When quarterback Sam Leavitt took his official visit to Arizona State, football coach Kenny Dillingham knew he couldn’t let him leave without getting a commitment. It was Leavitt’s time with offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo that impressed the second-year head coach.
Leavitt and Arroyo spent six hours talking football.
“It was when I said to myself, `Ok this is a guy,'” Dillingham said after Tuesday’s practice. “When you bring quarterbacks on campus, you’re interviewing them just as much as they’re interviewing you. When you sit in those meetings and talk to those guys you’re getting a blueprint of what you’re going to coach
“I walked in there in about an hour. Then I walked in there an hour and 45, then about three hours, then four. And I’m like, ‘This kid is still dialed in.’ It matters to him. He loves this crap and that’s the sign of a quarterback that can lead and win football games.”
Dillingham formally announced on Monday that Leavitt, a transfer from Michigan State, would be the starting quarterback. It was not an unexpected move. Leavitt had been getting the first team reps for most of the fall ahead of veterans Trenton Bourguet and Jeff Sims, a transfer from Nebraska.
“We just sat in the office and talked schematics,” Leavitt said of that meeting with Arroyo. “Everything about quarterback play, off the field mentally, how you carry yourself as a leader, mechanics, footwork, philosophies. “
Leavitt is the least experienced quarterback of the scholarship trio. He got minimal playing time last season as a true freshman at Michigan State. He arrived in Tempe in January and participated in spring drills, which helped him familiarize himself with his new teammates.
Leavitt said part of what drew him to Tempe was Dillingham’s success with quarterbacks, most notably first-round draft pick Bo Nix whom Dillingham…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/great-want-asu-quarterback-sam-221316713.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-08-20 22:13:16
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