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Whieldon fitting Jared Flint watched Jason Whieldon throw the football the other day and came up with a snap assessment.
in fine with Warriors
The JC transfer is among
4 quarterbacks at spring practiceBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"Hey, he's a red-headed, JC transfer from Orange County," said Flint, the former Hawaii quarterback who completed his eligibility last fall. "How can you go wrong?"
The joke is that Flint fits those same demographics.
What wouldn't be so funny, at least for Whieldon, is if his career parallels that of Flint. Flint was a promising quarterback battling for the starting job two springs ago. But a rotator cuff injury knocked him out, and Tim Chang and Nick Rolovich took over center stage.
That's the deal at quarterback. Only one can serve, though many are called -- especially by June Jones, the Warriors' coach. He figures that often a quarterback recruit can be moved to another position if necessary.
That didn't happen for Flint, but he made the most of his role as a backup, helping the team in various ways, including swiping opponents' signals.
"He looks good," Flint said of Whieldon. "He seems to have a lot of intangibles. Hopefully he'll have better luck than I did. He's not that big, but that doesn't seem to be a big deal in this offense. The guys who have done well aren't that big."
Of course Whieldon wants to be No. 1. But, like Flint, he seems to have the personality to handle it if that's not how it works out.
"Competition's great. Anywhere you go there's going to be competition. Without it, something would be wrong," Whieldon said. "When you have great quarterbacks around you, they push you and you learn from each other. You learn from people who do things real well."
It's an interesting group of four quarterbacks at spring practice, which began yesterday. (At least one more quarterback, freshman Ryan Stickler, is expected in the fall, and former Parade All-American Zac Wasserman might walk on.)
Fifth-year senior Shawn Withy-Allen has always been at the head of the class academically, and now, at least technically, he's No.1 among the QBs throwing the ball this spring. He showed some long-ball ability yesterday.
No. 2 in the rotation, so to speak, is pitcher Jeff Rhode. He said football practice in the morning and baseball in the afternoon shouldn't be a problem.
Then there's Whieldon, who is listed at 6 feet and 187 pounds but looks smaller. "I'm definitely trying to gain weight," he said. "There's a lot of bigger people out here, bigger hits."
Chang is still around, too. He is helping the others get up to speed, even though one could take his job while he rehabs from an injury to his throwing wrist.
"They're all real nice. That's the best thing," Whieldon said. "There's no controversy, just friendly competition. We're all trying to do our best and get some playing time, but we all support each other.
"I was a little jittery out there at first. But I got more comfortable as we went along.
"It's always hard to learn a new offense, and getting adjusted takes time," Whieldon added. "That's definitely going to be the hardest thing. Hopefully I can get used to it and get the base of it down."
Culturally, Whieldon is fitting in fine.
"Local food's the best. Korean chicken, kalua pork," said Whieldon, who had been to Hawaii once, on a family vacation, before UH recruited him. "I eat white rice at every meal now. I went from not eating it at all to eating it every day."
Jones knew Whieldon would fit in.
"He's our kind of guy," Jones said. "A good guy, but competitive. That's why we've been recruiting him since high school."
Home: Orange County, Calif. Jason Whieldon
Major: Business
Junior college: All-Mission Conference at Saddleback CC, where he passed for 16 touchdowns and more than 2,300 yards.
UH Athletics
