Towson quarterbacks have thrown a total of 34 passes at the college level entering the 2023 season, but first-year head coach Pete Shinnick is confident in the process that will lead to a plan for the season opener at Maryland on Sept. 2.
Shinnick said that Sean Brown and Nathan Kent had “separated themselves a little bit” at one point before the competition picked up again. Brown played for Liberty for three years prior to transferring to Towson this past offseason, but he only got into one game for the Flames during that time. Kent has been with the Tigers for the past three years, appearing in four games as a reserve since 2021.
Zack Jackson, Jack Pellicciotti and Scott Smith III are also competing, but Shinnick allowed that Pellicciotti, a true freshman, has seen fewer reps than the other four. The five quarterbacks on the Tigers’ roster have thrown for a total of 150 yards during their college careers (120 from Kent and 30 from Smith).
“I feel like they all do similar things, but at the same time they all kind of have their unique aspect to them,” Shinnick said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 23. “We call our offense a Pro Raid offense, so we’re going to play up-tempo, we’re going to get the ball out quick. We’re going to get it into our playmakers’ hands and see how that plays out. They’ve all kind of done a really good job of directing the offense, but we’re getting closer and kind of fine-tuning it.”
Shinnick, 58, comes to Towson after posting a 159-67 mark as the head coach at West Florida, UNC Pembroke and Azusa Pacific. He estimates that he has gone through about five similar competitions in which he didn’t have a starting quarterback coming out of spring ball. He is comfortable with his process to land on a starter.
Towson has a scrimmage scheduled for the evening of Aug. 24, which Shinnick anticipated would “solidify things for us.”
“I’ve had about five of these over the course of time where we didn’t have a starter coming out of spring, whether the guy graduated or starting a program, whatever it’s been,” Shinnick said. “Every time has kind of been a different scenario. We’ve given one guy two series, the next guy two series. We’ve kind of done it every way possible. We’re still evaluating what our options are. I’m good either way. It’s worked out well for us kind of every which way we’ve done it.”
Towson is replacing the well-traveled Tyrrell Pigrome, who handled the bulk of the work at quarterback in 2022. He threw for 1,638 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 574 yards and two scores in 11 games for a Tigers team that finished 6-5 overall. He directed a Towson offense that finished No. 11 in scoring (21.4 points per game) and No. 12 in yards (322.8) in a 13-team CAA in 2022.
One offensive player still on the team is 2022 CAA Special Teams Player of the Year D’Ago Hunter, who returned 26 kicks for 639 yards and two touchdowns and 12 punts for 195 pounds and a score. Now, Towson wants to get him more involved on the offensive side. The 5-foot-6, 160-pound back toted the rock 69 times for 262 yards and caught 10 passes for 111 yards a year ago.
“Whatever system you’re in, you’ve got to find a way to get the ball in that guy’s hands,” Shinnick said. “You’ve got to give him the opportunity to do what he does best, and that’s really getting in space one-on-one with people. He’s so electric and dynamic. You watch all of his punt returns, you watch all of his kickoff returns and those aren’t necessarily the best-blocked plays out there, but if it comes down to him and one guy, you like your odds on him.”
Towson’s defense performed better than the offense in 2022 — No. 7 in scoring (27.8) and No. 8 in yards (388.7) — but that still leaves plenty of room for improvement. Shinnick is pleased with the leadership he has seen on the defensive side of the ball. He credited defensive lineman Jesus Gibbs, linebackers Daniel Raymond and Mason Woods and defensive backs Robert Javier and Xavier Terry with setting the right tone.
“New guys coming in saying, ‘OK, hey, what’s it like here? What can we do? What are the standards?'” Shinnick said. “Those guys have been like, ‘Hey man, the standard’s the standard. This is how they do it. This is what they’re going to expect of you, and if you do that, you’ll have a good opportunity for yourself.”
See Also:
- Introducing New Towson Football HC Pete Shinnick
- Towson Football HC Pete Shinnick On The Local Coach He Heard From After Landing Job
For more from Shinnick, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Towson University Photo Services