Backup QB job attracts determined candidate
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
It was Friday, the last day of Taylor Humphrey's high school life, and there was a final exam to take, yearbooks to sign, a graduation to attend, and ...
Weights to lift, sprints to run, and more University of Hawai'i football game film to pore over?
"To say he is dedicated is an understatement," said John Wade, Humphrey's coach at Miramonte High in Orinda, Calif.
Indeed, when June Jones said he would open up the competition for the role of senior quarterback Tim Chang's backup to include three incoming freshmen, Humphrey took the Warriors' coach at his word.
For Humphrey, the competition for the pole position in the race to replace Chang in 2005 began on Feb. 4, the day he signed his national letter of intent to attend UH. Not Aug. 8, the day camp begins. It is part of what makes him an intriguing prospect.
"What more could you ask for?" Humphrey said. "We're coming in (for) our freshman year, and we get a chance to show what we can do."
This recruiting class, heralded for its quarterbacks — Tyler Graunke, Arizona's single-season high school passing yardage (3,372) record holder; Brandon Satcher, the South Carolina player of the year (3,330 yards), and Humphrey, the San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area quarterback of the year (3,700 yards) — will provide competition for junior Kainoa Akina and redshirt freshman Jack Rolovich.
"It is going to come down to who wants it most, who's in the best shape, who knows the most," Humphrey said. "Hopefully, I can put myself in that position."
People who know him say the already well-focused Humphrey has had a laser-like fix on preparing for it. So, when Humphrey was honored at a recent sports banquet and the event ran late, Wade wasn't surprised to have the quarterback ask to borrow the keys to the school's weight room at 10 p.m., or that the lights stayed on until 11:30 p.m.
On weekends, Humphrey and Desmond Thomas, a wide receiver from Vallejo, Calif., who also signed with UH, work out together. There have been regular sessions with Roger Theder, a former California head coach and NFL assistant who tutors draft hopefuls, to work on fundamentals. Always, there is film study.
"He's gotten video cut-ups of the plays they (the Warriors) run against an assortment of defenses, and watches them over and over," Wade said. "Ever since he committed to Hawai'i, that's all he has talked about — playing for the (Warriors)," Theder said.
That the Warriors and Humphrey got together is undoubtedly attributable to his shade-under-6-foot size. "That's the only negative on him," Theder said. "But in Hawai'i's shotgun, he'll fit in real well."
Small wonder, perhaps, that Humphrey's cell phone message these days ends with a "Mahalo!"
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
