Interview: Louisiana QB Cole Kelley tearing it up on the ground and in the air
Teurlings Catholic High School’s Cole Kelley truly stands out in a crowd, both on and off the gridiron. The 6’7”, 245 pound, quarterback is a rarity in more ways than one. Not only does his height give him a slight advantage while in the pocket but despite his towering size, especially for a quarterback, he can get down the field in a hurry piling up yards quickly with his feet.
What stands out the most is his play in the pocket. The Class of 2016 recruit can sling the ball around the yard getting into tight windows or showing beautiful touch on a 35-40 yard pass down field hitting his receiver in stride.
Like most young quarterbacks with a gun for an arm, his arm can get him in trouble at times but more times than not the Rebels star has come through for his team. In 2014 Kelley threw in the neighborhood of 3,000 yards racking up 31 touchdowns with his arm helping lead Teurlings Catholic to a 9-2 record before losing in the second round of the Louisiana High School Playoffs to Archbishop Rummel 28-20.
As one can imagine, college coaches have started lining up their pitches. Offers have come in from Arkansas, Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Oklahoma State, Southern Miss, and Tulane with interests from Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Texas A&M.
In between unofficial visits to Oklahoma State and Arkansas we caught up with Mr. Kelley for a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview.
Cole, the Rebels lost their opening game of the season to University Lab (36-35) but then went on a nine-game winning streak into the playoffs. Walk us through how the season started and ended against Rummel.
“We lost to University High my sophomore year in the second round (55-30). Immediately we knew we had something special coming up in 2014. We knew we had a good team with a lot of returning starters. You always want to train hard but knowing you have a chance to have a great team pushes you even hard. We trained even harder for the 2014 season than we did for the 2013 season.
“We knew we had U-high to open the season. We were focused on them all summer. We played great against them but we lost to them by one (36-35). We should have won that came, should’a, could’a, would’a. We had that taste of losing. We knew it wasn’t good enough and kept winning. Rummel was really physical. They beat us up front. It was still a good game (28-20).”
How do the Rebels look heading into the 2015 season?
“We’ll have a very good defense. We’re very solid and we’ll have a good team as we do every year. We’ll have a very good o-line, our running back is coming back; he’s very good. Everyone knows we’re losing some receivers so we’ll have to do some hard work to get our receivers ready. We won’t have the athleticism from last year, but we’ll just have to train even harder. We’ll have a pretty good team.”
What do you guys need to do this year in order to have a successful season?
“Watch more film than we did last year. This past year we knew we were athletic, we didn’t watch as much film as we could have. We’ll have to do the little things, fix the route running, and be on the same page at all times. We have to do the little things better so we can beat the teams that will be more athletic than us.”
What are your strengths on the field?
“My arm, my arm strength, and my leadership, god blessed me with that. I don’t accept losing. Intelligence is my best strength when it comes to football along with leadership.”
What are your goals for the 2015 football season?
“My goal for the team is to win every game that we can. We have a very tough schedule, we open out tough. My goal is for us to reach our full potential, win or lose, and be happy with our season playing balls to the wall, playing 100 percent.”
Do you have any personal goals? Any big stat numbers you want to reach?
“My personal goal is just to be happy with my season, be unselfish, be humble, and do whatever it takes to make the players around me better to help us win games.”
Looking back, how well do you think you played last year?
“To be honest, not trying to make myself sound a certain way, but I’d give myself a C. I know I had yards and TDs, but I had nine interceptions, that is a very important stat. You have to take care of the ball. I had too many INTs. I think I was 170 for 300 something like that which is unacceptable. It’s not good enough. I have to be more accurate this year, and have a better passing percentage.”
Did you earn any individual honors at the end of your junior year?
“I was First-Team All-District, First-Team All-State, First-Team All-Acadian, and Offensive MVP.”
That’s it?
“(Laughs).”
Which schools have extended offers to you?
“Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Lafayette, Southern Miss, and Tulane have extended offers.”
When you talk to the coaches at the different schools what do they tell you they like about your skill set?
“That I was blessed with size and ability to sling it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out I have to work on my footwork. With the size and gifts that I was given I have to keep working and fix some of the skills that I lack.”
What are you doing in the offseason to fix those skills?
“I’m about to start working with a guy that trains Olympic athletes. He’s going to help me with my footwork. I’m going to work with our head coach (Sonny Charpentier). He knows how to help QBs. I’m putting my all into him. I’ll listen to him 100 percent.”
You just finished a visit to Oklahoma State. How did that visit go for you?
“It was great, a 9 or a 9.5. The facilities are phenomenal. It was amazing, they are blessed to have what they have. OSU has a very good program. I’m excited to see what they’re going to do going forward.”
Where are you taking your next unofficial visit?
“To Arkansas.”
What are your thoughts about the Razorbacks football program?
“They’re always good, they have a solid program. With the new offensive coordinator (Dan Enos) I know they are going to throw it more than in past years. They always have big athletes. They always have a great O-line. They’ve had the best O-Line in the SEC the last few years. As a QB that works for me.”
What is your time frame on making a decision on where you will play your college ball?
“I’m not a setting a time frame. After I visit Arkansas I’ll talk to my parents. I don’t want to rush into my commitment. I want to be set and not decommit. I’ll talk to my parents and family after Arkansas but I have no set time frame on committing.”
Are your parents going with you to Arkansas?
“My mom is going, not sure about my dad yet.”
When the time comes to commit to a school what will influence your decision?
“First I definitely want to go to a school that has the major I want. If they have a good program is important too. Education is important to me because you can’t play football your entire life. What are the strengths and weakness of the program? How are the people in the program doing? Will the AD and the head coach stay at the program? I’ll look at them. Are they people you want to be around?
“You want to get that home feeling when you are there. You don’t want to be uncomfortable.”
Did you have that home feeling in Stillwater?
“Yes, I felt at home, a lot of down to earth people there. They’re out in the country. It’s nice and peaceful there. I got some of that home feeling. I liked OSU. You get a good feeling there.”
Do you have a favorite yet?
“No, not really. Just going to talk to my parents about everything.”
Are your parents okay with you going out of state for college?
“(Laughing) My dad wants me to go out of state, he thinks it will help me grow up some. But my mom wants me to stay close to home. She doesn’t mind me leaving the state though.”
Are you going to any exposure or college camps this summer?
“I went to a Rivals QB camp and an Elite 11 camp. I don’t think I’m going to any others. I might go to some college camps.”
How did you do at the Rivals and Elite 11 camps?
“It was a good experience, but I’m not a camp QB. I can’t stand there and throw a ball into a net every 10 minutes.”
Do you play any other sports for Teurlings?
“I play basketball. People are surprised by how good I am at basketball. I’m a different person on the court. I’m good at basketball helps my footwork in football.”
What was your stat line this year?
“23 points per game, 11 rebounds.”
What kind of offensive game do you have?
“I have a lot of post-up moves and I can step outside to shoot it.”
Do you have a favorite NFL quarterback?
“Tom Brady (New England Patriots), he’s my favorite player and always has been. He’s a good QB, and a good leader. He fires his team up vocally and by his actions, and he’s a winner.”
Who has made the biggest impact on your football career?
“My two brothers, Seth and Lance, have had the biggest impact on me. I grew up watching them play. I wanted to be like them. They’re my biggest role models.”
Did either of your brothers play in college?
“Lance, he’s 26-years-old, he played linebacker at UL (Louisiana-Lafayette, 2008-2011). He did very well. They won the New Orleans Bowl when he was there (32-30 over San Diego State).”
What is your favorite part of playing football?
“My favorite part is just competing and the physicality, even as a QB.”
Cole seems to have all of the attributes of a great next level quarterback. He’s got the size, the big arm, he can scramble, and the self recognition of where he needs to improve as a player. An unfair comparison is a mix between former Arkansas Razorbacks All-SEC quarterback Ryan Mallett (Houston Texans) and current Utah quarterback Travis Wilson. Kelley has an arm like Mallett but moves like Wilson with both being able to win big games for their respective programs.
Off the field Kelley is extremely affable. This character trait will make it easier for him to become a leader of a college football program when his time comes.
Hard to imagine a college ready quarterback spending another year at the high school level tearing up one poor unfortunate Louisiana secondary after another in 2015.
Written by Ryan Wright
Photo credit: J Couv; No. 12 Cole Kelley drops back to pass.