By Brandon Wright, Times Correspondent
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
SEFFNER
Recently graduated Josh Grady, widely considered the finest quarterback in Armwood's illustrious history, will be taking snaps in the fall for Vanderbilt University. After taking the Hawks to the state semis in 2009 and the finals last year, Grady leaves some big shoes to fill.
Fortunately for Armwood, Darryl Richardson has size 13s for the job.
Richardson, a rising junior, transferred to Armwood this spring and has been given the job of taking the Hawks one step farther in the fall.
"This kid likes the challenge of it all," coach Sean Callahan said. "Nothing has been given to him, and that's the way he wants it. He wants to earn everything."
Richardson has done nothing but impress coaches since leaving Tampa Bay Tech in January. But it's hard for a 6-foot-5, 229-pound 16-year-old not to leave an impression.
"I've had a lot of great quarterbacks here, but none with more physical tools than (Richardson)," Callahan said. "He's got the size and the tools to be playing on Sundays down the road."
That's certainly high praise for a kid who hasn't even thrown a regular-season pass for the Hawks. Callahan isn't the only one to notice. University of Tennessee quarterback coach Darin Hinshaw was at Armwood last week, took one look at Richardson firing some balls down field and immediately forwarded camera phone video to Vols offensive coordinator Jim Chaney.
And just like that, Richardson had his first college offer.
"I was in my car on the way home, and coach (Callahan) called me," Richardson said. "When that happens, it usually means something is wrong and you're in trouble."
But the voice on the other end had nothing but good news.
"It was very exciting," Richardson said. "I couldn't really believe it."
Richardson's path to Armwood has been somewhat nontraditional. He didn't play quarterback until eighth grade, was a backup with the Titans his first two years in a run-oriented offense and barely kept his grades above water at Tampa Bay Tech.
"My grades weren't where I wanted them to be," Richardson said. "I was spending too much time hanging around with my homies and getting distracted too easily."
But all that changed when Richardson hit Armwood's campus.
"When he came here, it was with a clean slate," offensive coordinator Evan Davis said. "But you have to give him a lot of credit because he's put in the work in the classroom. He's realizing what it takes now."
And while Richardson's transformation from a C student at Tampa Bay Tech to almost all A's at Armwood has been impressive, it's his potential on the football field that soon will have college coaches drooling.
"He has the strongest arm of anyone I've ever seen at any level, and I've been out to Bucs practices and all that," Davis said. "The kid has an absolute cannon."
Richardson went 3 of 9 for 77 yards in Armwood's 21-0 win against Plant City in the spring game and was impressive at the University of Central Florida 7-on-7 tournament last weekend.
"He just has so much raw ability," Davis said. "It's exciting to be able to work with him for the next two years and mold him into the great quarterback I think he can be."
Besides his uptick in grades, Richardson has spent the spring trying to digest Armwood's complex offense. Compared to Tampa Bay Tech's vanilla Wing T offense, the Hawks' spread playbook must have looked like War and Peace to a kid just getting a handle on the position.
"They handed me the playbook and I was like 'What?' " Richardson said. "I couldn't seem to get any of it down, but we put in the reps and now it comes easy."
Davis said the correlation between Richardson's improved study habits and his ability to digest the playbook is no coincidence.
"They work off each other," he said. "And it's just making Darryl more confident in everything else that goes along with being the leader of a team, especially when it's a new team. Now when we're looking at defenses, he's starting to see things that I don't even see."
With Division I talent up and down a stacked roster, there's a good chance Richardson will have a shot to be in Grady's shoes come this December.
"I am a more focused person now, and I want to get the job done for my team," he said. "I'm ready to rock and roll."
Brandon Wright can be reached at hillsnews@sptimes.com.