KU’s Michael Cummings again may get his shot at quarterback

LAWRENCE — The coach who recruited him was fired. The new one kept loading up on transfer quarterbacks. And even after starting five games as a redshirt freshman, Michael Cummings was never really considered a quarterback of the future.

So the first question will always be the most obvious one: Why did he stay?

Cummings, now a redshirt junior at Kansas, mulls the question for all of a second. He knows what he wants to say, and he doesn’t need much time to form an answer.

“I realized football doesn’t last forever; you got to have a plan B and a plan C,” Cummings says. “So that’s one of the main reasons.”

Here’s what he means: Yes, Cummings always wanted to play quarterback at Kansas. That was the goal. But he also dreamed of earning his college degree from the school. So when he was buried on the depth chart for the past two seasons, it never felt right to pack up and jump to some other school where the depth chart might be a little friendlier.

“I felt like it was the place for me,” Cummings says, “And as far as competition, you have to love competition. That’s the industry that we’re in — college football, so it’s all about competition.”

All Cummings really ever wanted was the opportunity to compete for KU’s starting quarterback job. And here comes the chance again. In the days after Cummings replaced starter Montell Cozart during a 33-14 loss at West Virginia on Saturday, KU interim coach Clint Bowen announced the starting job was up for grabs. The three-man competition would also include sophomore T.J. Millweard, a former UCLA transfer.

“We all have great chemistry in our quarterback room,” Cozart said on Wednesday, “so we’re having fun with it.”

For Bowen, the announcement signaled a latest move — symbolic or otherwise — away from the Charlie Weis regime. All year, the Jayhawks have been handcuffed by the Big 12’s worst passing attack. So after Bowen returned home from West Virginia, he wanted to be clear. The quarterback snaps will go to the player that earns them. Bowen also hinted at the possibility of playing multiple quarterbacks on Saturday, when Kansas faces Oklahoma State at Memorial Stadium.

“We got to find the right quarterback that’s producing, that is giving our team the best chance to win,” KU offensive coordinator John Reagan said. “There’s so many things that a quarterback can’t control — with an offensive line, what a defense is necessarily doing, what the receivers are doing — but there are things that he can control and decisions that he can make.”

If the Kansas coaches are looking for a steady veteran — somebody that will make sound decisions — that quarterback duties could end up falling to Cummings, who was part of Turner Gill’s final recruiting class in 2011. Yes, this is a quarterback that has been here a while.

Cummings was a redshirt true freshman when Gill was fired, and he was here when Weis took the job and immediately brought in transfer quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps. He was here in 2012, starting five games after Crist struggled behind a shaky offensive line. And he was there in 2013, when Heaps became eligible and Cozart, a freshman, supplanted him as the primary backup. Now Weis, Crist and Heaps are all gone, and Cummings is still battling for playing time.

Whether it was coaches, fans or casual observers, it always seemed as though people were overlooking Cummings. Maybe it was partly his size (5-foot-10, 210 pounds). But it also seemed that many forgot that Cummings was once a standout dual-threat quarterback in central Texas, a recruit with mild interest from Baylor and TCU.

“I’ve always said that you play quarterback from the neck up,” Cummings said. “You can’t really measure the caliber of a quarterback to a T based on height.”

In Cummings’ mind, his experiences at Kansas have given him a veteran’s perspective. Two years ago, he was a redshirt freshman, just trying to feel his way. On Saturday at West Virginia, he was much more composed when replacing Cozart.

“In my personal opinion, I feel like there’s a big difference between playing as a redshirt freshman and as a redshirt junior,” Cummings said. “Those years put some wisdom on you and they give you a calm out there on the field.”

There is no guarantee that the added poise and experience will translate to success at quarterback. Cummings completed 47 percent of his passes as a freshman, and he was 8 of 17 for 65 yards on Saturday. But after nearly four years in the program, he does feel more prepared for the opportunity.

“I think it’s a test of character, either you’re going to put your best foot forward and keep working to get better … or you’re just going to pack it up and give up,” Cummings said. “Which I don’t think I’ve done.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2014 at 12:58 PM with the headline "KU’s Michael Cummings again may get his shot at quarterback."