It’s definitely interesting to think about: What if Jake Fromm had never de-committed from Alabama and signed with Georgia? What would the Bulldogs’ fate have been?
For that matter, what about Alabama? Would the Crimson Tide be the defending national champion? Would history actually have been changed?
“I’ve got no idea. I guess the only thing I can say is, it is what it is,” Fromm said Monday. “I just know I’m playing in this game, so let’s go.”
Here’s another assumption that likely would have proven true—Jacob Eason would probably still be a Georgia Bulldog.
Eason was supplanted by Fromm and transferred after the addition of Justin Fields, heading west to Washington. There he sat out this past season, due to the NCAA’s transfer rule.
What about Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Would he even be quarterbacking the Crimson Tide? The Hawaii native was asked during a Monday teleconference what might have happened if Fromm had remained a member of the Crimson Tide.
“Honestly, I'm not too sure. I didn't know that Jake was committed here before I committed. My father kind of implied we should come here,” Tagovailoa said. “I thought it would be easier for us as a family to stay on the West Coast, but it was more so a family decision to come to the university, and it's one of those things where it's cultural. So it's what my parents wanted more than what I wanted, you know? It’s worked out great.”
Not that necessarily telling Nick Saban no was an easy conversation to have.
Quite the contrary.
“It was a very long conversation,” Fromm recalled. “It was pretty long, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. It was a tough one. It was probably one of the toughest things I ever had to do at the time, with however old I was. It was tough. I’m sure he didn’t like that very much, but it was a 'me' decision, a family decision, and something that’s worked out for me so far.”
Fromm and Tagovailoa are actually very good friends. The two got to know each other during the recruiting process, and actually hung out together over the summer at various quarterback camps.
"He comes from a really good family,” Tagovailoa said. “His mom’s really nice, and his dad’s really nice—both awesome people. I think it’s his foundation. He has a really strong faith background. I do, too; I think that’s kind of where we click.”
Fromm has certainly had no regrets with the path he decided to take.
As the sophomore gets ready to lead the Bulldogs (11-1) against the undefeated and top-ranked Crimson Tide (12-0), he does so with a different level of confidence than he did back in January.
Kirby Smart said, “I don't think it hurts anything. But this year is a different year. The fact he's played 11 games, 12 games; I don't even know how many games he's played. That has more to do with it than who we played—the fact he's played and gotten experience. He's gone against our defense all spring, all fall, and he goes in all these games and plays. That's more valuable than just playing Alabama. But the fact that he played against them last year, sometimes that helps.”
Fromm believes that it will.
“Yeah, definitely now after playing so many games, you really start to develop a process that works for you. And I think we definitely have a good one here. And we definitely feel a lot more comfortable in this game. We know what to expect and what the atmosphere is going to be like,” Fromm said. “So, you can really kind of buckle that out. Hey, you know, I've been here before. It comes down to playing between the lines. There’s going to be 11 guys that line up across from us. Let’s just try and go out and score as many points as we can.”