OREGON QB BACKGROUND
Yes, it was a bad day recently when Oregon high school football coach Chris Casey learned he would be losing one of his best up and coming players. Casey, head football coach at Aloha High School in Beaverton, Ore., confirmed that freshman quarterback Kyle Kempt is coming to Northeast Ohio.
Kempt’s father, Mychal, has been transferred to Diebold’s home office in Green. Mychal Kempt played football at Montana State, where his older son, Cody, is the starting quarterback. More on him later.
As far as Kyle Kempt, he is 6-foot-4 and ranges between 185 and 200 pounds depending on the report.
Casey said Kempt never played varsity football last fall. Instead, he was the starting quarterback for the freshman team and played very well. He was brought up for home junior varsity games and played a “series or two” in those games. Casey put him on the varsity roster for the playoffs, but Kempt did not play in a game.
“He’s never played varsity football,” Casey said. “We had a junior and a senior at quarterback, and they were both pretty good.”
The senior, Casey said, is 5-foot-8, a good high school player but not a Division I college QB. The junior is about 5-10, athletic and could be a potential D-I recruit in a spread offense but is more likely to be recruited as an athlete.
“I can’t look into a crystal ball and tell you who would have started,” Casey said. “We would have had three kids, the junior, another junior varsity kid and Kyle compete for the starting position.”
STANFORD OFFER
This is interesting: Casey said he could not confirm that Kempt has been offered a scholarship by Stanford. He said he hasn’t talked to the Stanford coaches, and he has seen nothing on paper. Kempt attended Jim Harbaugh’s QB camp last summer and confirmed to a recruiting Web site he was offered by Stanford. I think the offer is legitimate.
It isn’t unusual for a freshman or sophomore to be offered without the paperwork.
“I believe he can be a Division I quarterback,” Casey said. “He’s 6-foot-4 as a freshman. He has really good arm strength. He’s a cerebral player, a 4.0 student. He’s a good citizen who comes from a good family. His mom and dad were good athletes at Montana State.
“He’s a guy if he continues to improve with all the things he has — size, arm strength, good throwing motion, a quick release — he could be a Division I player.”
RECRUITING PRESSURE
When Kempt made news last summer being offered by Stanford before his freshman season, it added a great deal of pressure. Now he is likely headed to a high school football hotbed — no offense, Oregon — and that won’t lessen.
Casey seems to be somewhat protective of the young QB. Rightfully so.
As for Aloha, it went 7-4 last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual state champ, Casey said. He also said Aloha plays in the biggest league in the state with the best competition. Aloha ran a pro-style offense.
Casey would not comment on the family’s move, other than to confirm the family informed him they were moving to Ohio because of the transfer.