Kellen Pagel in BG QB Mix--son of NFL QB Mike Pagel

So, Coach Clawson was doing his year-end wrap up presser, as covered here in the Blade.  I am going to listen to it shortly, but the Blade report focuses on the fact that BG is losing lots of starters including a QB.

It mentions the potential candidates, including Aaron Pankratz and Matt Schilz, but then introduces a name I had literally not heard before:  Kellen Pagel.

I was kind of surprised that this slipped past me, but I am getting older.

So I decided to educate myself about Mr. Pagel.  First, I went to his page on bgsufalcons.com.  Not much help there.

So I decided to google him.

Yes, his father is THAT Pagel, with a 12-year NFL Career, including for the Browns.

He is from Strongsville, and led his team to the best playoff performance in the history of the school.  Check out this from jjhuddle.

“He has a great arm and he’s very athletic,” [Coach Russ] Jacques says. “But the biggest thing about Kellen is that he makes excellent decisions. He doesn’t throw into coverage and he always takes what the defense gives him. He has great poise.”

Such praise would please Pagel, particularly because his father gave him advice about quarterbacking that encouraged the same attributes Jacques spoke about.

“My dad told me that the most important thing is to be a leader and manage games,” says Kellen, who barely remembers watching his father play with the Rams in his last years in professional football in the early 1990s. “He said that you don’t always have to make the biggest plays, but you should take what’s there for you.”

I have no idea what his status is with our team, if he is a walk-on or on scholarship.  He was injured his junior year, which is a terrible time to be injured if you are trying to get a D1 scholarship.  His star receiver from that team is at Findlay, so perhaps he decided to take a shot at walking on at BG.  He has never been listed with any of our recruiting classes.

I always contend that for all the desire for measurables--and he is 6'3"--sometimes you need a guy who is a football player, with an instinct for the game and the passion to be better, and it sounds like Kellen Pagel brings some interesting elements to our QB battle.

One last thing.  You see the name Russ Jacques up there, and younger Falcon fans may not know that he is not only the coach at Strongsville, but a former Falcon QB.  Jacques played for and coached with Don Nehlen, making him a part of the Doyt Perry coaching tree.  So, you know, if Russ Jacques likes you as a QB....that's gotta mean something.