Former Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa's waiver for an additional year of eligibility has been denied, sources told ESPN.
The waiver was denied despite coach Nick Saban and Alabama writing a strong plea to the NCAA in support.
As a result, Tagovailoa, who had entered the transfer portal this month, will begin training for the NFL draft.
When he entered the portal, Tagovailoa told ESPN that he had requested a reinstatement waiver from the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.
Tagovailoa played five seasons, including his freshman year at Alabama in 2019. He became the Big Ten's all-time passing leader over his next four years at Maryland, throwing for 11,256 yards. The 2020 season does not count toward eligibility due to COVID-19 pandemic rules, which would have left Tagovailoa with one more year if he had redshirted in 2019.
The waiver request centered on Tagovailoa playing in five games as the third-string quarterback at Alabama in 2019, playing just two snaps against Duke and another two at Mississippi State. He played 22 snaps last week at Western Carolina. The maximum threshold for redshirting is playing four games.
Tagovailoa had said the waiver request to add back the year of eligibility is due to the circumstances surrounding that fifth game. The waiver case brought by Alabama revolved around the school's failure to track down two plays Tagovailoa took in the season opener against Duke.
Maryland submitted the waiver on behalf of Tagovailoa, who said Alabama has been very supportive of him in the process and there are no hard feelings toward the coaching staff.
Tagovailoa projects as a Day 3 pick and was hoping another year could help him.
He has 77 career touchdown passes, one of which came during that 2019 season at Alabama. He completed over 66% of his passes in his final three years at Maryland.
