A young Alabama fan runs over to Tua Tagovailoa after the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio and asks for a picture. Tagovailoa, with a smile, says yes and crouches into a pose. But before the camera phone clicks, Tagovailoa inserts a little Hawaiian charm into the proceedings.

"Hold your hand like this," Tagovailoa tells the boy, showing him the "shaka" sign (sticking his thumb and pinky finger out while folding his three middle fingers), a classic greeting in Hawaii. He instructs him to say "aloha."

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Outside of its designation as a preeminent tourist attraction, the "Aloha State" is known for exporting honey bees and pineapple, but recently its most notable contribution to mainland culture might just be its quarterbacks.

Six years ago a prep star named Marcus Mariota popped out of St. Louis High School in Honolulu and exploded at the University of Oregon. He won a Heisman Trophy, took the Ducks to the national title game and became the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

This time, Hawaii is giving college football Tua Tagovailoa.

A five-star prospect from that same island high school power, those in America’s 50th state say the 6-foot-1, 212-pound lefty is a lot like Marcus. In fact, kids down there are now saying they "want to be like Tua."

“Tua is like the second-coming of Marcus Mariota,” Vinny Passas, who served as both Marcus’ and Tua’s quarterback coach, told 247Sports. “They all want to be like him.”

Already enrolled at Alabama, Tagovailoa is 247Sports’ No. 1-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2017. He’s yet another signal caller to pop up from Hawaii, something that seems to happen pretty frequently for a state with a population of just 1.42 million.

First came Timmy Chang, who sent NCAA records at Hawaii. Several years passed before Mariota won every possible award at Oregon. Now there’s Tagovailoa. If you look a little ways out into the surf, you can also see Tua's brother, Taulia, a 2019 signal-caller with Alabama and Oregon offers, and Sol-Jay Maiava, a quarterback in the 2020 class with an early Michigan offer.

To understand why Hawaii produces these passing stars, one must first eliminate a stigma that surrounds football in that state. On an island they may play, but kids in Hawaii still perform on the same hash-marked field as everyone else.

“Everybody thinks we only got sand to play on,” Tagovailoa told 247Sports.

With that out of the way, there are a couple possible explanations for Hawaii’s QB production success. Tagovailoa suggests struggle. Despite the idea of paradise, things for the natives aren’t always the easiest. Housing is expensive, prices are bloated and jobs can be scarce.

Tagovailoa said many kids in Hawaii view football as a way out.

“It costs to live in paradise,” Tagovailoa said. “The difference is a lot of the kids come from struggle, so you see a lot of passion coming into the game. Kids love to hit down there.”

Tagovailoa said he comes from that type of struggle with his family living pay check to pay check. He also liked to tackle, playing defensive end, linebacker, safety and fullback before finally settling full-time at quarterback.

As for Passas, who’s coached all of the great Hawaiian quarterbacks, he has a much simpler explanation.

“We have camps every weekend during the offseason where everyone wants to get better and sharpen up their games for the camp circuit,” Passas said. “It’s just simple hard work like everywhere else.”

Chang paved the way at the University of Hawaii from 2001-04 where he set the NCAA’s all-time passing mark for completions and yards. But it’s Mariota who has served as the spark for players in Tagovailoa’s generation.

Actually, he’s one of the main reasons Tagovailoa is the quarterback he is.

Passas, like he always has, hosted quarterback camps while Mariota was in high school. He’d have 50-60 quarterbacks in attendance each weekend, and he’d split the players by age group. Mariota, of course, went with the high school and college-age kids. But if one looked closely, you’d have seen a nine-year-old Tagovailoa hiding behind Mariota in the big kid line.

Tagovailoa would compete with the older boys – even if they didn’t want him there.

“For a nine-year-old, if you could imagine yourself as a high school quarterback or even a college quarterback, dropping as many dimes as you, and you have to follow him on the throw, everybody is giving you shit,” Passas said. “Nobody wants to follow him. Everyone wanted to chase him away. Marcus just said, ‘Hang out with me and you’ll be alright. Just keep making them throws.’"

Dimes are still being dropped nine years later, and Tagovailoa still relies on Mariota for advice.

“Marcus is just a great role model,” Tagovailoa said.

Tagovailoa will likely be reaching out to Mariota, who plays for the Tennessee Titans, while at Alabama. Tuscaloosa and Nashville are just four hours apart, and Tagovailoa will need plenty of advising with the Crimson Tide.

There, he’ll compete with freshman star and SEC Offensive Player of the Year, Jalen Hurts, for Alabama’s starting role. To pick Alabama is a decision that left many shaking their heads on the islands. After all, why go to Alabama where a true freshman is already established? Passas heard that all the time, but he also knows those asking the question clearly don't know Tagovailoa.

“I take my hat off for him to keep competing there,” Passas said. “They always play the best guy, and that’s why he chose Alabama. He’ll challenge that spot there. He’s enrolled already. He’s got his foot halfway in the door.”

Normally, Hawaiian players end up on the West Coast for college, and indeed, the early predictions for Tagovailoa in the 247Sports Crystal Ball were Oregon, USC and UCLA. But Tagovailoa wanted to be different. The culture might be a bit of a departure – you won’t find much southern fried food or Bama bangs on the islands – but Tagovailoa knows the football is the same.

He also hopes to create veins of collegiate opportunity for future players from Hawaii outside of the West Coast.

“I thought it’d be awesome for someone to go to the East Coast,” Tagovailoa said. “To have someone open the door to get somebody to the East Cost.”

With Tagovailoa in Tuscaloosa (about as east as those Hawaiian stars tend to go), that door is now open for the next generation of signal callers from the island.

It won’t take long, either. Tagovailoa’s brother, Taulia, is in the 2019 class and is already building on his brother's legacy, just at a different school (Kapolei). Maiava, another St. Louis product, is a dual-threat in the 2020 class and one of the few quarterbacks that young to hold any sort of offer.

“He’s taking a big step for kids our age,” Maiava told 247Sports. “It just shows anybody else can do it from Hawaii like him. I look up to (Tua and Mariota). Shoot, they’re idols. We’re like little kids running around, ‘Oh yeah, Tua!’"

Tua knows there will be more quarterbacks from the islands down the pipe.

He’s the one providing the inspiration now, after all.

“Tua gives a lot of people in Hawaii hope they can be like him one day,” Passas said.