Nevada Wolf Pack Commitment Interview with 2018 California 3-Star QB Carson Strong

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG

Any college scholarship offer for a student/athlete should be viewed upon as a blessing and a gift. The countless hours put into class work and into a given sport are not always rewarded with an opportunity to extend those efforts at the next level. Every now and again an offer comes down the line that rings the same as any other but has a lot more meaning behind the proposed overture. When Nevada offered Class of 2018 quarterback Carson Strong leading to an announced commitment on Tuesday, the meanings behind the announcement speaks volumes.

The beginnings of two worlds merging took deep roots during the 2016 season when Strong completed 69 percent of his passes for Will C. Wood High School (Vacaville, CA) covering 2,732 yards with 26 touchdowns against just four picks.

At Nevada, a change in the football coaching ranks took place with the announcement of Jay Norvell as the Wolf Pack’s new head coach on Dec. 6. After three decades of coaching various offensive positions in the NFL and college ranks and stints as offensive coordinator with Nebraska (2004-06), UCLA (2007), and Oklahoma (2008-14), Norvell made the jump to guiding his own program. After all the years of coaching quarterbacks in Power Five Conferences, Coach Norvell knows the importance of finding a true gunslinger in the pocket who will not only put points up on the board but be a leader on the field helping post victories in the win-loss column. All college programs like to build their recruiting classes around a quarterback, and Nevada nabbed what might be their most important commit in the Norvell era in Strong.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I sat down with Nevada’s newest verbal commit getting the inside scoop on how the Wolf Pack’s coaching staff landed the three-star talent.

Interview

Carson, let’s set the table leading up to your commitment. which camps have you attend this spring?

“I’ve really just played 7v7 this spring. I was invited to the Nike Opening Regional but my sister graduated from college that day. I thought I was going to the camp but I couldn’t miss that.”

How did spring ball go for you?

“It went pretty good. We worked on all the mental aspects of the game getting that down for the summer so we can go full-speed. This is the last week of school. On Monday, we start summer football.”

Which colleges came by the school this spring to watch you throw?

“There were quite a few that came to our school. Every Mountain West Conference school came by except for Air Force. UC Davis and Sacramento State came by a few times. Cal made a trip out. UNR (Nevada) came out twice.”

Nevada came by your school twice to see you throw, walk me through how the relationship with the coaching staff took off.

“I had three different meetings with three Nevada coaches. The first was with Coach (Jason) Kaufusi (defensive line coach), he is my area recruiting coach. When we first met, he shook my hand and talked for a minute but it was nothing too much. About a week later he called me up and we started talking football. The next week or so they sent their co-offensive coordinator to my school, Coach (Mason) Miller (offensive line coach) to see me throw.

“It is always windy at my school. It is something you have to deal with but it was an advantage for me. If I can cut it in the wind, then the coaches know what I can do in any environment. One of my biggest abilities is letting it go. That day the trees are blowing, hats were falling off, and I’m cutting it through the wind. All my workouts went good with other college coaches there but that one went great.

“A couple of days later Nevada’s quarterback coach, Coach (Matt) Mumme, got in touch with me. He let me know that they liked me a lot. That was on a Thursday. I was going to Reno the next day, on Friday (May 19), for a basketball tournament. I told them I would be in Reno tomorrow for basketball tournament and asked if we can we set something up.”

They’ve seen you throw and now you have a chance to meet the staff and check out the campus and facilities. What all did you during your unofficial to Nevada?

“My dad and I got to the campus and we went into Coach Mumme’s office. We talked football and about recruiting. About 30 minutes later he offered me. That was a special moment. My dad was with me and the offer was in person. My dad was there – I was shocked that they offered.

“Coach Mumme said I was the top quarterback on their board that they had offered. I was not expecting him to offer me because I’ve had other coaches say the same thing, and I was like well… Getting the offer was an overwhelming and emotional experience. We started talking some more and then he took us around the campus and facilities in a golf cart for about 45 minutes.”

What did you think about the campus, facilities, and Reno?

“Nevada has a beautiful campus. I am a big snow, outdoors, and camping guy. While we were there, in between games for the basketball tournament, we went sledding. People were still skiing. It was crazy. There are camp grounds 20 minutes away from the campus. I am looking forward to all of that. I know I will have a great college experience there. That was one of the factors to me committing to Nevada. Tahoe is a spot about an hour away and Virginia City is about 45 minutes away. All those areas are really cool.”

You hit on a couple of influential factors that led you to commit to Nevada, what else played a part in you knowing Nevada was the right program for you?

“My top priority in choosing a school was being at a good academic university and having a good experience while I’m there. With football, having someone that believes in me was very important. I don’t care if I was playing D-II ball or at Alabama, I want a staff that believes in me. The Nevada staff has the trust and confidence in me to lead their team. That means so much to me. I feel like I have been overlooked during the recruiting process. I really appreciate them believing in me.”

When did you commit to the coaching staff?

“I committed on Monday night. My whole family was there talking to the coaches on speaker. I went public with it today (Tuesday).”

What led you to commit to the staff Monday night?

“It was my sister’s last night at home before she moves to Seattle to start work after graduating from college. We were all talking about it and I had been thinking about it for a while. I came to the point where I knew Nevada was the right place for me. I’ll get a great education and have a great football career there. We called the coaches and I told them I am 100 percent committed. I thanked them and it was all laughs from there.”

Which coach did you commit to during the call?

“Coach Kaufusi.”

What was his reaction when you committed?

“He said ‘you just made my job a lot easier.’ I think they were surprised. They were happy about it. I could hear it in their voice. Hearing that left no doubt in my mind that I had made the right decision. When I spoke to Coach Mumme, I could hear it in his voice as well. Then when I called Coach Norvell, that was one of the first times for me to talk to him over the phone, he was excited too. He told me at the staff meeting earlier in the day that I was the first quarterback they were watching in the film room. His excitement made me have no doubt in my mind about my decision.”

Did the coaching staff explain to you how they will utilize your skillset in their offense?

“Yeah. When I was there we went into that. They have a new staff changing the offense to the Air Raid system. That works out for me, right? They want a guy that is accurate. They don’t need someone that runs a 4.5. They need some that can execute that offense. I feel like I will crush it up there. Their starter this year was a backup at Alabama, David Cromwell. He is a junior. I will have a chance my freshman year to show what I can do but will more than likely sit and learn my first year there.”

Do you plan on recruiting other players to join you?

“I have already started recruiting other guys. I hit up some guys from my 7v7 team. There are three or four guys with offers from Nevada on my team. There are some guys I know that should have offers. I sent the Nevada staff their film too. I hit up some guys on Twitter that I did not know.”

How are you going to pitch the other players to join you?

“The pitch is the coaches are totally awesome and I believe they will get the program in the right direction and contend in the MWC in a couple of years. To the receivers I am saying, ‘hey, it is the Air Raid offense. You are going to get the ball.’ I am telling them how I feel about the program. I know that when I was asking people at UNR about the school and the program I wanted them to tell me the good and the bad. I want to tell people how it is and persuade them to join me. I’ll also tell them about their fans and the players on the roster. Both have been very welcoming to me reaching out congratulating me. I appreciate all that stuff.”

Are you going to Nevada for a camp or unofficial visit this summer?

“I’ll go up there with my mom so she can see it, but I will not go to any of their camps. They have a QB academy on our first day of summer practice. I think it would be bad to miss the first day of our practice.”

Carson, congratulations on your commitment to Nevada and thanks for taking time to do the interview today.

“Thank you.”

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Photo credit: recruitingnewsguru.com; Carson Strong at the Best of the West 7v7 Passing Downs Tournament.

Photo credit: Strong family; Carson Strong with Coach Matt Mumme at Nevada (May 2017).