Pat Dye played in the SEC in the early 1960s, and later coached in the conference for the better part of three decades, so he's seen a lot of great quarterbacks.

The former Georgia All-American and Auburn head coach was a guest on the Paul Finebaum Show on Friday, and told the SEC Network host that Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa is near the top of the list. That includes Crimson Tide legends (and Pro Football Hall of Famers) Joe Namath and Ken Stabler.

"He's as good as I've seen in the conference, ever," Dye said. "Somebody asked me about Namath and Stabler. ... Tua's better than both of them."

Finebaum paused, then asked Dye if he was really saying what he thought he was saying. Dye didn't back down.

"Sure he is," Dye said. "He's better than both of them. He's got to ... do what they've done. Tua's got that future in front of him. Have you seen him doing anything wrong?"

You can listen the entire interview HERE. The portion about Tagovailoa begins at about 24:10.