Broncos Pick Up A JUCO QB
Sunday evening, the familiar Harsin "Go Broncos" tweet came out. It was quite awhile later before Rathen Ricedorff announced himself via his twitter account.
I spoke with his coach at Mesa C.C., Ryan Felker, who told me why he waited a bit before making it public. "Rathen is a very mature kid. He didn't want to say anything until after he gets to talk personally to the others who offered him."
While most recruits state they appreciate all the coaches and programs who recruited them along the way when the commit to a school, few do it on a personal level. But that doesn't surprise Coach Felker at all. "He is a very mature kid."
Ricedorff's path has been a long one. Coach Felker explained he came to the program after both an LDS mission and a stop at Arizona State, where he spent a year as a redshirt walk-on. Then, his first year at Mesa he started the first two games before breaking his hand. He was player of the week in both of those games.
However, Rathen came back this year healthy and motivated and enjoyed a successful season on the field, which did not surprise his coach at all.
"He is as true of a dual-threat QB as it gets." Felker said. "He runs a 4.5. He's a tough kid who runs and throws as good as any QB in the country. Plus, he's one of the more competitive kids I've ever coached."
