FootballScoop is proud to announce that Kevin McGiven (Utah State) is the 2014 FootballScoop Quarterbacks Coach of the Year presented by ProGrass.
Many quarterbacks coaches prepare their entire room to play, but in the end only one guy actually does. In 2014, Kevin McGiven prepared his entire room, and that's because his entire room had to play.
The season began with Chuckie Keeton back in the starting lineup after missing the back half of the 2013 season due to a knee injury. He played the Aggies' first three games - against Tennessee, Idaho State and Wake Forest - and completed 51-of-92 passes for 426 yards with two touchdowns against four interceptions while rushing 20 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. Keeton led Utah State to wins in two of those three games, but he was again lost for the season after injuring the same knee that cost him much of the previous season.
Enter Darrell Garretson, a sophomore who set a Utah State record a year ago by becoming the first Aggie signal caller to win his first five starts. Garretson finished the Wake Forest win, then played against Arkansas State, BYU, Air Force and Colorado State, hitting 91-of-135 passes for 1,140 yards with eight touchdowns against three interceptions, good for a 153.45 passer rating that would have ranked 14th nationally with enough attempts to qualify. But Garretson injured his wrist against Colorado State and was done for the season.
On came Craig Harrison, a senior that played in nine games in 2013. He finished up the Colorado State game and then started the next week against UNLV, completing 13-of-23 passes for 221 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. But lightning struck a third time, as Harrison injured his knee against the Rebels and was not seen again.
Finally, there was Kent Myers, a true freshman that began the season fourth on the depth chart and in line for a redshirt until injuries thrust him on the field. Duty called and Myers answered, leading the Aggies to a 4-1 record to close the season by completing 74-of-104 throws for 798 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing 41 times for 240 yards and four touchdowns.
In the end, four different quarterbacks piloted the Aggies to a 9-4 record while combining to complete 238-of-377 passes (63.1 percent) for 2,714 yards with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while rushing 88 times for 379 yards and seven touchdowns.
"Kevin's done an incredible job organizing our offense and keeping us on track," said head coach Matt Wells. "Our offense has been seamless from quarterback to quarterback, and that's because Kevin does a great job relating to our quarterbacks and what each player needs to prepare."
McGiven is in his second season as Utah State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Wells, and also spent the 2009 season as the Aggies' quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach. A native of Orem, Utah, McGiven played at Eastern Arizona Junior College and Louisiana Tech. He broke into coaching as an student assistant at Louisiana Tech and has previously coached at Mountain View (Provo, Utah) High School, Southern Utah, Weber State, Memphis and Montana State.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Dave Baldwin [Colorado State], Sonny Cumbie [TCU], Tom Herman [Ohio State] and McGiven) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
McGiven will receive his award and be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention in January.
Previous winners of the Quarterbacks Coach of the Year award are Josh Heupel (Oklahoma, 2008), Tom Rossley (Texas A&M, 2009), Philip Montgomery (Baylor, 2011) Mark Helfrich (Oregon, 2010 and 2012) and Randy Sanders (Florida State, 2013).
