FootballScoop is proud to announce that Marcus Arroyo (Arizona State) is the 2024 FootballScoop Quarterbacks Coach of the Year, presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
In their first year together, Arroyo and quarterback Sam Leavitt helped to totally transform the outlook for Arizona State football.
A redshirt freshman transfer from Michigan State, Leavitt enters the College Football Playoff as the highest-rated true or redshirt freshman in college football, according to Pro Football Focus, among all players who logged at least 400 snaps. At 88.7, Leavitt's PFF rating is the eighth-highest among all freshmen quarterbacks dating back a decade. Six of the seven above Leavitt started NFL games this season.
The ninth-rated quarterback in college football according to the traditional rating system, Leavitt concluded the regular season connecting on 192-of-304 passes (63.2 percent) for 2,663 yards (8.8 per attempt) with 24 touchdowns against five interceptions.
Arizona State's opening-day starter, Leavitt began the year hitting 14-of-22 throws for 258 yards with two scores and no picks in a 48-7 demolition of Wyoming. Other standout performances include:
-- 14-of-24 for 157 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in a 35-31 win over Kansas
-- 20-of-29 for 304 yards with three touchdowns and no picks in a 42-21 defeat of Oklahoma State
-- 17-of-22 for 291 yards with three touchdowns and no picks in a 49-7 blowout in the Territorial Cup against Arizona
-- 12-of-17 for 219 yards with (again) three touchdowns and no picks in a 45-19 destruction of Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship
Leavitt has thrown three touchdowns or more seven times, including in five of his last six games. In fact, over his last six outings, Leavitt has completed 102-of-152 throws (67 percent) for 1,497 yards with 16 touchdowns against one interception -- good for a 183.26 rating that would have led the nation if applied across the entire season.
In the red zone, Leavitt's TD-to-INT ratio improves to 9-to-1. He also ranks among the top 25 passers nationally in completion percentage while under pressure, percentage of yardage coming after the catch, first downs gained while under pressure, and yards gained on scrambles.
Leavitt was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and the Second Team All-Big 12 quarterback for his efforts. He was the only freshman to make the All-Big 12 first or second team.
A San Jose State graduate, Arroyo started coaching as a Spartans student in 2003. He spent 2004 as Prairie View A&M's offensive coordinator before returning to SJSU as a GA, and eventually rose to become co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In addition to a 3-year run as UNLV's head coach, Arroyo has coached and coordinated at Wyoming, Cal, Southern Miss, Oklahoma State, Oregon, and spent a year with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 2024 campaign was Arroyo's first at Arizona State, where he is also the Sun Devils' offensive coordinator.
Arroyo is the second FootballScoop Quarterbacks Coach of the Year winner on his current staff. Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham won the honor at Oregon in 2022.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Ben Arbuckle [Washington State], Joe Craddock [Tulane], D'Eriq King [SMU], Jake Spavital [Baylor] and Arroyo) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the Quarterbacks Coach of the Year award are Josh Heupel (Oklahoma, 2008), Tom Rossley (Texas A&M, 2009), Mark Helfrich (Oregon, 2010 and 2012), Philip Montgomery (Baylor, 2011), Randy Sanders (Florida State, 2013), Kevin McGiven (Utah State, 2014), Mike Sanford (Notre Dame, 2015), Tyson Helton (USC, 2016), Jim Chaney (Georgia, 2017), Tom Rees (Notre Dame, 2018), Steve Ensminger (LSU, 2019), Aaron Roderick (BYU, 2020), Zach Kittley (Western Kentucky, 2021), Kenny Dillingham (Oregon, 2022), and Joe Sloan (LSU, 2023).
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