MEDINA, Ohio — A top quarterback prospect is leading one of the best Medina teams in history.
Medina quarterback Drew Allar has put a lot of work into his arm and technique.
“I do a couple of just drills that I do over the summer with my quarterback trainer. That just kind of gets me dialed in and focused,” explained Allar.
That work put him on the national stage when he started dazzling college football scouts. According to 247Sports and ESPN, Allar is a top 100 recruit in the country. Many college football programs began calling during his rise.
“I had Zooms, like two Zooms a day basically with different colleges and different coaches just trying to pitch their universities to me and I was super grateful for it, but it did get overwhelming at times just because I was trying to focus on school and make sure all my grades were straight while trying to make one of the biggest decisions of my life,” said Allar.
It isn’t just Allar’s arm that’s led to his success. He spends a significant amount of time with his coach and receivers in the film room.
“We watch about an hour and a half a day, at least,” said Allar. “And then, I watch probably like an hour on my own every day, too.”
The star quarterback puts a lot of work into mastering the mental side of the game. He studies offenses and defenses to become the best quarterback he can be.
“It’s probably the most important thing out of everything, especially as quarterback because you need to recognize what the defense is doing and giving you, and based off that you need to be taking into account your game plan and what you like against a certain coverage and look and matchups,” said Allar.
Many of Allar’s teammates have become like family, one of whom is receiver Michael Rodak, who’s spent a lot of time with Allar and seen his quarterback put the work in.
“It’s been a pretty big growth because Drew would always invite us to like offseason throwing. He would always try to get on everyone to keep working out with him, just any free time, try to go up to the field, try to get us to work with him, lift, get our bond closer together,” said Rodak.
And as Allar prepares to take his talents to Penn State next season, one of the reasons he chose the school was for the family environment and character development, something he said his hometown has stood for.
“I think it’s really a community that puts everybody else first and kind of them second, so it’s not always about you as a person. It’s always about pushing forward and doing what’s best for everyone, and just working as hard as you can. So, I think those are the biggest things that Medina has taught all of us as seniors that it doesn’t matter if we’re not succeeding because our time is going to come and it’s about the team first and not the individual,” said Rodak.
Medina takes on St. Edward on Friday night. You can catch the games on Spectrum News 1 or the Spectrum News app.