Psssh Marcus Mariota …. that guy?

Psssh Marcus Mariota …. that guy?

Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota went to St. Louis High School in Hawaii. His quarterback coach/assistant coach was Vinny Passas. Passas has coached every major quarterback to come from Hawaii over the last 30 years.

Based solely upon stats, the best quarterback Passas ever coached was Timmy Chang. Not Marcus. Who is Marcus?

Apparently at this high school, they have created a great environment of brotherly love and competition. There’s something fun and funny about it with a coach that clearly adores them.

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Marcus isn’t even the best athlete in his family!

In this article, Alana, Marcus’ mother, tells Sports Illustrated that his brother Matt was the better athlete in the family.

Would Matt have become the best quarterback ever from Hawaii?

“Lots of quarterbacks broke my heart,” Passas says, “but Matt broke it the most the day he showed up as a freshman and said, ‘I don’t want to be a quarterback anymore. I want to hit people.'”

Passas says that Matt, a lefty, could “drop dimes all over the field,” and has the type of easygoing—and somewhat outgoing—personality that pulls in teammates.

Here’s a video of Matt’s highlights

Matt plays linebacker, defensive end, running back, cornerback, kicker, return man….he plays everywhere.

During this video, Matt signs a paper and the TV broadcast indicates he is playing for Oregon. Oregon refers to him as a walk-on though. Regardless, Matt red-shirted last year.

Back to Vinny Passas the quarterback coach. He loves his current quarterback. Everywhere I looked when he was discussing a quarterback, that player was the best. Passas is rather stoic, but we’ve all had our share of coaches with that demeanor- he is gushing. It’s great to see the videos of a coach all proud of his “product” and also the man they’ve become.

But because this post is in a playful spirit….back to Marcus who

He wasn’t even the best quarterback Passas ever coached!

At this stage of their careers, Pappas believes Tagovailoa has a clear advantage.

“He’s an amazingly accurate thrower,” Pappas said. “I’ve never seen a guy spin the ball like this. His leadership skills are pretty amazing, and it comes from his spiritual side by listening to prayers and how he can quote the gospel.

Tua Tagovailoa is the latest quarterback from that school. He was the top quarterback recruit and a five-star recruit. The dual threat looks fantastic in his high school highlights whether running or throwing.

Tagovailoa conceivably could have picked any school to attend. Alabama just had an impressive freshman quarterback in Jalen Hurts. Now, Tagovailoa isn’t even assured of starting. The five-star recruit will have to beat out Hurts first.

Getting antsy for the Combine, I’ll predict two questions that stem from this article-

Will the Titans draft Tua in 2019? Will the Titans draft Matt in 2019?

Every five-star recruit, regardless of how they play in college, will probably wind up in an NFL camp. Five star is a rare ranking. They are superior athletes loaded with talent. It could be as an undrafted free agent, but they will likely be in a camp. Let’s see how he actually performs in college, but…why not as Marcus’ backup?

Matt, is an easy answer- I don’t think Coach Mike Mularkey could say “No.” He’d have 53 Mariota’s on his team if he could. From a slightly more reasonable aspect, the quotes in those articles about Matt are quite similar to Mariota. The kindness, the spirit, the effort, the willingness to learn and improve etc. It seems pretty obvious Momma Mariota raised some good boys. Coaches always like players like that in camp.

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