D.J. Crook played in two games for Penn State last season and threw a total of nine passes. Even that was an achievement for Crook, a freshman quarterback who wasn't on scholarship at one of the nation's big-name football programs.
The problem for Crook, who grew up in Barnstable, Mass., was he didn't see his role getting any larger for the Nittany Lions behind junior starter Christian Hackenberg.
"I was considered the mop-up guy," Crook said. "They kept bringing guys in, scholarship kids, very good players. I just didn't want to be stuck in a hole my whole career playing football."
Facing that harsh reality, Crook decided to transfer somewhere he could compete for playing time: the University at Albany.
And is it ever a competition. The Great Danes have five quarterbacks at spring practice that started last week. They're all vying to replace starter Will Fiacchi, who graduated after throwing 24 touchdown passes last season. There's a sixth quarterback scheduled to arrive this summer.
Crook, who's also a walk-on at UAlbany, said he loves his new situation. He's eligible to play right away because he transferred down from the Football Bowl Subdivision to the Football Championship Subdivision.
"I enjoyed Penn State, every second of it," he said. "It goes to a point where you want to play the game and enjoy it the way you did when you were a kid. It's tough sitting on the bench for a long time. I'm just happy to get things rolling here."
UAlbany head coach Colonial Athletic Association, don't even have a quarterback depth chart yet.
"That's a priority," Gattuso said. "If you're not good at quarterback, you can't play. You can't compete. You can't play in the type of league we're in without having a competitive quarterback. We've got to get better there."
Gattuso certainly has enough applicants for the job: Crook, incoming freshman Neven Sussman is still in high school in Maryland and will be at training camp this summer.
Gattuso was impressed by what he saw out of Crook in the team's first scrimmage on Thursday afternoon. Crook wears No. 14, formerly taken by Fiacchi, though Gattuso said that's a coincidence.
"I think right now, at this point, that D.J. Crook and Will Brunson have started to really assert themselves," Gattuso said. "I thought D.J. played very well yesterday for a first scrimmage. He's got a maturity. Big thing for us, he knows where he wants to go with the ball and mentally he made very few mistakes. He did the things we look for out of our quarterback."
Gattuso was asked whether the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Crook will be on scholarship next season.
"I'd rather stay away from that one," Gattuso said. "He's got to win the job, obviously."
Crook is the only quarterback of the group who has thrown a pass in a college game.
Brunson, who is from Myrtle Beach, S.C., graduated high school early so he could enroll at UAlbany in time for spring football. Gattuso joked that Bruson should be getting ready for his prom. Instead, he's absorbing the system of offensive coordinator Joe Bernard, who held the same position at Brunson's high school two years ago.
"I think it's the best decision I could have made," Brunson said of coming in early. "Me and Coach Bernard have a great relationship ... It's a similar offense. It's just different terminology."
Sweeney, who grew up in Phelps in Ontario County, finally gets a chance after sitting behind Fiacchi. He wouldn't speculate about his chances of being Fiacchi's successor.
"There's a lot of great talent out here," Sweeney said. "It's more about coming out here and getting better every single day. That's basically my main focus out here right now."
This post was edited on 4/4 10:13 AM by therod
times union
The problem for Crook, who grew up in Barnstable, Mass., was he didn't see his role getting any larger for the Nittany Lions behind junior starter Christian Hackenberg.
"I was considered the mop-up guy," Crook said. "They kept bringing guys in, scholarship kids, very good players. I just didn't want to be stuck in a hole my whole career playing football."
Facing that harsh reality, Crook decided to transfer somewhere he could compete for playing time: the University at Albany.
And is it ever a competition. The Great Danes have five quarterbacks at spring practice that started last week. They're all vying to replace starter Will Fiacchi, who graduated after throwing 24 touchdown passes last season. There's a sixth quarterback scheduled to arrive this summer.
Crook, who's also a walk-on at UAlbany, said he loves his new situation. He's eligible to play right away because he transferred down from the Football Bowl Subdivision to the Football Championship Subdivision.
"I enjoyed Penn State, every second of it," he said. "It goes to a point where you want to play the game and enjoy it the way you did when you were a kid. It's tough sitting on the bench for a long time. I'm just happy to get things rolling here."
UAlbany head coach Colonial Athletic Association, don't even have a quarterback depth chart yet.
"That's a priority," Gattuso said. "If you're not good at quarterback, you can't play. You can't compete. You can't play in the type of league we're in without having a competitive quarterback. We've got to get better there."
Gattuso certainly has enough applicants for the job: Crook, incoming freshman Neven Sussman is still in high school in Maryland and will be at training camp this summer.
Gattuso was impressed by what he saw out of Crook in the team's first scrimmage on Thursday afternoon. Crook wears No. 14, formerly taken by Fiacchi, though Gattuso said that's a coincidence.
"I think right now, at this point, that D.J. Crook and Will Brunson have started to really assert themselves," Gattuso said. "I thought D.J. played very well yesterday for a first scrimmage. He's got a maturity. Big thing for us, he knows where he wants to go with the ball and mentally he made very few mistakes. He did the things we look for out of our quarterback."
Gattuso was asked whether the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Crook will be on scholarship next season.
"I'd rather stay away from that one," Gattuso said. "He's got to win the job, obviously."
Crook is the only quarterback of the group who has thrown a pass in a college game.
Brunson, who is from Myrtle Beach, S.C., graduated high school early so he could enroll at UAlbany in time for spring football. Gattuso joked that Bruson should be getting ready for his prom. Instead, he's absorbing the system of offensive coordinator Joe Bernard, who held the same position at Brunson's high school two years ago.
"I think it's the best decision I could have made," Brunson said of coming in early. "Me and Coach Bernard have a great relationship ... It's a similar offense. It's just different terminology."
Sweeney, who grew up in Phelps in Ontario County, finally gets a chance after sitting behind Fiacchi. He wouldn't speculate about his chances of being Fiacchi's successor.
"There's a lot of great talent out here," Sweeney said. "It's more about coming out here and getting better every single day. That's basically my main focus out here right now."
This post was edited on 4/4 10:13 AM by therod
times union
