LAS VEGAS >> College football’s search for quarterbacks is expanding from high school and junior college campuses.
Five of the six teams in the Mountain West Conference’s West Division have quarterbacks who began their careers at FBS schools.
Hawaii’s Max Wittek redshirted in 2014 after transferring from USC. A year after Duke transfer Brandon Connette’s lone season at Fresno State, quarterback Ford Childress transferred from West Virgnia. San Diego State has two transfer quarterbacks — Jake Rodrigues, who redshirted last year after switching from Oregon, and Maxwell Smith from Kentucky. Austin Kafentzis, who was on Wisconsin’s roster this past spring, is seeking an exemption that would allow him to play at Nevada this fall.
San Jose State does not have a quarterback transfer. But four years ago, the Spartans added Tate Forcier, who began his career at Michigan and then made — and withdrew — a pledge to enroll at Miami.
Wyoming, which competes in the MWC’s Mountain Division, might start Cameron Coffman, who redshirted last year after transferring from Indiana.
Unlike freshman recruits, transfers are presumably more mature with extensive training at the FBS level. Defending MWC champion Boise State prefers the high school route. "If Russell Wilson wants to come to Boise State, yeah, we’ll probably find a way to make it work," said BSU coach Bryan Harsin, a reference to the Seattle Seahawk quarterback’s move from N.C. State to Wisconsin for his final college season. "You’d have to pursue a guy like that. It’s hard not to."
As Arkansas State head coach a couple years ago, Harsin approved quarterback Adam Kennedy’s transfer from Utah State.
"He was a guy who came in and played one year for us, and he was fantastic," Harsin said. "I really believe if we had been there, and he had another year with us, he’d be a top-10 quarterback, no doubt about it. He helped us win a championship and bowl game at Arkansas State."
NCAA rules require transfers to redshirt a season at their new school. The loophole is a player does not have to redshirt if he earns a bachelor’s degree and enrolls in a graduate program not offered at his previous school. Sean Schroeder made use of the exemption when he transferred from Duke to UH in 2012. Childress and Smith also were graduate transfers. Everett Golson earned a degree at Notre Dame and then moved to Florida State. Wittek was just shy of a USC degree when he transferred to UH. But he used the redshirt season to hone his skills and bond with teammates. Wittek is UH’s No. 1 quarterback and a co-captain.
New Mexico coach Bob Davie was raised in Pittsburgh, where he admired the players who spent their entire careers with the Steelers or Pirates.
"Even free agency in pro sports, with the changing rosters, I don’t like it," Davie said. "So maybe I’m an old fart and traditionalist. But for guys who come in and play one season (after playing) four seasons at another place, is that what we really want?"
Running back Dee Hart earned a bachelor’s degree at Alabama in August 2014, transferred to Colorado State, then departed at the end of the season. "To come in and play 12 games and be gone, I don’t think that’s what college football is," Davie said.
Still, Davie signed safety Travis Green, who transferred after graduating from Kansas State, and would "welcome with open arms" other graduate transfers. But Davie said, "Let’s call it what it is,"and the moves are designed to "maximize" a player’s options.
"To say it’s because of our graduate-school program and athletic administration, I don’t think that was the deciding factor," Davie said.
