Sounds like the QB battle is really just going to between Harper and Pinnick at this point. I know that they will pick the right guy for the job, but it would be cool to get a young guy out there and really give him play time to develop over the course of several seasons. No matter who they pick, it will be nice to have some QB mobility in play.

Sounds ro me like Pinnick is the guy, if healthy.
He gets effusive praise for leadership and work ethic, has the most athleticism. If the battle for the position is neck and neck between a player with five years in the program, and a one year player, the younger player likely has the biggest upside. Neither has meaningful game experience, and if you pick the senior next year you are again with an inexperiences QB.

Plough has mentioned that the team is mainly responsible for picking the QB, mainly by who they support as the leader. If its close, I’d like to see Harper get the nod mainly bc of his hard work and dedication to the program.

I get where you are coming from, but if it's close then I hope they go with Pinnick. If he is successful in the role and has the chance to be a 3 or 4 year starter it would be good to get him playing time now. Especially if Plough thinks he has the ceiling to be a really special player. It sounds like he was trying to stifle excitement about Pinnick in the last posted presser.

I don’t have a dog in this fight, but if the coach says something along the lines of “I don’t know when we’ve had a player come in and make that kind if an impact” talking about his leadership qualities, and the player also produces on the field, and stands out with his athleticism, thats going to be the guy. I’m sure there are skill sets that Harper has, and I hope he plays a significant amount, although thats not Ploughs philosophy.

I like having a responsible QB battle here in Davis. Imagine being in the QB room in Cleveland later this summer?

1

It occurs to me that Devon King is the first former player to get hired at UCD for his initial college coaching job since Biggs gave Plough, Keane, Cody and probably others the opportunity. I’m not counting Randy Wright who had a quality control role for a season a few years ago.

There are positional rooms for all of the parts. RBs, QBs, etc. i’m not sure how many different rooms are designated for the defense. But its really enlightening to sit in and observe the details that they go over breaking down various scenarios and appropriate responses.

1

I’m guessing this is just failed humor but what AgAlum is referring to is the meeting rooms in the Team Facility where the coaches meet with their position groups. Quite a bit of teaching occurs in the meetings with a ton of video.

1

New Sac Bee article on Caden Pinnick. It pretty much goes as far as to state that Pinnick is the intended starter.

https://www.sacbee.com/sports/high-school/article305348651.html

crossing fingers that spring game injury isn’t serious

The bee article requires a subscription. Can anyone post it?

there is a free text to speech version in the article which reads out the whole thing

Thanks for that.

No problem :up:

Is Del Oro product the next star QB for UC Davis?
What his coach and others say
By Joe Davidson
Tim Plough’s heart nearly dropped to the turf on Saturday afternoon.
A joyous day of football and community in Yolo County brightened a day heavy on ominous cloud cover, and then the UC Davis coach had a sudden sense of real dread and real storm clouds.
Plough watched helplessly as his fast-emerging quarterback went down early in the spring game and stayed down. The coach made the slow walk from the sideline to the far side of the field to check on Caden Pinnick. A moment after firing a perfectly placed 80-yard touchdown strike to highlight UCD’s afternoon that capped spring drills, Pinnick slumped to the ground. He was in agony, grabbing his right ankle and clutching onto any hope that this wasn’t as bad as it looked.
This was the franchise piece, the Del Oro High School product from Placer County also wondering if his 2025 season was in jeopardy before it really even got off the ground. But to know and understand Pinnick is to appreciate his relentless drive to find a way.
“I’m okay,” Pinnick said after the scrimmage, assuring it was nothing more than a high-ankle sprain. “I’ll be good to go. I’m sure of it.”
Then again, Pinnich is wired such that he could suffer multiple compound fractures on his legs and he would insist he was good to go. Barely able to walk Saturday after rolling his ankle, Pinnick urged Plough to put him back into the scrimmage. The coach did not budge, though he appreciated the grit.
X-rays and an MRI on Saturday and this week revealed no serious damage to the ankle or leg, no shredded ligaments or displaced bones. Pinnick has a high-ankle sprain, and his bum wheel will slow his pursuit of helping the UCD baseball team the rest of this spring. Pinnick stands as a unique two-sport college athlete who manages to squeeze in football, baseball and a full load of academics.
Plough wanted to name a starting quarterback heading into the offseason, and it’ll be Pinnick, a freshman who redshirted last season. He seized control of the job with an impressive spring camp.
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“Scary moment there,” Plough said of seeing Pinnick down. “He’s been really impressive. I don’t know if we’ve had a guy in that short of time come in and make that sort of impact. He makes everyone around him better. It’s the same stuff we saw when we recruited him. He’s a special player with a chance to be a unique leader. I think he’ll have a great career here.”
As for the refreshing approach of naming a starter sooner than later in an era where coaches at all levels prefer to keep things mum, Plough said, “It’s important not to mess around with that. Our guys should know who their quarterback is.”
Pinnick wowed Plough
There’s a lot to like about Pinnick if you’re the coach, or his linemen, or his receivers. He competes, for one. He’s a tremendous athlete who takes his craft seriously.
These are traits deep within him, and of which he witnessed growing up as a fan of his cousin. Stone Smartt quartebacked Del Oro football to two CIF State title games and is now a tight end with the Los Angeles Chargers. The two are close and are in regular contact.
Pinnick also plays with a chip the size of the town of Loomis on his shoulder, motivated to succeed as an under-recruited, three-sport star at Del Oro. He was under recruited not because he lacked skills. Pinnick has skills in abundance, be it his legs to create and extend plays, his rifle arm or his feel for the game and penchant for the dramatic big play.
Pinnick is all of 6 feet and 190 pounds. The thinking was that if he were, say, 3 inches taller, he would have been a major national recruit. Well, he’s not 6-3, and he is content with his opportunity to lead the storied Aggies. Pinnick invites the challenge of taking over for graduated and departed three-year starter Miles Hastings, who over the weekend signed a free-agent deal to play in the Canadian Football League.
When Plough invited Pinnick to visit him on campus in the middle of Pinnick’s senior season at Del Oro, they talked football, studies and life, one quarterback talking to another.
Plough played the position at UCD, and he’s helped recruit record-setters who stormed through UCD, including Jake Maier, now in the CFL. Plough can also relate to going down early in a game, his career flashing in front of him, as he was knocked around when he quarterbacked UCD.
Pinnick scored 42 in basketball with coach watching
Pinnick last spring regularly took an early morning train to Davis, to be around the Aggies, to get involved in workouts and film study, and then he’d train back to Placer County to be a Del Oro student.
That sort of commitment impressed Plough. The coach also recalled a story in which he watched Pinnick sizzle in a basketball game at Del Oro. With Oregon Ducks football coach Dan Lanning on hand to watch Folsom High quarterback star Ryder Lyons, Plough had his eyes on his prized recruit.
Pinnick scored 42 points. Lanning was impressed, too. Then amid laughter, Plough said to steer clear of his guy and to focus on the Folsom lad.
UCD center Zaire Collier of Granite Bay High School roots said the Aggies during the spring gravitated toward Pinnick, a natural leader. Never mind his freshman status. Players recognize a player and a leader when they see one.
“(Pinnick) had a great camp, bringing a new dynamic to the offense,” Collier said. “He showed a lot of good things.”
UCD’s QB camp includes Harper
Pinnick passed for 2,946 yards and 30 touchdowns, and rushed for nearly 500 more and nine scores, as a Del Oro senior, willing his team downfield as one of the greatest players in the history of the storied Golden Eagles program. He was the best quarterback prospect at Del Oro since Randy Fasani some 30 years ago. Fasani was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country who signed with Stanford and played in the NFL.
For his prep career, Pinnick passed for 4,625 yards and 57 scores, and he ran for 657 and 13 scores. His duel-threat ability is exactly what Plough wants as the Aggies seek to maintain momentum this fall after producing the school’s finest team in 2024, going 11-3.
Also in the quarterback mix this spring and this coming fall: Grant Harper, a 6-2, 200-pound redshirt left-hander who led championship teams at Campolindo High in the Bay Area.
Harper had similar numbers as Pinnick in high school and is UCD’s most experienced quarterback, having seen time in four games last season. He will play this fall, too, in an era where teams need two quarterbacks to get through long seasons. Because you never know when a guy might go down.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 11:41 AM.
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/sports/high-school/article305348651.html#storylink=cpy

5

Mike Moroski played QB and pitched for UC Davis a long, long, long time ago.

In today's climate, I am not sure if it is even possible because of the time requirements for each sport, but if a player wants to try (and the coaching staffs are willing), do not let classes get in the way.

In the mid 70s Davis didn’t have Spring football practice. I’m not sure when they started Davis spring football, but likely not in Moroski’s time, probably not while in the FWC or NCAC.
Pinnick is on the baseball roster this year, but probably redshirting.

he is redshirting. from what i heard, he could have been on the 'traveling squad', but they decided to redshirt him and allow him to focus on the QB job in the spring.

the REAL take-home message in that story is that his injury is 'only' a high-ankle sprain. it looked potentially alot worse than that in real time.

1

I guess some folks here will need a drink or something as Coach Plough will play two QBs...

Just speculation by a Sac Bee writer, unless there is a source.

“ I guess some folks here will need a drink or something as Coach Plough will play two QBs...”
Ha, I’ll need one. Plough told me last year if you are playing two Qbs you don’t have a qb. Did you hear this from someone in athletics?

The last time Davis had no returning starter at QB was Spring of 2021. That first game against Idaho was very entertaining. and broke a decade long drought against ranked opponents. Played 3 QBs.

Grant Harper was a Freshman that Spring. Hard to believe! 6 QBs in the spring that year. Great recruiting class by Hawkins & Co. - Lan, Teddye, CJ, Toki, Chubba, Bains...
...
https://ucdavisaggies.com/sports/football/roster/2020

I agree with this sentiment. Unless we are talking about a designed play for a specific QB then you shouldn't be playing multiple QBs. In addition to taking a QB out of their rhythm, you also have question marks about who is the leader of the offense.