STARKVILLE — Bruce Rollinson has mentored his share of collegiate quarterbacks.
In 30 years as the head coach at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, Rollinson’s previous understudies include former USC signal-callers Matt Leinart, Todd Marinovich and Matt Barkley. 2007 Heisman finalist and record-setting Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan is also part of the fraternity of strong-armed signal callers to come through the program.
And while Rollinson’s own track record with quarterbacks is one few in the nation — let alone in talent-rich California — can parallel, it was a 45-14 win over Santa Margarita during the 2015 season in which Eagles quarterback and Stanford graduate transfer K.J. Costello caught his eye.
“I remember he could throw all the balls,” Rollinson told The Dispatch. “You know, the deep ball. He had touch. He had the intermediate ball. He was accurate.”
Rated the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2016 class, Costello was among the nation’s most sought-after passers despite having started for just two full seasons. Spending the better part of his first two years in the Santa Margarita program as a backup, he served as the second-string quarterback behind future Washington State wide receiver Kyle Sweet.
A smooth-talking Californian, Sweet boasted a confidence about him on the football field. As a freshman at Washington State, he converted three third-and-longs in the Rose Bowl against UCLA, much to the surprise of current Mississippi State coach and former Washington State leading man Mike Leach. Striding to the sidelines following the third of his conversions, Leach commended Sweet for his effort.
“Well what’d you think was going to happen?” Sweet retorted.
“Think ‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ and then make one of them a football player, and there then you’ve got Kyle Sweet,” Leach told The Dispatch in jest.
While Sweet went on to a standout career as a receiver under Leach at Washington State, he made the switch to the outside because of Costello’s development between his sophomore and junior seasons. After spending an offseason renewing his focus on the weight room and developing the arm talent coaches had oozed over, Costello slid into the starting role under center as Sweet transitioned to receiver.
“It wasn’t a real easy call because Kyle was a great quarterback,” then-Santa Margarita coach Rick Curtis told The Dispatch. “So we were like, what do we do? We didn’t want one to stand on the sidelines. We wanted to make sure that our best players were on the field.”
In response to his newly minted starting position, Costello finished his junior season completing 229 of 380 passes for 3,123 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Scott Meyer, currently the head coach at Lakewood High School, recalls preparing his Servite High School team for Costello in the week ahead of their late October 2015 meeting during the future Stanford signal-caller’s senior season.
“Stopping him that week was the major focus,” Meyer told The Dispatch. “I don’t remember exactly what we did, but we definitely came planning probably having (Santa Margarita) try to beat us there with a running game as opposed to with his arm.”
While Meyer’s squad took that night’s contest 30-20, Costello still managed 285 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-43 passing and added another 25 yards on eight carries.
As Costello’s numbers blossomed throughout his junior year and into his senior campaign, so too did his recruiting profile. Between April and July of 2014, he earned nine scholarship offers from the likes of Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Florida State, Tennessee and Boise State, among others. Unofficial visits to Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida and USC followed.
So too did an invitation to the 2015 Elite 11 finals — a national camp that brings together the top 11 quarterback prospects in the country. Along with Costello, other participants included former Ohio State standout Dwayne Haskins, Tennessee’s Jarrett Guarantano, Florida graduate transfer Feleipe Franks, Georgia and Washington quarterback Jacob Eason and Ole Miss and Michigan’s Shea Patterson — the event’s eventual winner.
Concluding his senior season with a robust 2,347 yards and 18 touchdowns despite missing one game coupled with the graduation of Sweet, Costello finished his high school career rated as the No. 47 overall recruit in the country according to 247 Sports’ composite list.
As Costello heads into his final year of eligibility as the front-runner for the starting quarterback job that was previously split by Penn State import Tommy Stevens and sophomore Garrett Shrader in Starkville should football be played, those who remember him fondly as a prep standout still believe he’s a future NFL talent.
“I’ve had all the great ones from Barkley to Leinart to (Georgia quarterback J.T.) Daniels to (Alabama quarterback Bryce) Young,” Rollinson said. “And I’m not putting him in that category because I’m not close enough, but when you watch him, you go, ‘OK, this kid’s gonna have success at the next level.'”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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