Never QB1, Trask's Prep Quarterback Room Sensed Potential

A Gators fan casts a vote for Kyle Trask in the Heisman Trophy race during his sixth consecutive game with four or more touchdown passes last week against Arkansas. (Photo: Anissa Dimilta/UAA Communications).

Never QB1, Trask's Prep Quarterback Room Sensed Potential

Thursday, November 19, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When he first heard about it, straight from the quarterback's mouth, Clay Roberts wasn't sure what to think of the outlandish claim his fellow Texan had told him. Roberts had known Kyle Trask since they were teammates at Manvel High in 2013.

The Trask that Roberts knew was not the type to mislead people. Trask typically kept it short and simple – when he actually talked.

"He was a quiet kid,'' said Roberts, who was in the same grade as Trask and is now a quarterback at the University of Texas Permian Basin in Odessa. "I'm sure he's still a little bit quiet now. He is just one of those guys who goes about his business working hard, never complaining. I remember that year he was the emergency long snapper. That just shows you who he is. We needed a long snapper and he said, 'I can do it.' That's pretty much Kyle."

Roberts, Clay (Manvel QB w/Kyle Trask) — Clay Roberts

As sophomore teammates and quarterbacks at Manvel seven years ago, Roberts and Trask showed up at preseason camp hoping to challenge junior Stefan Kahn, the favorite to start on the varsity, for playing time. Of course, the plans of all three were derailed that season when dynamic D'Eriq King transferred into the program and, after sharing snaps early in the season with Kahn, took over as the starter for good.

Realizing he lacked the size and strength possessed by the 6-foot-5 Trask to attract the attention of college recruiters as a high school backup, Roberts transferred to private school St. Pius X for his final two seasons. He lost contact with Trask for a while.

And then, during the summer between their junior and senior seasons, Roberts and Trask ran into each other at a summer camp at McNeese State University in Louisiana.

That's when Trask tossed Roberts a curveball.

Roberts was aware that FCS program Houston Baptist University had offered Trask a scholarship, but for some reason, Trask had not committed. The topic naturally came up during their stay at the camp.

"Are you going to commit pretty soon or what?" Roberts asked.

"No, I'm waiting on Florida to offer me,'' Trask responded.

At that point, Roberts wondered if he should laugh.

"A week or two later, I remember they offered him,'' Roberts said this week. "I was like, 'I guess he wasn't lying.' "

Trask's unlikely journey from career backup to the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy according to some, will be told and retold countless times in the coming weeks if the Gators continue to win and Trask continues to put up astonishing numbers. The fact King, his high school teammate and now Miami's starting quarterback, is also in the Heisman conversation adds another layer to the story as the sixth-ranked Gators (5-1) prepare to play at winless Vanderbilt (0-6) on Saturday.

Seven years ago, they were just two Houston-area kids competing with Kahn and Roberts to be the Manvel Mavericks' starting quarterback.

"That quarterback room was pretty crazy,'' Roberts said.

Like Roberts, Kahn transferred from Manvel and played his senior season at Reagan High in hopes of garnering interest from college recruiters. He ended up at Louisiana Tech for a brief stint in 2015, the season former Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel starred for the Bulldogs. Kahn said he eventually got burned out and decided to focus his attention on a future outside of football.

Today, Kahn works as a sales manager for a chemical company in downtown Houston. He recalls Trask much the same way as others do at Manvel: quiet, hard-working and talented.

"When I first got there, I didn't even think the guy knew how to talk,'' Kahn said. "He has just always been very, very calm and collected, which honestly, is a great trait now that he has grown into the player that he is today. At first, he was just really shy, he's young, this big lanky guy as a freshman.

"The quarterback is such a complicated position. But I think every person there at Manvel knew his potential. He had the size, he had the arm, and he was always very, very smart. The kid was never in trouble and I'm pretty sure he was always making straight A's in school. It just took him a little bit of extra time to get his leadership skills in place because he was always second-string. I think the biggest thing with him is that patience is a virtue. He knew his time was coming and when he got it, he never looked back."

Kahn said since he was a year older and had a different set of friends than Trask, they were never that close off the field. However, in quarterback meetings and at practice, Kahn tried to serve as a mentor. He suffered separated ribs in the third game of the 2013 season and King took over as the starter for good. Trask moved up to become the backup.

He was always a student of the game.

"Once we were on the field, we were always together,'' Kahn said. "I remember coaching him up. I never had to tell him how to throw the ball or how to be any taller than 6-5, but I used to help him out with the plays. He is so coachable and I think that's a big part of the reason he is so successful. He really knows how to listen and be coachable. He takes constructive criticism very, very well."

Kahn, Stefan (Manvel QB w/Kyle Trask) — **Stefan Kahn**

Both Kahn and Roberts said they have watched Trask and King perform on the national stage with excitement. They are rooting for their former teammates to continue to do big things. As Trask makes a bid to become the Gators' first Heisman Trophy winner since Tim Tebow in 2007, Roberts is busy preparing for a spring season at UTPB.

A Division II program and member of the Lone Star Conference, the Falcons' season was postponed until the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. Roberts, who wears No. 11 like Trask, has a story of his own. He went to the University of Texas San Antonio out of high school, then played briefly at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College and Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif. Roberts has overcome multiple injuries to get to this point and is eagerly awaiting the start of a conference-only season in February.

Roberts said he and Trask occasionally share messages and that nothing Trask has done surprises him. Not after that Florida offer was real.

"I think everyone knew his potential was through the roof,'' Roberts said. "He wasn't catching everyone's eye like he is now. If you watch Kyle, he knows where the ball needs to go and when. He knows where the defense is going to be and where his guys will be. That just shows the work that not everyone sees that he is putting in."

The only thing Trask has done at Florida to awe Kahn is that he stayed. He assumed Trask would eventually transfer and not settle for life on the sidelines.

He stayed. Feleipe Franks got hurt. Trask took over. And well, you know the rest.

Kahn has a story to tell for life.

"Obviously, Kyle has continued his career a lot farther than mine, but I'm never going to stop saying that I started over the kid that is first up for the Heisman right now,'' Kahn said. "I'll never stop saying that."