Tayden Kaawa had already passed the eye test a long time ago. But Orem High School football coach Lance Reynolds remembers the exact moment when his 2026 quarterback began his trajectory toward Alabama football. Kaawa was brand new at Orem, a high school on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah. The junior quarterback was six practices in, having just transferred from Hawaii. And Reynolds challenged him with a play the Tigers used to run for wide receiver Puka Nacua. The future Los Angeles Rams receiver would run a deep post, with all other receivers running routes underneath to distract the opposing defense. It’s a play, Reynolds said, Orem hadn’t run in years. Kaawa was the quarterback to bring it back, throwing the deep post with ease to a receiver who glided into the end zone, igniting “cheesy grins” from Reynolds and his offensive coordinator.
“You know when a quarterback looks like he’s not really throwing it that hard?” Reynolds told the Tuscaloosa News. “But because of the sequence of his mechanics, it just sprung off his hand and went forever.”
That moment separated Kaawa from the rest, Reynolds said. It’s a moment that gave Kaawa, now a 6-foot-5, 225-pound signal caller, ownership to view himself as a major recruit, resulting in a confidence and swagger that caught the Crimson Tide’s attention. That confidence is why, despite Alabama already having a 2026 quarterback committed in Jett Thomalla, Kaawa saw his future with the Crimson Tide, joining its class July 22 and giving Alabama its first class with multiple quarterbacks since 2023.
“They are going to have a competitor,” Kaawa said of the Crimson Tide. “They are going to have a great quarterback when my time is there. They are going to have someone who works hard, someone who puts in the work and who loves to compete.” But the situation Kaawa chose at Alabama was not a unique one.
Reynolds said Kaawa was down to two finalists in his recruitment: the Crimson Tide, with Thomalla, and BYU, which already had two quarterback commitments including California five-star Ryder Lyons.
While Alabama already has Thomalla in 2026, joining a room that could bring back each of its three 2025 members — Ty Simpson, Austin Mack and Keelon Russell — in 2026, the Crimson Tide made it clear to Kaawa that a two-quarterback class in 2026 was always the goal.
“Just because of the situation they might be in,” Kaawa said when asked why Alabama took multiple quarterbacks. “It depends who starts next year and who leaves. It makes sense that they are going after a couple quarterbacks because a couple quarterbacks might leave next year.”
Mack was Kaawa’s player host on his Alabama official visit during the last weekend in June. Kaawa said Mack described Alabama as the place that has “helped his stock,” adding that it’s a “great school for him (and a) great school to help him get to his goals.”
Kaawa said he hasn’t met Thomalla in person yet, but that they have introduced themselves to each other via text along with being in a group chat along with the rest of Alabama’s 2026 class. But Kaawa’s decision was more than just about the path to playing time.
Kaawa already had a deep connection with new Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who connected with the quarterback when he was at Washington. Kaawa trusts Grubb and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan and their ability to develop and train quarterbacks.
Ultimately, Kaawa is looking ahead, looking to emulate Hawaiian quarterbacks he grew up watching like Dillon Gabriel, Marcus Mariota and Tua Tagovailoa.
“(Alabama puts), probably, the most players into the league,” Kaawa said. “My dream is to go to the NFL, and I think that’s the best stop for me to get there.” Reynolds said the Alabama scheme is tailor-made for a quarterback like Kaawa, who describes himself as more of a pocket passer with escapability. And in terms of the level of football, “it just doesn’t get much higher,” Reynolds said.
“It’s pretty hard to say no to going and playing at Alabama,” Reynolds said. “That’s a pretty big draw.”
In his first season at Orem after two seasons of high school football in Hawaii, Kaawa had 2,890 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and nine interceptions, adding four touchdown rushes with 318 rushing yards, per MaxPreps.
Kaawa is not a finished product. But that’s another thing that separates Kaawa from the rest, Reynolds said. Reynolds describes Kaawa as a “yes sir, no sir” type of player, one who sees potential in himself, but also willingly plays the long game with his footwork, accuracy, speed and decision making.
“What he has that a lot of other guys don’t have is that long-term outlook and the patience that it takes to see the fruits of your efforts,” Reynolds said. “A lot of quarterbacks will make an adjustment for a week and they expect massive results… But Tayden will stay the course and keep working at it.” That’s what Alabama is getting, Reynolds said. Kaawa is not afraid to work. He trusts the process and knows what the grind will get him.
It’s what Kaawa said he’s going to have to do as one of two quarterbacks in Alabama’s 2026 class. “No matter where you go, you are going to have to compete,” Kaawa said. “I don’t mind competing with another quarterback coming in at the same time as me.”
