jinxed it in my own head so I was even more mad when it happened.”