Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Kendall, Allison Hunting And Fishing For Starting QB Job
April 16, 2019 04:33 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Austin Kendall will be partaking in a little turkey hunting excursion with Mountaineer football's Nature Boy, Josh Sills, this Easter weekend.
Kendall says he's never been a real big hunter, but Sills talked him into it.
"I'm excited to do different stuff," he says.
Jack Allison does not hunt and won't be part of Sills' weekend turkey ambush, but he does fish occasionally whenever he's back home in South Florida.
"I'll catch a little bass, nothing too crazy," he laughed.
Although Kendall and Allison choose different ways to spend their leisure time, they are spending a lot of time together in West Virginia's quarterback room.
Kendall is more compact and mobile than the 6-foot-6 Allison and is nimble enough to run with the football if he has to.
Allison more closely resembles Tom Brady or Peyton Manning standing tall and picturesque in the pocket, although he can tuck the ball and run with it if he has to.
Those are just a few of the dissimilarities between these two transfer quarterbacks. On the other hand, they actually have a lot more in common than you might think.
Both transferred to West Virginia from storied Power 5 football programs, Allison coming from Miami two years ago and Kendall departing Oklahoma this past January.
Both were understudies to exceptional quarterbacks, Allison playing behind Brad Kaaya in Coral Gables and Will Grier in Morgantown, and Kendall backing up Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma.
Both are now juniors who were once 4-star prospects in the same signing class - Kendall the fourth-rated pro-style quarterback from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Allison the ninth-rated pro-style quarterback from Palmetto, Florida.
Both got things backwards by going north for the winter, and both want to be West Virginia's starting quarterback when the games start counting this the fall.
We got a brief glimpse of what Allison can do during last year's Camping World Bowl loss to Syracuse when he completed 17-of-35 passes for 277 yards against the Orange.
The rest of his action came in mop-up situations when Grier was done doing his thing.
"(The Camping World Bowl) was such a huge learning experience for me," Allison said. "I got in a few times during the season, but it was more towards the end of the game where the game was dead. Just to get in there and see live bullets from the first to the fourth quarter, it was such a great experience for me and I'm grateful for it."
Kendall's body of work at OU is just as sparse, his career passing totals there consisting of 28 completions in 39 attempts for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
Allison left Miami, in part, because Al Golden - the coach who brought him there - left first, although not of his choosing.
"I committed to the University of Miami when I was a sophomore in high school, and that was a little early," Allison admitted. "Looking back, it's what I wanted to do – I loved (Miami). I loved the coaching staff that was there at the time and when I got there, I think it was within a month span of time when I enrolled, that's when they got fired.
"They brought coach (Mark) Richt in, and I love coach Richt. He's a great human being and a great coach, but it just wasn't the right fit for me. I saw Morgantown as a great college town and a place that I wanted to be a part of. They always had success. I loved the Air Raid offense and the Big 12, so it just seemed like the perfect fit for me."
Kendall left Oklahoma because he is more of a doer than a watcher and with the Sooners bringing in Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts, the chances were pretty good that Kendall was going to continue to watch.
"You're seeing two Heisman Trophy winners go out there every day and see what they do and their mentality with things, which is good," Kendall said of backing up college football's two best players the last two years. "But it's also bad that I didn't get to play a whole lot. That's probably the biggest reason why I'm here right now. I don't have a lot of playing time, but I'm here to prove people wrong. I'm excited to get my chance and I'm ready to go."
Kendall's prior relationship with WVU coach Neal Brown turned out to be the big door opener for the Mountaineers.
"It was a short period when I realized I needed to get out of Oklahoma through talking to my dad and my family," Kendall said. "Coach Brown had just gotten the job at West Virginia, so it was easy to go right to coach Brown and go, 'Alright, I know you personally, I know you from my brother playing for you at Kentucky.' So it was an easy process of knowing the guys that I trust.
"I visited Auburn and I knew coach (Gus) Malzhan and the rest of their staff pretty well, but it was a pretty easy transition because I knew (Brown) so well through personal experiences."
Both are coming to a place where transfer quarterbacks have a long history of success. Jeff Hostetler left Penn State and turned his two years at WVU into a 12-year NFL career.
Notre Dame transfer Jake Kelchner didn't make it to the league, but he did get West Virginia to the Sugar Bowl in 1994.
More recently, Florida State transfer Clint Trickett's success at WVU opened the door for the Mountaineers to pursue Grier, who left Florida. Both were immensely popular Mountaineer quarterbacks.
Now, either Kendall or Allison is likely to continue the tradition.
"I knew a lot of transfers did come into this school, so it's a good spot," Allison said.
"Everything is different," Kendall added. "We have a whole new staff here with coach Brown, so it'll all be completely different. Who knows where it's going to go? I think it's going to go up from here, which is what coach Brown has done at Kentucky, Troy and other places."
Both had their moments this spring. In last Saturday's Gold-Blue Game, Kendall had the better passing numbers completing 7-of-12 for 154 yards and a touchdown compared to Allison's 11-of-24, 112-yard one touchdown effort, but Kendall's supporting cast with the Gold squad might have been a little stronger than Allison's playing with the Blue team.
Following the scrimmage, Brown steered clear of naming a starter before heading into the summertime.
"I don't know yet," he said. "Will we have a pecking order after this? We may, but I'm not going to commit myself to anything right now. I think we've made strides at quarterback but I don't think we're ready to play a game just yet."
Both agree with their coach and say there is a lot they need to work on before camp starts in August.
Kendall says quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan is really drilling into his head that he needs to master the little things.
"I'm not going to lie, I wasn't really used to that at Oklahoma," he admitted. "We kind of did what we wanted but here they are really keyed on individual workouts through different footwork and stuff. I think it's going to pay off."
Allison said his self-improvement list is too long to detail.
"I could sit here and name everything that I want to get better at, because I think I just have such a long way to go, but (gaining weight) is just the biggest thing for me," he said.
Their coach has his own list of things he wants his two quarterbacks to work on between now and August.
"What we've got to eliminate with Austin is the negative play," Brown said. "You can't have big negative plays. I don't think he threw a pick (Saturday) which is something that he did do earlier in the spring so I think we're growing in that regard, but his feel in the pocket (needs to improve)."
It's a similar deal with Allison.
"I thought his decision making at times was better (Saturday) than it had been through the spring," Brown noted. "He throws a really nice ball. We've got to get him not to float around in the pocket. He's got to move up in the pocket and help his offensive linemen."
So, which quarterback will be out on the field when WVU battles James Madison on Saturday, Aug. 31, the turkey hunter or the occasional deep-sea fisherman?
Or what about both, or perhaps even redshirt freshman Trey Lowe III?
Stay tuned.
Kendall says he's never been a real big hunter, but Sills talked him into it.
"I'm excited to do different stuff," he says.
Jack Allison does not hunt and won't be part of Sills' weekend turkey ambush, but he does fish occasionally whenever he's back home in South Florida.
"I'll catch a little bass, nothing too crazy," he laughed.
Although Kendall and Allison choose different ways to spend their leisure time, they are spending a lot of time together in West Virginia's quarterback room.
Kendall is more compact and mobile than the 6-foot-6 Allison and is nimble enough to run with the football if he has to.
Allison more closely resembles Tom Brady or Peyton Manning standing tall and picturesque in the pocket, although he can tuck the ball and run with it if he has to.
Those are just a few of the dissimilarities between these two transfer quarterbacks. On the other hand, they actually have a lot more in common than you might think.
Both transferred to West Virginia from storied Power 5 football programs, Allison coming from Miami two years ago and Kendall departing Oklahoma this past January.
Both were understudies to exceptional quarterbacks, Allison playing behind Brad Kaaya in Coral Gables and Will Grier in Morgantown, and Kendall backing up Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma.
Both are now juniors who were once 4-star prospects in the same signing class - Kendall the fourth-rated pro-style quarterback from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Allison the ninth-rated pro-style quarterback from Palmetto, Florida.
Both got things backwards by going north for the winter, and both want to be West Virginia's starting quarterback when the games start counting this the fall.
We got a brief glimpse of what Allison can do during last year's Camping World Bowl loss to Syracuse when he completed 17-of-35 passes for 277 yards against the Orange.
The rest of his action came in mop-up situations when Grier was done doing his thing.
"(The Camping World Bowl) was such a huge learning experience for me," Allison said. "I got in a few times during the season, but it was more towards the end of the game where the game was dead. Just to get in there and see live bullets from the first to the fourth quarter, it was such a great experience for me and I'm grateful for it."
Kendall's body of work at OU is just as sparse, his career passing totals there consisting of 28 completions in 39 attempts for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
Allison left Miami, in part, because Al Golden - the coach who brought him there - left first, although not of his choosing.
"I committed to the University of Miami when I was a sophomore in high school, and that was a little early," Allison admitted. "Looking back, it's what I wanted to do – I loved (Miami). I loved the coaching staff that was there at the time and when I got there, I think it was within a month span of time when I enrolled, that's when they got fired.
"They brought coach (Mark) Richt in, and I love coach Richt. He's a great human being and a great coach, but it just wasn't the right fit for me. I saw Morgantown as a great college town and a place that I wanted to be a part of. They always had success. I loved the Air Raid offense and the Big 12, so it just seemed like the perfect fit for me."
Kendall left Oklahoma because he is more of a doer than a watcher and with the Sooners bringing in Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts, the chances were pretty good that Kendall was going to continue to watch.
"You're seeing two Heisman Trophy winners go out there every day and see what they do and their mentality with things, which is good," Kendall said of backing up college football's two best players the last two years. "But it's also bad that I didn't get to play a whole lot. That's probably the biggest reason why I'm here right now. I don't have a lot of playing time, but I'm here to prove people wrong. I'm excited to get my chance and I'm ready to go."
Kendall's prior relationship with WVU coach Neal Brown turned out to be the big door opener for the Mountaineers.
"It was a short period when I realized I needed to get out of Oklahoma through talking to my dad and my family," Kendall said. "Coach Brown had just gotten the job at West Virginia, so it was easy to go right to coach Brown and go, 'Alright, I know you personally, I know you from my brother playing for you at Kentucky.' So it was an easy process of knowing the guys that I trust.
"I visited Auburn and I knew coach (Gus) Malzhan and the rest of their staff pretty well, but it was a pretty easy transition because I knew (Brown) so well through personal experiences."
Both are coming to a place where transfer quarterbacks have a long history of success. Jeff Hostetler left Penn State and turned his two years at WVU into a 12-year NFL career.
Notre Dame transfer Jake Kelchner didn't make it to the league, but he did get West Virginia to the Sugar Bowl in 1994.
More recently, Florida State transfer Clint Trickett's success at WVU opened the door for the Mountaineers to pursue Grier, who left Florida. Both were immensely popular Mountaineer quarterbacks.
Now, either Kendall or Allison is likely to continue the tradition.
"I knew a lot of transfers did come into this school, so it's a good spot," Allison said.
"Everything is different," Kendall added. "We have a whole new staff here with coach Brown, so it'll all be completely different. Who knows where it's going to go? I think it's going to go up from here, which is what coach Brown has done at Kentucky, Troy and other places."
Both had their moments this spring. In last Saturday's Gold-Blue Game, Kendall had the better passing numbers completing 7-of-12 for 154 yards and a touchdown compared to Allison's 11-of-24, 112-yard one touchdown effort, but Kendall's supporting cast with the Gold squad might have been a little stronger than Allison's playing with the Blue team.
Following the scrimmage, Brown steered clear of naming a starter before heading into the summertime.
"I don't know yet," he said. "Will we have a pecking order after this? We may, but I'm not going to commit myself to anything right now. I think we've made strides at quarterback but I don't think we're ready to play a game just yet."
Both agree with their coach and say there is a lot they need to work on before camp starts in August.
Kendall says quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan is really drilling into his head that he needs to master the little things.
"I'm not going to lie, I wasn't really used to that at Oklahoma," he admitted. "We kind of did what we wanted but here they are really keyed on individual workouts through different footwork and stuff. I think it's going to pay off."
Allison said his self-improvement list is too long to detail.
"I could sit here and name everything that I want to get better at, because I think I just have such a long way to go, but (gaining weight) is just the biggest thing for me," he said.
Their coach has his own list of things he wants his two quarterbacks to work on between now and August.
"What we've got to eliminate with Austin is the negative play," Brown said. "You can't have big negative plays. I don't think he threw a pick (Saturday) which is something that he did do earlier in the spring so I think we're growing in that regard, but his feel in the pocket (needs to improve)."
It's a similar deal with Allison.
"I thought his decision making at times was better (Saturday) than it had been through the spring," Brown noted. "He throws a really nice ball. We've got to get him not to float around in the pocket. He's got to move up in the pocket and help his offensive linemen."
So, which quarterback will be out on the field when WVU battles James Madison on Saturday, Aug. 31, the turkey hunter or the occasional deep-sea fisherman?
Or what about both, or perhaps even redshirt freshman Trey Lowe III?
Stay tuned.
Players Mentioned
QB
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QB
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QB
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