Tyson Bagent returns to Shepherd as a Chicago Bears QB

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Tyson Bagent may be the NFL's biggest underdog success story of 2023.

He wasn't supposed to become the starting quarterback for Martinsburg High School.

He wasn't the favorite to lead Shepherd University, let alone produce record-setting numbers on the way to the Harlon Hill Award, the Division II equivalent of the Heisman.

And Bagent certainly wasn't expected to make the Chicago Bears' 53-man roster. How many undrafted free agent quarterbacks out of Division II, even one as prolific as Bagent, do that?

"A lot of people talk about ... you have to be a unicorn to make it to that level," Bagent said during a Saturday breakfast fundraiser hosted by the Shepherd Gridiron Club prior to the Rams' season-opening game against Southern Connecticut State. "But quickly what I found out is it's really no different. The speed of the game that I'm playing now, it wasn't a ridiculous adjustment from Shepherd to the NFL. The biggest thing was just, could you handle the mental overload they're giving you? Can you wrap your mind around it?"

He did. And when the Bears open their season at home against the rival Green Bay Packers on Sept. 10, Bagent will be in uniform as a backup to Justin Fields, ready for action if needed.

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How did Bagent get here?

As a freshman at Martinsburg in 2014, Bagent, by his own admission, was "5-8, chubby, slow, didn't have much of a chance."

"As soon as I get there, there's five guys in front of me," Bagent said. "A lot of people said I would never be able to play quarterback. You can't really blame them. ... Thankfully, by my sophomore year I had grown to 6-1, won the job, had a solid season that year and went on to win two state championships."

Bagent threw for 7,800 yards and 112 touchdowns as a Bulldog. Division I FBS programs turned a blind eye to him during recruiting.

"I didn't get the offers that I thought I would get coming out of high school, but with that, I didn't really want to leave home anyway," Bagent said. "So it was super easy for me to decide to come and play for Shepherd."

Bagent had to prove himself again as a Ram.

"Despite what Coach (Ernie) McCook may or may not say, they also brought in another quarterback with me my freshman year who more than half the coaching staff thought was better than me," Bagent said. "Despite what anybody may say, I did not just walk down the red carpet. They had people they thought were better than me, and thankfully I was able to work really hard to win the starting job."

Bagent secured the spot and led Shepherd on the most successful stretch in program history, with two consecutive appearances in the national semifinals in 2021 and 2022. He set the NCAA all-divisions career record for touchdown passes (159) and the Division II record for passing yards (17,034).

As a junior, Bagent won the Harlon Hill Award after throwing for 5,000 yards and 53 touchdowns.

"It's been the greatest couple years of my life, being close to family, playing the sport I love and being able to get national recognition," Bagent said. "It was everything you could ever dream of."

Prior to the NFL Draft, Bagent stood out at the Senior Bowl and handled himself well at both the NFL Combine and Shepherd's pro day. There was talk of him being a late-round selection.

"The draft happens, and once again I'm kind of an underrated guy and don't get drafted," Bagent said. "It was bittersweet, but once I made the (undrafted free agent) deal with the Bears, all of that kind of went out the window because all I could have asked for coming out of a D2 school is to get my foot in the door and get the opportunity, and as a lot of people may have seen, I've done my best to take full advantage of that opportunity."

Mastering the mind games

To Bagent's surprise, the physical challenge of making the NFL came relatively easy for him.

"I played so many amazing games here (at Shepherd), so many meaningful games, so many games with high stakes, that it really prepared me for that next step, which has paid off so much," Bagent said. "Anything physical was significantly easier. They're paying guys a lot of money and they want to keep them safe, so you don't end up taxing your body ever, which was new to me because that's how I have lived my whole life, every day just taxing myself as hard as I can."

The mental challenge? That was something else entirely.

"The hardest part was understanding the playbook," Bagent said. "You can't really put a number on (plays), but there's 110 pages of pass plays and 140 pages of run plays, and all can be done differently than is drawn on those pages. It's not even a playbook, it's an iPad and they continue to upload stuff."

Bagent said he spent the month between OTAs and training camp working with a friend for two hours each morning mastering the language of the plays.

"The first play of my NFL career against the Titans was 'Gun Y Mode Trips Right Tight Toss 38 Support, can 39 Wanda for a box issue' and that's just a run, it's just a sweep," Bagent said to laughter and awe in the room. "The hardest thing initially was I would barely be having the play down ... and then (Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy) would say, 'Hey, we want to can this one for 2 High' but that's as I'm processing everything he just told me, so then you can just find yourself initially getting to the line and becoming paralyzed thinking about it.

"There were a lot of days I was crying myself to sleep stressing out about learning these plays. It was a complete dogfight to be able to say those plays the way I do."

Bagent's play in training camp and preseason games, in which he completed 20 of 29 passes for 156 yards and one interception and ran for two touchdowns, convinced the Bears to keep him on the 53-man roster.

How did he find out?

"They didn't talk to me, so that's how you know you made the team," said Bagent, to more laughter. "It was crazy. You'd see during those two days of cuts, you'd consistently see dudes get called in front of you ... and then (after the meeting) you see the guy take their name tag off and they're on to whatever's next."

Returning to Shepherd

Bagent was thrilled to be back home and on campus Saturday.

"I've been locked in my hotel room for the past month, so now that I'm home and have complete freedom with my family, get to watch Shepherd play today, got to watch Martinsburg play last night, this is a pretty surreal, amazing weekend for me," Bagent said.

Funds from the breakfast, for which tickets cost $150, will go toward the TB2 Tyson Bagent Scholarship Fund.

"That scholarship was generated by a lot of people in this room two years ago when Tyson won the Harlon Hill," said McCook. "We will continue to build on that scholarship for years to come."

"He is a local hero," said Shepherd vice president for athletics Chauncey Winbush. "I can't tell you how proud we are of him."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Tyson Bagent returns to Shepherd as a Chicago Bears QB