More to Kendalls Game than his Arm
As a quarterback who threw for nearly 5000 yards in his junior season, there is no doubt that Waxham (N.C.) Cuthbertson Rivals100 member Austin Kendall is thought of as a passer first. And as rightful as that feeling may be of the 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal caller it's not the full picture of his game.
In fact, the Sooners new quarterback commitment did more than help his team through the air during the 2014 season.
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"I see my fit in Oklahoma's offense going very smoothly. Actually, I was the leading rusher just from scrambles. They are going to be passing the ball a lot but you've got to be able to run the ball and if we do that, it really does seem to fit my talents real well."
That ability to run is something that his head coach, David Johnson, spends his time trying to shine a light on whenever talking about the nation's No. 3 pro-style quarterback.
"People focus on the arm strength but the athletic ability, I tell people all the time even though he is a pro-style he is mobile. He isn't going to run 30 times a game but is going to extend the play," Johnson said.
On tape people can see the athleticism but Johnson offered a bit unknown news. Much like many of the great quarterbacks in Sooner history Kendall is not only proficient as a football player. In fact he had a chance to play another sport at the highest level of college athletics.
"Austin actually had a division one Lacrosse scholarship, North Carolina offered him as a Lacrosse player," he offered.
"Actually, I'm also the Lacrosse coach, honestly it's a bit of a no-brainer. I'm from Binghamton, about 45 minutes south of Syracuse so Lacrosse is big where I'm from, but it's just starting to sink in down here. For example, my JV team has 17 players and only six have played before."
Since his early notoriety in the sport, Kendall has elected to focus solely on football. So did being part of an emerging Lacrosse program and being the head coach of the football team ever put Johnson at odds with himself?
"To me it was never even a question, I think your future is set for you son and you'd be foolish to do anything to mess it up. We talked about it once, but never really talked about it since," he admitted.
But for all this talk of athleticism when Johnson talks about his goals for his team and Kendall in particular there is no doubt how he sees his team taking it a few steps further.
"(For Kendall) 5,000 yards is attainable this year. Last year we averaged 78 plays a game, this year we are going to try to average 84-85 since it's everyone's second year in the system. I've already told him the goal is 5000."
Look for much more content to come including more from both Kendall and Johnson, video breakdowns, and audio commentary on the magnitude of Kendall's commitment.