It’s not easy being thrown into the fire as a sophomore and starting at quarterback for a varsity football team. That was the case for soon-to-be Austin Nuessle for the 2014 season after playing on the freshman team the year before.
But for Nuessle, the support and guidance around him has been second to none. With former NFL MVP quarterback, now Desert Mountain Offensive Coordinator Kurt Warner working with him for years because he and Kurt’s son Kade have been good friends for a long time. In addition, former Wolves quarterback, now Texas A&M signal caller Kyle Allen has come home multiple times to check in on the young quarterback.
It is a supporting cast that is more valuable than words could describe.
“Yeah it’s awesome, all the people I’ve had around me I’ve been blessed,” said Nuessle. “To have the people around me that I do and to carry on my career and what I’m going to do, so it’s awesome with the people around me and the supporting cast.”
As mentioned, Nuessle made the jumper from freshman ball to varsity ball in consecutive seasons. The Wolves took their lumps last season but it was a big learning experience, especially for Nuessle.
“It was a big, big difference between freshman football and varsity,” Nuessle explained. “Just that transition but it definitely helped me going on.”
“Just the speed of the game,” he added. “I even noticed out here for spring ball, last year was a lot faster so this year has slowed down a lot. Especially with guys like Coach Warner helping me out. So it’s been good.”
2015 expects to be an intriguing season for Desert Mountain. They have been moved to division II this season with the AIA’s division realignment. The school also has hired a new head coach in Mike Morrissey who comes from Iowa and is bringing a new era of football in Scottsdale.
“I think it is going to be a big year for our team,” Nuessle mentioned. “Just the improvement from everybody. We started a lot of sophomores this year so everyone getting older and improving is just really fun to see.”
Austin and Kade Warner have a unique connection. The two are best friends off the field and have spent a lot of time with one another throwing and working together just in their free time for fun. Now they are able to put that connection on the field at the varsity level together which has been years in the making.
“Off the field obviously we hang out all the time but also on the field even we are hanging out all the time,” stated Nuessle. “We’re improving his routes, we will stay 30 minutes after practice just going over plays, it’s great to have that connection.”
The young Wolves are now transitioning into upperclassman and could be a surprise time in 2015 led by Austin Nuessle under center.
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Jared Cohen
A born and bred Arizonan, Jared has had great passion for the hometown teams all his life. He now channel's that passion into covering the pro, college and high school teams around the state as a Multimedia Reporter for Sports360AZ.