Staying ready: How Lehigh’s backup quarterbacks prepare to step in

A backup quarterback can spend an entire week preparing alongside other quarterbacks without knowing if he’ll ever enter the game. But when his number is called, he only has a few seconds to go from sitting on the sidelines to controlling the offense.

The uncertainty requires backup quarterbacks to prepare for the week as if they’re starting on the field. They must accept their role while competing to have the opportunity to make an impact on gameday.

Dan Hunt, the offensive coordinator for the Lehigh football team, said backup quarterbacks must learn to live in their current position while still competing for the starting spot.

“If a kid is a really good backup quarterback, he doesn’t want to be the backup quarterback,” Hunt said. “The best ones understand their role as being the backup quarterback, but they are not satisfied with it, and they are going to push every day to show they should be the starter.”

Being a backup quarterback doesn’t change the level of preparation.

Holden Nagin and Patrick Coan, two of Lehigh’s backup quarterbacks, spend the week in meetings, watching film and working with the rest of the quarterbacks in case they have the opportunity to play on game day.

For Nagin, these meetings consist of him sitting alongside the other quarterbacks studying the film and preparing for the same position and opponent.

“They have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice,” Hunt said. “So it’s extremely challenging for a kid to stay as locked in as he has to be, to be ready to do what he’ll be asked to do if he has to do it.”

The preparation starts long before game day.

Nagin says he follows many of the same routines as starting quarterback Hayden Johnson in order to prepare for the week.

“We pretty much spend 24/7 together, the whole QB room,” Nagin said. “We’re almost always doing the exact same thing, looking at the same exact film at the exact same time.”

Nagin says preparing alongside the other quarterbacks on game day helps him stay familiar with the offense. However,during practice his role differs from Johnson’s as he helps Lehigh’s starting defense get ready for their next opponent.

“While Hayden is with the offense working on some offensive plays, I’ll be going against the number one defense,” Nagin said. “I’ll be running their plays, trying to give them the best look possible.”

Nagin said his role requires him to understand how the entire offense works, even though he may not practice each play as much as Johnson.

He also said quarterbacks need a deeper understanding of what’s happening across the field than other positions. His backup role is made more difficult by this responsibility because he must stay ready to fill in, even though he may not be trained as the starting quarterback in practice.

Nagin said backup quarterbacks must stay focused and understand each position’s responsibilities on offense. If a player is called into the game quickly, understanding everyone’s jobs helps them direct plays.

Coan is adjusting to playing quarterback at the college level, and has focused on perfecting this aspect of his game, he said. He said getting better is more about understanding the defense and identifying what’s happening on the field, than the physical aspects of being quarterback.

“For me, it’s just like the mental side of the game, like knowing coverages and all that stuff,” Coan said. “Not more physical, but mentally knowing what to do before and when the play’s happening pre and post-snap.”

Regardless of whether he plays, Coan said he must keep studying and preparing during the week to understand the mental side of the role. If he’s called on the field, his position on the depth chart has no impact on what he has to know.

He also said many people don’t realize just how much effort goes into being a backup quarterback.

“I think a lot of people think that you don’t have to put in the same amount of time or effort as a starter, but you actually have to put in a lot of time and effort just to be mentally and physically ready,” Coan said.