Missouri State's Jason Shelley doesn't dwell on past after finding home as one of top QBs in FCS

Missouri State was down by four with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter. Central Arkansas, which started the quarter trailing by nine, scored three touchdowns and was a defensive stop away from spoiling the Bears’ 2021 home opener.

“Usually I would go over and say, ‘All right, fellas, we’re going to take this down and score,’” said Bobby Petrino, head coach of Missouri State.

But Jason Shelley, the quarterback transfer from Utah State playing his second game with the team, galvanized his teammates before his coach had a chance.

“I started to walk over to the offense and Jason was standing there saying, ‘We got this, guys. We’re going to take it down and score and win the game,’” Petrino said.

Shelley, who didn’t have a touchdown pass to that point, threw a 26-yard dart for a score that gave the Bears a three-point lead after the extra point. With that touchdown and a pick-six on the ensuing Central Arkansas drive, Missouri State got  its first win of the season, 43-34.

“That’s nice to have, someone who has that much confidence in himself and his teammates,” Petrino said.

Shelley was the Missouri Valley Football Conference offensive player of the year and newcomer of the year last season after breaking the program records in passing yards and yards of total offense.

Similar to most high-achieving quarterbacks, Shelley raises the game of those around him. His presence helped a Bears team that went 5-5 in 2020-21 go 8-4 last season. Behind Shelley, the Bears start the season ranked No. 8 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.

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However, unlike many signal-callers, the senior who commands the sideline is quiet by nature.

“I’m more of an introverted person. It’s kind of crazy to say (about) a quarterback,” Shelley said. “When you see me at an IHOP or something like that, you’ll probably be like, ‘He’s not the same rowdy guy he is on the field.’ That’s not me at all.”

Shelley, who grew up in Frisco, Texas, is in fact the quietest person in his family between his parents, his older sister and his younger brother, his parents said.

“When he puts his helmet on and shoulder pads on, he transforms into a different person,” said his dad, Jason Sr., who played wide receiver in NFL Europe, the XFL and the Arena Football League (AFL).

Shelley said he has fond memories of watching his dad play football in the AFL up until he was 10.

While he was the starting quarterback at Lone Star High School, he also pursued his second love: baseball, playing on the varsity team for four years. His time as an outfielder helped him mentally on the gridiron.

“Baseball definitely touched on mental toughness. You can go a week and not even touch the baseball at all, strike out every time,” Shelley said. “That’s something you got to learn growing up that the past is the past, you can’t change it, you got to move forward.”

Leaving the past behind and moving forward from struggles has been a central part of Shelley’s college experience. He used that lesson when he went through a difficult situation earlier in his career.

After redshirting in 2017 and playing two seasons at the University of Utah – starting at quarterback for the final five games of 2018 and appearing in 11 games in 2019 – Shelley transferred to Utah State to be the full-time starter.

His time with the Aggies was short-lived. Gary Andersen, the head coach who recruited Shelley, was fired early in the season. After the 0-4 start, tensions were high and Shelley and a teammate got into a verbal argument on the sideline that continued into the locker room. The following morning, then-interim head coach Frank Maile dismissed Shelley and told the media he violated a team rule. Maile later explained there was no rule broken.

Even with the correction, Shelley’s reputation took a hit, and he didn’t know where his next football opportunity was going to come from.

“They (the Utah State football program) tried to sully his name,” Jason Sr. said. “They tried to do some damage to my son that was unwarranted. He definitely persevered through that. He did show a lot of mental toughness.”

Shelley said this situation challenged his resolve, creeping in some doubt about if he could be a quarterback at the next level one day. “I had to look myself in the mirror,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a professional football player. When that happened, I kind of seen the light dimming a little bit in my eyes. The day it happened I can remember like yesterday, where I parted ways with the team because I didn’t even expect it and it happened the next morning. So (I learned) you can’t really take anything for granted.”

To graduate and be eligible to transfer after that spring 2021 semester, he needed 23 credits.

“Get that degree, they cannot take that from you,” Janine Shelley told her son at the time.

Shelley took his mom’s words seriously and used his newfound time away from the game to do what he needed to graduate and move on to Missouri State.

“The thing that impressed me the most when he got here was how quickly he learned,” Petrino said.

Shelley learned Petrino’s offense after already knowing the playbooks from Utah and Utah State.

“He has a master’s degree in (learning offenses),” Petrino said. “It’s amazing what he could do as far as picking up our offense, understanding it and then executing it. He can picture things so when you speak to him and you say ‘Cover 2,’ you can see that he pictures that in his mind. And when you can do that as a quarterback, then it’s so much easier during the game to make adjustments.”

The same visualization technique he uses to dissect opposing defenses is what he uses to approach his day-to-day. He said he believes that “if you can see it happening, you know it’s possible.”

The proficiency Shelley has in the way he thinks about the game is what has allowed him to overcome any lingering doubts about him as a 5-foot-11 quarterback. He also matured to understand that if what he envisioned doesn’t happen, such as the Utah State situation, he is not going to carry misgivings.

“I think that people who do live with regrets are always living in fear, and I think that living in fear prevents you from being the best person you can be,” Shelley said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jason Shelly navigated college football to find home at Missouri State