Turning Young and Talented into Productive
Mitchell excited to work with a young QB room
Mike Brohard
At a position where experience is coveted, Matt Mitchell is basically working inside a Romper Room.
Two true freshmen quarterbacks. A pair who are redshirt freshmen, a redshirt sophomore and a redshirt junior. Combined, they account for two games started. The two currently vying for the top spot – Hauss Hejny and K’saan Farrar – have thrown 28 college passes.
Good thing Mitchell has a reputation for building up young quarterbacks.
“He got a true freshman ready for a big-time college football season in the Big 12. That true freshman, Bear (Bachmeier), led BYU to the Big 12 championship, they went 11-1 and won a lot of games, and he was super productive, had some of the best freshman numbers ever. Kudos to Coach Mitch for making sure he's ready to go.
“He took care of the ball last season, did a lot of great stuff, and was super efficient on offense. So, I can see a translation like that happening here, no matter who's the quarterback. And whoever's out there on the field is going to be efficient and going to do really good, and Coach Mitch is going to make sure we're prepared. He's done it before and did it recently.”
Bachmeier was the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year after throwing for 3,033 yards and 15 touchdowns, adding 527 rushing yards with 11 touchdowns as the Cougars went 12-2 and played for the conference championship.
Mitchell wasn’t brought in to reinvent the wheel or to rinse and repeat what he did at a previous stop. He doesn’t walk into meeting with his quarterbacks concerned about their age or what they have or haven’t seen. He’s just trying to get this group ready for the upcoming season.
In some ways, young can be good. There’s no inherent bad habits to be ironed out, just laying the groundwork for what’s expected in the here and now of Colorado State football.
“There's probably some positives to that. I haven't thought about that very much, to be honest with you,” Mitchell said as spring camp came to a close. “You know, we got sharp guys who know football and are continuing to be developed, and so I'm pleased with where they're at.
“I think there's an element of that. Coach (Pryce Tracy (the offensive coordinator) and I see the game very similarly. That's part of why we're together. His training of K’saan last year has really helped a lot, because he and I are on the same page, so that's been nice, that K’saaan's had that accelerated process.
“Hauss has been into high-level college programs as well, like this place, and knows football as well. Darius (Curry) has played in games, and so, there are some benefits, for sure.”
After just a few months working with Mitchell, Hejny and Farrar both say they feel they are better quarterbacks now than when they first arrived. There’s the way Mitchell speaks to them, coaches them through the ups and downs of a practice and camp as a whole. There’s a calmness in how he corrects mistakes and imparts wisdom.
By no means is it kid’s gloves, but tough love with the feeling the emphasis is coming from the latter part.
“If you mess up he'll like bring you over, talk to you, ask you what you think, and if you're OK, alright. If you just gotta come back shorter, or lay him a little more, or put it on the body, put it on his hands, things like that,” Farrar said. “For me, it’s been touch on the ball. Every pass doesn't have to be 100 miles per hour. He tells us, like, tender, loving care.”
Mitchell has a few buzz phrases the room has caught on to. Poise in the moment. When emotions get high, intelligence goes down.
We've had really, really good competition this spring, excellent. I've been super pleased with that, and it makes those guys better.Matt Mitchell
He also talks about the imaginary line when it comes to quarterbacks and how it was valuable to him when working with Bachmeier then and his group now.
“I think what I learned was there's a fine line. You’ve got to be careful putting too much on the QB,” Mitchell said. “That's a little bit of an imaginary line by each guy. You want to be sophisticated and complex enough where you're hard for the defense, but you don't want to be so complex that you're paralyzing your quarterback at the line of scrimmage. It's a tough process.”
An individual one, too. Hejny has seen it in action during practice. He trusts Mitchell to call plays based on what his strengths are, understanding he’s going to make him work on things which may not fall in his wheelhouse currently.
All the quarterbacks understand they have to be prepared for anything, to do anything, should the opponent, the situation or a combination of the two collide on game day.
“I think that's what good coaches do. They adapt to whatever kind of players they have, especially at the quarterback position,” Hejny said. “You can have a certain type of offense, but if you have this quarterback who can't operate in that offense, how good is that offense going to be?
“I think these coaches have done a good job. Like when K’saan, me or DC is on the field, they call plays based on our strengths and what we're good at. And they also, since we're in spring ball, they call plays that maybe they think we need to do a better job and improve on. They're calling plays out there that normally I'm not comfortable with, but they want to see me improve on it. So I appreciate that because I can get the reps. So, by the time season comes around, I have that play call and I'm ready to execute and have it under my belt.”
Farrar and Hejny are the frontrunners to land the starting job, though a decision on that remains light years away, it feels like. Again, both quarterbacks feel that’s made them better players, kept them on their toes with a prize to chase. They feed off each other, and to that extent, what Curry has done, too.
Then there are the two even younger quarterbacks, Darnell Kelly and Carter Emanuel, both of whom could still be in high school but are getting a head start on their careers. They are just as much a part of the enjoyment for Mitchell.
“For sure. I mean, that's part of why you love to do these things,” Mitchell said. “You love to see kids develop, and get better, and grow. This position, sometimes growth isn't always just straight up. There's ups and downs, and ups and downs, and ultimately, over time, you want to continue to grow and get better. And so, that's been fun. They're great kids. They work hard. They're sharp. They're talented. So, I've been pleased with them.”
Being at the top of the depth chart or learning the ropes, the room is sticking together, the closeness in age and time on campus something which draws them even closer together than playing the same position.
What one does, another can learn from. What one understands, he can explain to the guy sitting next to him.
“It's like we all in it together. It's like we mess up together, and like we all learn from each other's mistakes and stuff like that,” Farrar said. “It’s not like one guy is two or three years older than everybody else. It builds us together because we’re all close in age.”
The good part about the quarterback battle is it stems from the performance. The guys at the top have both given the staff confidence they can be productive on offense no matter which one is taking the snaps. The good days have stacked for both, so clear separation has yet to be established.
It’s a good problem to have. Especially considering the deadline for a decision doesn’t come until Sept. 5. Let them both keep pushing each other to be better. That’s best for all involved.
“It's funny. I think it's my 12th season I want to say, and I've looked back on when I was a part of a really good team with really good quarterback play, typically it coincided with a QB competition,” Mitchell said. “We've had really, really good competition this spring, excellent. I've been super pleased with that, and it makes those guys better. Being pushed makes you better, and those guys are being pushed, and so I've been pleased.”
What the group doesn’t have in actual game experience, Mitchell and the rest of the offensive staff is trying to create in practice and scrimmages. Every day of spring ball was designed to give them something new to consider, or a chance to do it better a second or third time.
The player who wins the job is going to have to prove they’re ready in practice, which is why each drill, every period, had an assigned purpose.
“Practice is everything. I think the biggest way you can grow a quarterback, in my opinion, is through reps. And we're getting a lot of reps,” Mitchell said. “You know, Coach (Jim Mora) gives us a lot of reps, so that's happening and that's a benefit to our room, obviously.
“We do, for example, 2-minute every day. And Coach does a great job of putting us in different situations. Already things have come up, where it's, oh, that's good for the coaches too. We're getting developed in those situations. And I've gotten better in situational football. But, you know, the biggest thing that we talk about is consistency in your execution.”
Which a quarterback can do regardless of age or experience. A fact Mitchell has seen firsthand.
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