New Massachusetts football coach Charley Molnar has made at least one thing clear when it comes to his depth chart: save a few players, no one’s job is safe.
This is especially true when it comes to the quarterback position at UMass this season, which still faces uncertainty even though it named redshirt freshman Mike Wegzyn its starting quarterback at the start the season at Connecticut and will continue to be this Saturday against Indiana.
It hasn’t been Wegzyn’s job all along, however. Junior Kellen Pagel, who started seven of the Minutemen’s 11 games last year, was anticipated to be the team’s starter going into this season.
However, post-concussion symptoms suffered early in training camp have kept him on the sidelines for about a month, and his return back to the team is uncertain. If and when he does come back though, Molnar said that his starting job is not guaranteed.
“I’m not looking that far ahead,” Molnar said.
It’s clear that Molnar is looking at everything on a week-to-week basis, starting players that will give the team the best chance to win on a given matchup.
But if Molnar was looking to come out of the first game against the Huskies with confidence of having a reliable, long-term option at quarterback, he didn’t get it. Wegzyn finished 9-for-22 with 56 yards and an interception that was returned for a touchdown. And with the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter, Molnar pulled Wegzyn for true freshman A.J. Doyle.
The importance for a long-term option at quarterback is important not only for the consistency at the position, but because of what it represents. On any football team, the quarterback is looked at as the unquestioned leader. Besides the center, he’s the only one to touch the ball on every snap. He also calls the plays and makes last-second decisions at the line of scrimmage.
But while that may be true, Molnar doesn’t see leadership necessarily exclusive to the quarterback position, or even to any starter, for that matter.
“It’s important to rally around any leader,” Molnar said. “I think Mike Wegzyn is a very, very good leader regardless if he was the starter or backup. Right now, he’s the starter, so I think naturally the offensive players have rallied around him. I think everybody respects how hard he works, how much he wants to win. He’s got very good skills and he’s a good all-around guy.”
What also can’t be overstated is the need for consistent quarterback play in the offense that’s being implemented. From Notre Dame and countless other schools that he’s coached at previously, Molnar is bringing with him a no-huddle, spread and pass heavy offense that he says was important to use in a high-powered Mid-American Conference.
“It’s always been my offensive choice and I felt that had a spread, hurry up allows you to neutralize the defense’s strengths,” Molnar said.
Over his years coaching, Molnar has groomed plenty of quarterbacks that had successful college careers. Dan LeFevour at Central Michigan and Tony Pike at Cincinnati are among the best signal-callers that he’s had the pleasure of coaching, but he’s never been one to shy away from a two quarterback system.
“I’m not afraid of using two quarterbacks,” Molnar said. “I’d rather not but if two are close, then I’ll use both of them until I really settle on one. It’s a long season.”
There’s no question quarterbacks are a big part of Molnar’s offenses. When he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers at CMU under then-coach Brian Kelly in 2006, LeFevour was one of the most prolific passers in school history as just a freshman. He was named MAC Freshman of the Year as he threw 3,031 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Then, as the passing game coordinator at Cincinnati, he oversaw some of the best passing offenses in school history before going to Notre Dame, where he developed a passing game revolved around then-quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees.
It may not happen this season, as the opening week foreshadowed, but it may eventually.
That’s the plan, anyway.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @steve_hewitt.
