SAN DIEGO -- If one thinks of the AztecFAST offense as a supercharged sports car, the best way to ensure maximum performance is to have a driver that can handle at high speed.
The five quarterbacks on the roster have been studying the operators manual and continue to take test drives, vying for that spot behind the wheel Saturdays, while also getting used to new navigation technology.
With redshirt sophomore AJ Duffy and true freshman Danny O’Neil both listed atop the depth chart heading into fall camp, San Diego State is taking all the necessary time to find their wheelman, while also getting used to the newly allowed in-helmet communication.
“Everybody's still going through year one,” quarterbacks coach Matt Johnson said. “The guys that are here in the spring, they have 15 practices ahead of everybody else, but in the summer, a lot of it is player driven.
“Then we come out here as coaches and we're still correcting some things or encouraging things based off of what they did on their own in the summer.”
Both Duffy and O’Neil arrived on the Mesa for the spring sessions and took part in the AztecFAST Showcase spring game, as did sophomore Kyle Crum and redshirt freshman Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson. Since then the quarterback unit has focused on skill building through game-realistic drills, playbook concepts with film study and growing leadership.
“I’m trying to memorize certain plays, but learn them by the concepts,” said Duffy, a transfer from Florida State who attended Rancho Verde High School for two years.
“We can kind of mix and match stuff here and there and we'll not have to memorize a whole new play — it's two concepts or different concepts that we've already learned.”
Entering his third camp, Duffy has focused on the leadership aspect, with particular intention to help everyone around him get better.
“You got to get to know them first and then once you build a connection, you start to have mutual respect and then you can kind of start leading from there,” he said.
Eric Evelhoch / The Sporting Tribune
San Diego State quarterbacks, wide recievers and tight ends go through a passing drill during day two of their 2024 fall camp.
Meanwhile, O’Neil has jumped straight in after graduating early from Cathedral High in Indianapolis and taken his film study time to understand everything conceptually to know what everyone is doing. It has enabled him to make broad steps from where he was during spring practice.
“I was kind of being told what to do back in the spring,” O’Neil said. “This time around, I take pride in trying to make sure everyone on the field is doing the right thing and to make sure they’re in the right spots or on the right routes, calling the right protection and stuff like that.”
Having grown up watching Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, the true freshman appreciated the way they went about their business. As part of the quarterback room, it’s helped him be competitive and supportive, all while having his attention trained to what traits the starting quarterback will ultimately have.
“The ability to be consistent with everything that they do," O'Neil said, "just making everyone around him better doing all the little things, and, when the big plays come, he doesn't, you know, shy away from it.”
Beyond learning a new offense, the signal callers have begun to work with the coaching staff in implementing in-helmet radio communication, which was amongst the new technologies approved by the NCAA in April.
Only Johnson, who played professionally with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, has experience with in-helmet radio.
“It's quiet, quiet, quiet and then boom, you get this voice in your head,” he said. “We tested them out the night before we came out here to practice and I was pretty surprised — it's crystal clear.”
The players had tried testing something similar out over the summer using walkie talkies, but to experience it firsthand is another. Both Duffy and O’Neil said it will take some getting used to, but likened the experience to coach taking “taking the test with them” and giving pointers every now and then.
“(Coach) being able to double check, make sure I'm seeing everything, seeing it through the same set of eyes that he's seeing is just huge, it's really gonna give us an advantage,” O’Neil said.
Of course, how much or little is communicated will depend on the player.
It’s all part of the learning process of camp, and for as fast as the Aztecs plan to rev it up on offense this year, they’re in no hurry to give someone the keys quite yet.
“Everybody’s been getting live reps so it’s all full speed," Johnson said. "Even seven-on-seven stuff is full go.
“We need that tape to be able to evaluate and make a proper decision.”