Once Josh Jackson began to slip in the second half of the 2017 season, many began to clamor for the next man up. Jackson threw for 200 yards or more just twice in Virginia Tech’s final five games, and some believed that he was beginning to show physical limitations.
In reality, Jackson was hurt for most of the second half of last season. Still, many want another option at quarterback in 2018. Everyone knows redshirt freshman Hendon Hooker and Kansas transfer Ryan Willis are the other two options, but who are they exactly?
Virginia Tech fans are likely the most knowledgeable about Hooker. The former Greensboro, N.C. recruit arrived in Blacksburg with some notoriety, given the schools that wanted him in the recruitment process. Hooker threw for 55 touchdowns and ran for another 48 scores at Dudley High School, and figured to be an option to start at quarterback in 2017.
Hooker enrolled at Virginia Tech early and impressed in last year’s Spring Game, completing 10-of-11 pass attempts for 115 yards while throwing a touchdown and an interception. Hooker looked calm and poised, and took what the defense gave him.
Jackson ended up beating out both Hooker and AJ Bush, meaning Hooker was a likely redshirt.
“At the time, it was disappointing when I got the news, but in the long run it really helped me out,” Hooker said. “It helped me improve my little things, physical aspects of the game, and mental.”
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Hooker’s redshirt was abnormal in the fact that he took reps with the offense during practice. Hooker was “on alert” for most of 2017, meaning he practiced with the first and second-team offenses, instead of working exclusively with the scout team.
“It was very beneficial,” Hooker said. “Being on the scout team, you’re obviously doing the other team’s plays, running the other team’s plays. But being in the system and getting more reps, the more you’re in it, the better..."
“He wasn’t just running plays off cards all year,” said head coach Justin Fuente. “I think he’s maintained, his retention level has been good and that was a good thing for him heading into the spring.”
While Jackson likely stretched his lead over Hooker from last season, thanks to 13 games of starting experience, Hooker is approaching this spring the same way.
“Everyone comes out every day and works hard and try to improve on things that are new or old,” Hooker said. “Everything is coming back into play. Just trying to get back into the rhythm of things.”
While Hooker got reps with the offense last season, Ryan Willis did not. The Kansas transfer-turned walk-on was ineligible last season after leaving the Jayhawks, but the move was necessary. Willis needed to get away from Kansas to find his love for football again.
“It’s hard losing,” Willis said. “I’m a competitive person. My high school team went undefeated my senior year. Then to transition into that kind of program — I’m just a competitive person, like I said. I like winning. I like doing the best I can, playing at the highest level I can, and at Virginia Tech, I got the chance to do that.”
Willis did a lot of losing at Kansas. He played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2015, losing all of them. The 2016 season didn’t go much better, as Willis lost five of his six starts and was benched halfway through the season. He completed less than 55 percent of his passes at Kansas, throwing 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
“He quite honestly probably played before he was ready on a team that wasn’t very good,” Fuente said. “Kind of got thrown in the fire there.”
Given Kansas’ inability to win, plus a career on the verge of derailing, Willis decided to transfer.
“I asked for permission [to transfer] from Kansas, so I still had my spot on the team, I was still allowed to look around at other teams. We kind of had a connection with Coach Shibest. My dad was actually friends with him way back when, I don’t even know how they met. Started talking and other than that, I decided to come here. It was a good fit for me.”
“We became a comfortable landing spot for him and I’m excited to have him here,” Fuente said. “He’s fit in great with the kids, works incredibly hard. He’s been really good in the weight room and I’m excited to have him aboard.”
Willis is the most experienced quarterback on Virginia Tech’s roster, even though the experience came over a year ago and at a different school. Still, that kind of experience should benefit him as he competes for the starting job at Virginia Tech.
“Obviously it was in a different offense in a different time, and all of those sorts of things, but I do think that’s a good thing,” Fuente said of Willis. “He’s had some experience. Now how much of that carries over and that sort of stuff, I’m not sure, but I do think it makes you a little more grizzled, in terms of being out there and playing in real time, the speed, and having some idea of what it’s like out there.”
“Experience is experience,” Willis said. “Having live bullets thrown at you, nothing can really replace that. Playing in front of 50-60,000 people, can’t really replace that.”
Now, after taking a step back, Willis feels much improved from those disastrous days at Kansas.
“Taking a year off was good,” Willis said. “Like I said, I got really into the playbook, X’s and O’s. Just looking at the game from a different perspective. It’s just different. I mean it was hard. Sitting out was really tough on me. When the team was out of town, that hurt, when you’re left behind in town. But it made me work hard every day and I think I’m a better person because of it.”
