Latest news with #NewburyParkHigh
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
As Michigan stacks blue-chip QBs, Bryce Underwood isn't a deterrent for Brady Smigiel
The news wasn't quite official, so Joe Smigiel had to be coy. The coach at Newbury Park High in Southern California has one more season with a special quarterback prospect who also happens to be his son, four-star Michigan commit Brady Smigiel. The Smigiels want to squeeze every drop out of Brady's final high school season, both for the team's sake and to prepare Brady for the competition that awaits him at Michigan. Advertisement Brady, who will be a four-star starter at Newbury Park, had a stellar junior season with 3,521 passing yards and 49 touchdowns while leading his team to a 14-1 record. Joe, like any coach, was looking for more. 'We're changing some things up this year, which is going to help him mentally,' Joe said. 'We have a new offensive coordinator coming who's recently been very successful in the college ranks and already is making a huge difference in how he looks at things.' Joe couldn't say it at the time, but a day later, word was out. Cam Rising, the quarterback who led Utah to Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022, was retiring after seven seasons in college football. His next gig: offensive coordinator at Newbury Park, his high school alma mater. Bad Moon Out. — Cameron Rising (@crising7) May 7, 2025 'Cam played at Newbury, so we were always around each other,' said Brady, who was a ball boy during Rising's high school career. 'I'm really excited for him to be coming straight out of college, being able to have him call my offense. I'm just excited to develop.' Brady used a version of the word 'develop' nearly a dozen times when discussing his goals for the upcoming year and his reasons for committing to Michigan. That provides a clue about his mindset and why he saw Michigan as a good fit, even with star freshman Bryce Underwood already staking a claim to the quarterback job. Smigiel is an elite prospect ranked No. 80 in the 247Sports Composite and No. 7 among 2026 quarterbacks. He has a strong and accurate arm, the football IQ of a coach's son and ideal size at 6 feet 5. He's also humble enough to know that success at the college level may not happen right away. His decision was about finding a program where he could develop, not about picking the quickest path to playing time. Advertisement 'I don't know anywhere you're going to go that's a program as good as Michigan, and you're not going to expect them to bring in great players,' Joe said. 'They've got a great '24 in Jadyn Davis. They've got Bryce. The '27 class is starting to heat up. They're going to bring in a good '27. They're going to bring in a good '28, all to take the job of the quarterback spot.' Michigan hasn't been known as a program that signs blue-chip quarterbacks in every cycle the way, say, Ohio State and Alabama do. The Wolverines signed J.J. McCarthy in the Class of 2021, followed by Alex Orji and Jayden Denegal, a pair of three-star prospects, in 2022. The Wolverines whiffed at quarterback in 2023 before landing Davis, a borderline top-100 prospect in the Class of 2024. The shaky quarterback recruiting in the classes after McCarthy explains how Michigan ended up in a bind last season. This time, the Wolverines aren't letting off the throttle after signing Underwood, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2025. Landing Smigiel gives Michigan elite quarterback prospects in three successive classes and could signal a shift in the way Michigan is perceived by quarterback recruits. Part of that shift involves the arrival of offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, who was hired to replace Kirk Campbell in December. Lindsey recruited Smigiel when he was at North Carolina, and although the Tar Heels weren't among his top choices, Smigiel saw Lindsey as a coach he could entrust with his development. 'I truly believe in their staff,' Smigiel said. 'We talked about the development that Michigan brings, and I was really impressed with everything they've done with the quarterbacks. It's all about development. I think they develop more than just football. They develop every single aspect.' Smigiel's commitment to Michigan in April came three months to the day after he decommitted from Florida State, the program he originally picked over Oregon, Washington and Ohio State. When Smigiel committed to the Seminoles last June, Florida State was coming off a 13-1 regular season and looked like a program on the rise. The team he decommitted from was 2-10 and brought in a new offensive coordinator in Gus Malzahn. All Glory to God – Go Blue! #committed @Hayesfawcett3 — Brady Smigiel (@BradySmigiel) April 26, 2025 Lindsey coached under Malzahn at Auburn and UCF, but he also has an Air Raid background and a track record of developing NFL quarterbacks. The Smigiels made enough recruiting trips to know that college football is transactional and no coach can make promises about the future. Still, they felt Lindsey was up front about the plan for Brady and how he'd fit at Michigan. Advertisement 'Not everyone is 6-4, 240, with the highest-rated recruiting (profile) that can step in and have a chance to succeed in the Big Ten,' Joe said. 'I'm not saying that he's not going to come in and compete his ass off, because that's who he is. But if you look at the most successful quarterbacks in the NFL, they're the ones who were in college for a long time. They got developed.' Speaking of quarterbacks who were in college for a long time, Exhibit A is Rising, who started his career at Texas in 2018 and battled a series of injuries, including the hand injury that prompted his medical retirement. Joe saw him as the ideal person to prepare Brady for the life of a college quarterback. Rising attempted six passes in his first three seasons, then went 18-6 as a starter the next two years. If Smigiel has a few seasons to develop before he becomes a starter, he could be all the better for it. That's why the presence of Underwood, Michigan's heir apparent at quarterback, wasn't a deterrent. In Michigan's ideal scenario, Underwood would play well enough to be one of the top prospects in the 2028 NFL Draft, and the next quarterback in line would be prepped and ready. The picture could change in so many ways that it's futile to project that far ahead, but no matter what happens, Brady Smigiel is prepared to trust his development and let the rest fall into place. 'You only get one chance at this,' he said. 'If you do all the right things, you're going to get on the field, no matter who's in front of you.'
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Standout receiver Shane Rosenthal of Newbury Park commits to UCLA
Shane Rosenthal, the record-setting receiver at Newbury Park High, had waited months to see if college recruiters might finally notice his skills besides teams in the Ivy League. UCLA coach DeShaun Foster made a visit to Newbury Park last week, brought Rosenthal in for a recruiting visit, offered him a scholarship and Rosenthal changed his commitment from Princeton to UCLA on Tuesday. Rosenthal had staggering statistics in high school, with career numbers of 324 receptions for 5,197 yards and 62 touchdowns. He also had 24 interceptions. Newbury Park won the Southern Section Division 2 championship this season. In this week's episode of 'Friday Night Live,' @latsondheimer + @RandyRosenbloom talk to Newbury Park wide receiver Shane Rosenthal about his record-setting time with the Panthers and what he's looking forward to next year when he attends Princeton. — L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) December 13, 2024 Rosenthal and standout junior quarterback Brady Smigiel have been teammates and best friends for years, so Rosenthal's decision certainly can't hurt UCLA's chances in recruiting Smigiel, who recently withdrew his commitment to Florida State and listed UCLA as among the schools he's now looking at. "They did their research and everything points toward a fit for them. My hats off to them," said Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel, who went on Rosenthal's recruiting visit. Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
28-01-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Standout receiver Shane Rosenthal of Newbury Park commits to UCLA
Shane Rosenthal, the record-setting receiver at Newbury Park High, had waited months to see if college recruiters might finally notice his skills besides teams in the Ivy League. UCLA coach DeShaun Foster made a visit to Newbury Park last week, brought Rosenthal in for a recruiting visit, offered him a scholarship and Rosenthal changed his commitment from Princeton to UCLA on Tuesday. Rosenthal had staggering statistics in high school, with career numbers of 324 receptions for 5,197 yards and 62 touchdowns. He also had 24 interceptions. Newbury Park won the Southern Section Division 2 championship this season. Rosenthal and standout junior quarterback Brady Smigiel have been teammates and best friends for years, so Rosenthal's decision certainly can't hurt UCLA's chances in recruiting Smigiel, who recently withdrew his commitment to Florida State and listed UCLA as among the schools he's now looking at. 'They did their research and everything points toward a fit for them. My hats off to them,' said Newbury Park coach Joe Smigiel, who went on Rosenthal's recruiting visit.
