Brian Maurer had some big news.
He’d made a March trek through a handful of college campuses in North Carolina, capped by a visit to West Virginia, but one part of his trip stood out in his report back to Matt Franklin, his coach at West Port High School in Ocala, Fla.
“I talked to Peyton Manning,” Maurer said. “I talked to Peyton Manning.”
He did, indeed, have a fortuitous run-in with the patron saint of passing, a player he’d idolized for most of his childhood.
“Being able to talk with him really put, in my mind, perspective on a lot of things,” Maurer told The Athletic this week.
Manning was on Duke’s campus visiting Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe, his old Tennessee offensive coordinator. While watching a practice, Maurer spotted Manning and the two struck up a conversation. Manning didn’t pull him to a dark corner of campus and explain in hushed tones why he had to become a Volunteer. He just gave some wide-ranging advice.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Soak all this in, kid.
Enjoy this. Take all your visits and take your time.
See what’s out there.
“Whatever he told me, I’d take notes on,” Maurer said.
Forget advice. What Manning told him might as well have been gospel. And despite Manning’s nonpartisan intentions, it led Maurer right to Tennessee. He committed to the Vols on Wednesday, giving new coach Jeremy Pruitt his first quarterback commitment and a passer for his 2019 class, the first full class he’ll have as the Vols’ head coach.
“That talk with Peyton, honestly, affected his recruitment a lot. At that point, Brian was ready to commit elsewhere,” Franklin told The Athletic. “Had Peyton not said that, he’s probably not at Tennessee today. He probably commits that week, to be honest.”
The Vols had shown interest, but they didn’t officially offer until June 20, a week before Maurer made his decision.
It’s been a whirlwind summer for Maurer, a three-star prospect who’d drawn moderate interest from major schools until a standout performance at the Elite 11 Finals this month. This weekend, he’ll be in the Dallas area participating in The Opening.
“His profile will continue to rise,” said Joey Roberts, Elite 11’s director of player personnel and development. “You should just take a screenshot where he’s recruited now and then see where it is tomorrow or after The Opening.”
Last season at West Port, Maurer threw for 2,512 yards and 18 touchdowns with 13 interceptions, completing 57 percent of his passes. For now, he’s the nation’s No. 492 overall prospect and No. 18 pro-style passer, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings. But for Roberts and the Elite 11 staff, who disregard rankings and offers in their evaluations, what jumped off the page was an advanced stat called “load to arrival.”
In short, it’s the amount of time between a quarterback’s second hand coming off the ball and when it arrives to the receiver. Maurer ranked in the top five in that statistic.
“It’s how (Alabama quarterback) Tua (Tagovailoa) popped in our eyes. He did not come in as a highly ranked guy off tape, but his load to arrival was lightning quick. Brian’s is up there,” Roberts said. “It’s a quick, compact delivery, and he can generate a lot of force in his core and the ball finishes. So beyond just RPMs, quick compact stroke, he’s got a mixture of both.”
While the modest rankings might be an accurate indication of where Maurer is now, Roberts and the Elite 11 staff came away impressed with where he can go as he grows in his exposure to different concepts and teaching methods. Maurer called Elite 11 a “life-changing experience,” and much of what he was taught, he’d never heard before or had only heard in passing.
“For us, 7-on-7 is a little different. You sit up in the stands and say, ‘Wow, Brian went 14 of 21 with four TDs and no interceptions,’ ” Roberts said. “But what Trent Dilfer and our staff looks at is: Did he take the proper drop? Did he go through his progressions right? Did his eyes start on the right progression? Kids in the past, you see they shredded 7-on-7 and you pull them aside and say, ‘Did you follow the playbook the way you’re supposed to?’ And they’ll say, ‘No, Coach, I didn’t know exactly what I was doing.’ ‘Cool, got it, but that’s the expectation.’
“Not only did he shred it from a production standpoint and what the public can see, he digested it and did it above the neck and applied it and executed it. Tying his feet to his eyes, getting the proper drop, keeping the load in his back leg, all the little finite coaching points we harped on, he was able to do.”
Maurer’s athletic ability also tested at an elite level. He ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, in addition to his ability to dunk when he steps off the field in favor of the hardwood. And he did it all just three weeks after fracturing his foot in his high school spring game.
“He really turned some heads at Elite 11,” Franklin said. “It really did affect his recruiting.”
Ohio State and Texas A&M extended late offers. Sunday, Michigan State called with an offer. Penn State, Georgia and UCLA also have shown interest. Some schools indicated to Franklin that they thought he was a near lock to commit to West Virginia, which first offered him as a sophomore. Unsure if it would be worth putting resources toward his recruitment, some schools were slow to express strong interest, preventing Maurer’s recruiting ranking from rising. That’s changed this summer.
By Monday, when Maurer and his family sat down with Franklin to make his decision, he was leaning heavily toward Tennessee, where he visited last week. He checked in with another conversation with Pruitt and offensive coordinator Tyson Helton before making his final decision.
“Coach Helton just produced the third overall pick in Sam Darnold. I wanted someone I knew could produce NFL picks,” Maurer said. “Tennessee hasn’t been good in the last 10 years, but with the resources and a new AD, they have the resources now to build a national championship team again.”
As they sat down Monday and made a literal pros-and-cons list of the five schools that interested him most, Maurer’s decision crystallized. Wednesday, he was ready to make it unofficially official. He’s aiming to enroll early in December so he can participate in spring practice next year, and the rest of the summer will be about continuing to learn and perform on the camp circuit while filling out his body. He played last fall at 177 pounds but sat out basketball season for the first time this year, adding weight up to 190-195 pounds. He could be up to 205 or 210 by the time he arrives on campus in Knoxville.
“He’s a kid who is incredibly accurate in the short to intermediate. He’s got the deep ball to stretch the field,” Franklin said. “Intermediate, he can put the ball on the nose of a dime from 30 and in. He’s got great accuracy.”
Even with Maurer’s recruiting ranking likely to “skyrocket,” Franklin said, he’d be surprised if his commitment wavers.
“We said unless something drastic happens or something no one foresees happening, if you give your word to Tennessee,” Franklin said, “that’s where you’re going to be.”
(Ph
He’d made a March trek through a handful of college campuses in North Carolina, capped by a visit to West Virginia, but one part of his trip stood out in his report back to Matt Franklin, his coach at West Port High School in Ocala, Fla.
“I talked to Peyton Manning,” Maurer said. “I talked to Peyton Manning.”
He did, indeed, have a fortuitous run-in with the patron saint of passing, a player he’d idolized for most of his childhood.
“Being able to talk with him really put, in my mind, perspective on a lot of things,” Maurer told The Athletic this week.
Manning was on Duke’s campus visiting Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe, his old Tennessee offensive coordinator. While watching a practice, Maurer spotted Manning and the two struck up a conversation. Manning didn’t pull him to a dark corner of campus and explain in hushed tones why he had to become a Volunteer. He just gave some wide-ranging advice.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Soak all this in, kid.
Enjoy this. Take all your visits and take your time.
See what’s out there.
“Whatever he told me, I’d take notes on,” Maurer said.
Forget advice. What Manning told him might as well have been gospel. And despite Manning’s nonpartisan intentions, it led Maurer right to Tennessee. He committed to the Vols on Wednesday, giving new coach Jeremy Pruitt his first quarterback commitment and a passer for his 2019 class, the first full class he’ll have as the Vols’ head coach.
“That talk with Peyton, honestly, affected his recruitment a lot. At that point, Brian was ready to commit elsewhere,” Franklin told The Athletic. “Had Peyton not said that, he’s probably not at Tennessee today. He probably commits that week, to be honest.”
The Vols had shown interest, but they didn’t officially offer until June 20, a week before Maurer made his decision.
It’s been a whirlwind summer for Maurer, a three-star prospect who’d drawn moderate interest from major schools until a standout performance at the Elite 11 Finals this month. This weekend, he’ll be in the Dallas area participating in The Opening.
“His profile will continue to rise,” said Joey Roberts, Elite 11’s director of player personnel and development. “You should just take a screenshot where he’s recruited now and then see where it is tomorrow or after The Opening.”
Last season at West Port, Maurer threw for 2,512 yards and 18 touchdowns with 13 interceptions, completing 57 percent of his passes. For now, he’s the nation’s No. 492 overall prospect and No. 18 pro-style passer, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings. But for Roberts and the Elite 11 staff, who disregard rankings and offers in their evaluations, what jumped off the page was an advanced stat called “load to arrival.”
In short, it’s the amount of time between a quarterback’s second hand coming off the ball and when it arrives to the receiver. Maurer ranked in the top five in that statistic.
“It’s how (Alabama quarterback) Tua (Tagovailoa) popped in our eyes. He did not come in as a highly ranked guy off tape, but his load to arrival was lightning quick. Brian’s is up there,” Roberts said. “It’s a quick, compact delivery, and he can generate a lot of force in his core and the ball finishes. So beyond just RPMs, quick compact stroke, he’s got a mixture of both.”
While the modest rankings might be an accurate indication of where Maurer is now, Roberts and the Elite 11 staff came away impressed with where he can go as he grows in his exposure to different concepts and teaching methods. Maurer called Elite 11 a “life-changing experience,” and much of what he was taught, he’d never heard before or had only heard in passing.
“For us, 7-on-7 is a little different. You sit up in the stands and say, ‘Wow, Brian went 14 of 21 with four TDs and no interceptions,’ ” Roberts said. “But what Trent Dilfer and our staff looks at is: Did he take the proper drop? Did he go through his progressions right? Did his eyes start on the right progression? Kids in the past, you see they shredded 7-on-7 and you pull them aside and say, ‘Did you follow the playbook the way you’re supposed to?’ And they’ll say, ‘No, Coach, I didn’t know exactly what I was doing.’ ‘Cool, got it, but that’s the expectation.’
“Not only did he shred it from a production standpoint and what the public can see, he digested it and did it above the neck and applied it and executed it. Tying his feet to his eyes, getting the proper drop, keeping the load in his back leg, all the little finite coaching points we harped on, he was able to do.”
Maurer’s athletic ability also tested at an elite level. He ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, in addition to his ability to dunk when he steps off the field in favor of the hardwood. And he did it all just three weeks after fracturing his foot in his high school spring game.
“He really turned some heads at Elite 11,” Franklin said. “It really did affect his recruiting.”
Ohio State and Texas A&M extended late offers. Sunday, Michigan State called with an offer. Penn State, Georgia and UCLA also have shown interest. Some schools indicated to Franklin that they thought he was a near lock to commit to West Virginia, which first offered him as a sophomore. Unsure if it would be worth putting resources toward his recruitment, some schools were slow to express strong interest, preventing Maurer’s recruiting ranking from rising. That’s changed this summer.
By Monday, when Maurer and his family sat down with Franklin to make his decision, he was leaning heavily toward Tennessee, where he visited last week. He checked in with another conversation with Pruitt and offensive coordinator Tyson Helton before making his final decision.
“Coach Helton just produced the third overall pick in Sam Darnold. I wanted someone I knew could produce NFL picks,” Maurer said. “Tennessee hasn’t been good in the last 10 years, but with the resources and a new AD, they have the resources now to build a national championship team again.”
As they sat down Monday and made a literal pros-and-cons list of the five schools that interested him most, Maurer’s decision crystallized. Wednesday, he was ready to make it unofficially official. He’s aiming to enroll early in December so he can participate in spring practice next year, and the rest of the summer will be about continuing to learn and perform on the camp circuit while filling out his body. He played last fall at 177 pounds but sat out basketball season for the first time this year, adding weight up to 190-195 pounds. He could be up to 205 or 210 by the time he arrives on campus in Knoxville.
“He’s a kid who is incredibly accurate in the short to intermediate. He’s got the deep ball to stretch the field,” Franklin said. “Intermediate, he can put the ball on the nose of a dime from 30 and in. He’s got great accuracy.”
Even with Maurer’s recruiting ranking likely to “skyrocket,” Franklin said, he’d be surprised if his commitment wavers.
“We said unless something drastic happens or something no one foresees happening, if you give your word to Tennessee,” Franklin said, “that’s where you’re going to be.”
(Ph
