Meet Zurb

[WishBone]

When the Sooners take the field this August for their 2024 season opener, there’ll be a new superlative of sorts in the vast encyclopedia of Sooner football — if such a thing exists.

Steve Zabel, Dane Zaslaw and Allen Zeno have brand-new company in the last alphabetical chapter of said encyclopedia. The final entry will belong to a soft-spoken, perpetually smiling young signal-caller from Alliance, Ohio.

At Oklahoma, Brendan Zurbrugg is over a thousand miles from his quaint hometown, a community of 20,000 people that’s best known for being the mecca of Division III college football. Alliance is home to the University of Mount Union, a dynastic powerhouse in the DIII ranks. Football is canon in that corner of the country, and as you’ll soon see, the Zurbrugg name is part and parcel of Alliance football lore. Over the last several years, Brendan arguably ranks as the town’s most recognizable athletic figure.

But now, in effect, he’s starting over — and he’s doing it in relative anonymity. Jackson Arnold is Oklahoma’s presumed starter heading into the 2024 campaign. For the moment, the only real point of controversy in the Oklahoma quarterback room is whether it’ll be accomplished super-senior transfer Casey Thompson or freshman wunderkind Michael Hawkins that serves as Arnold’s primary backup.

Zurbrugg’s presence has yet to truly register in the eyes of many fans, who generally have little regard for a humble three-star signee from the outskirts of the Midwest. On paper, the typical fan — perhaps somewhat jaded by cynicism — would see little reason to bother paying Zurbrugg much attention. Especially in the current era of college football, conventional rhetoric would suggest that a regional outsider who enters the program no higher than fourth on the depth chart at quarterback will quite naturally wind up in the transfer portal before long.

But get to know Zurbrugg and you’ll quickly come to realize that he has no such designs for his future. He is where his feet are, and the competitive circumstances in the Sooners’ quarterback room serve as no particular deterrent to him.

He’s not rushing anything at Oklahoma; it’s not in his nature to do so. And the spirit of selfless competition is quite literally woven into his DNA.

A former football luminary in his own right at Alliance High, Chris took the reins and led Michigan to the 1984 Holiday Bowl. Along the way, he tied a school record with four touchdown passes in a single game, and established a new school record with 259 passing yards in a single game.

It’s hard not to take note of some parallels between Chris’ situation at Michigan and his son’s situation at Oklahoma. When Chris signed, the Wolverines already had two established quarterbacks in Steve Smith and Dave Hall, plus a budding young star in Harbaugh. Moreover, Chris was one of two quarterbacks Michigan inked in the 1983 recruiting class (Russ Rein was the other).

Today, at Oklahoma, Arnold is QB1, and there’s little to no debate about that. Thompson and General Booty are the veterans of the room, and the Sooners also signed Hawkins out of the same recruiting cycle as Brendan.

Will the younger Zurbrugg find his way onto the field as quickly as the elder Zurbrugg did? Only time will reveal the answer, but the point remains: Brendan isn’t facing a path any less arduous than the one his father walked as a Wolverine. And the kid that his coaches and peers know as “Zurb” is well accustomed to blazing his own trail. In a sense, it’s all he’s ever known. Brendan is the youngest of five children, and the only boy in the group.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a family where all these kids get along really well,” Chris laughed. “He’s made the comment before — it was like having five moms. But they’ve all been real good with him, always treated him well. And it was really different, because I was his friend. It wasn’t like he had a brother to play with. Anything he wanted to do, it seemed like I was always the guy that was doing it, and I was happy to. And it was good for me, because I finally had somebody to connect with from a guy’s perspective. It was a lot of fun.”

These days, Chris coaches track at Alliance High, although he had a brief stint in the early 2000’s as the Aviators’ head football coach. He maintains that he never pushed his son to follow in his footsteps as a quarterback. But as Brendan grew up steeped in the rich football tradition of Ohio’s Stark County, he became organically acquainted with his father’s legacy — and the legacies of the area’s other gridiron legends. From a young age, he aspired to write his own chapter in Alliance football lore as a signal-caller.

“The kid grew up with a football in his hand,” Chris remarked. “He always wanted to play [quarterback]. I mean, he did a lot of other things, kicking and stuff, but it seemed like playing quarterback was the thing he always wanted to do. And even when he started playing in third grade, he always played a year up. And he played quarterback from day one. His freshman year of high school, he started at safety. He played the whole year at safety, and he did pretty well there. But quarterback was always the thing he wanted to do.

“Len Dawson came through here a long time ago; he played at Alliance. Football’s a tradition here. This whole county, with Canton and Massillon — we have real good football in this county, and it’s real competitive. People take it real serious. They’ve had some good football players come through here, and Brendan wanted to be one of those guys. It was important to him. This is the kind of thing he’s wanted his whole life.”

Tim Goodman took over as Alliance’s new head football coach prior to the 2021 season. At the time, Brendan was balancing football, basketball, baseball and track. He had as much on his plate as any athlete in the school. But Brendan didn’t just participate in all of those sports; he excelled in all of those sports. And as Goodman got to know his young quarterback prodigy, he quickly learned the reason why. Brendan owns a truly uncommon work ethic, and has never been opposed to putting in extra reps — whether physical or mental — in order to stay a cut above his peers.

“I was always impressed with how fast he picked things up,” Goodman noted. “I came in as the new coach of the program his sophomore year, and I remember it clear as day — I brought the RPO, which they hadn’t really done a whole lot of. And he studied the tape; I showed him clips of former quarterbacks that I’d had doing it. He went home with his dad and they practiced in the backyard; the next day, he looked like he’d been running it for years.”

And over the next three seasons, Brendan would go on to shatter many of the Alliance passing records established by such icons as his father and Dawson. He wrapped up his career as an Aviator with a senior season that featured over 2,000 passing yards, over 1,000 rushing yards and 39 total touchdowns. Amidst it all, his businesslike manner on the gridiron commanded the respect of his teammates and the admiration of the Alliance community.

“Brendan, from a leadership standpoint, is someone you can always rely on,” Goodman declared. “He’s been a guy that’s really set an example for the kids of Alliance, Ohio. We’re not the biggest school in Ohio; we’re not the smallest school in Ohio. We’re kind of right in between. So in a world where a lot of kids are chasing bigger and better opportunities, Brendan Zurbrugg just worried about being the best version [of himself] that he could for Alliance. And then everything kind of took care of itself.

“Being that best version, that meant getting extra workouts in, attention to detail, always working on his craft. Just those little things that really separate you that you’ve gotta do if you want to go a place like Oklahoma. And so it was great to have him in the program to use him as a reference point, and it’s great that he hasn’t been gone that long that we can still use him as a reference point. Because a lot of kids in Alliance look up to him.”

And Brendan’s accomplishments didn’t start and stop on the gridiron. He morphed into a two-time all-state hurdler under his father’s tutelage, emerged as a lethal outside shooter for Alliance’s varsity basketball team, and carried a GPA north of 4.0 in the classroom. No matter what he did, he did it with excellence.

He’d go play about a month of travel baseball just to get a baseball fix in. And he’d play with those guys that played year-round, and he’d [hit] .400 and lead his team in batting average, just because he wants to be the best.

"He just trusted the process"
Even within the confines of the sport of football, Brendan did it all for the Aviators. Though his impact was most conspicuous under center, he also played a key role on special teams throughout his high school career. Right-handed but left-footed, he poured plenty of effort over the years into becoming a reliable placekicker — in fact, the Zurbrugg family had a scaled-down goalpost in their yard, and Brendan consistently used it to refine his technique and accuracy. He also stayed late after practices to get extra kicks in.

“I think it’s just that ownership piece,” Goodman opined. “It’s like, ‘If the game comes down to winning and losing, I’m going to have my fingerprints on as many facets of the game as I can.’ He was a pretty dang good kicker. And usually, you just put an athlete back there and he kicks the ball, and if it goes in, great. But he actually put a lot of time into it.

“And he was actually a better punter than a kicker. He averaged 40 yards a punt almost every year, and I was actually teasing him. I said, ‘You know, if quarterback doesn’t work out, punting’s not a bad gig.’ But he can do it all. He was a four-sport athlete up here, and he wanted to be the best in everything he did.”

But nothing drove Brendan quite like his desire to play quarterback at the collegiate level, and during his junior season, it became apparent that he’d have plenty of opportunities to do so. He began to collect offers from the local MAC schools — Akron, Bowling Green, Toledo and the like — but couldn’t seem to attract the attention of Power 5 suitors. And though he found the low-end FBS offers meaningful, he maintained the belief that he was capable of playing at a higher level.

Even so, in keeping with his levelheaded nature, he never sweated the eventual outcome.

“Playing big-time Division I football was always a dream of his,” said Goodman. “And the whole time, he said, ‘It’s gonna work out. Wherever I end up going, they’re going to get the best version of me.’ And usually, as a coach, you have to try and convince a 17 or 18-year-old kid of that. But it was nice to have those conversations with Brendan; he just trusted the process.”

Things changed in June of 2023, as Syracuse became the first Power 5 school to offer Brendan a scholarship. Mindful of the reality that the Orange were pursuing other quarterbacks (including future Oklahoma signee Andy Bass), he figured he might as well jump on the opportunity.

“I first took my official visit to Syracuse at the beginning of June and planned on committing, and I did,” Brendan explained. “Because as a quarterback, most teams only sign one. So if you don’t commit before the other guys, then you can lose that opportunity. So at that time, I went up there and I committed.”

While still on campus at Syracuse, Brendan got a call from the staff at Northwestern, and suddenly he had a predicament on his hands. He’d just verbally pledged to the Orange, but now the Wildcats had entered the picture. Pat Fitzgerald’s staff offered Brendan a scholarship and asked him to take an official visit the following weekend.

According to Chris, his son never really intended to make more than one commitment. But there was one key fly in the ointment at Syracuse: Dino Babers’ less-than-stellar job security. The concern was valid; Babers would later be relieved of his duties at the conclusion of the 2023 season. So even though Brendan enjoyed everything that Syracuse could offer to him as a quarterback, he perceived that a changing of the guard could very well be in the works.

“It’s strange how things work out,” said Chris. “Commitment to him actually means something; it really does. He’d made a comment before — ‘I don’t want to be one of those guys that flips commitments.’ When we got into it and he was recruited by Syracuse, he was all-in for Syracuse. They really liked him and really wanted him, and he enjoyed the visits that he took up there. I think that he was really looking for stability; that was really important to him.. He wanted to be part of a program that had stability and tradition, and I’m not saying Syracuse doesn’t. But we didn’t know what the future had there for him.”

Even so, Brendan maintained that he had very little interest in an OV to Northwestern. Upon the advice of his inner circle, though, he agreed to make the trek to Evanston.

“I didn’t even want to go on the visit to Northwestern,” he stated matter-of-factly. “But I ended up going anyway, just by suggestion from coaches and family. So I went, and I absolutely loved it.”

The Wildcats could offer the stability that Brendan sought, the stability that Syracuse lacked. After all, Fitzgerald was entering his eighteenth season as Northwestern’s head coach. The former Wildcat linebacker had seen his alma mater through banner years (five bowl victories and three seasons of 10-plus wins) and lean years (six losing seasons, including three of fewer than four wins). Pat Fitzgerald was Northwestern football, and Northwestern football was Pat Fitzgerald.

Thus, eight days after his commitment to Syracuse, Brendan flipped his commitment. He was a Wildcat, and that marked the end of the recruiting process for him — or so he thought.

Less than two weeks later, in early July, Northwestern president Michael Schill suspended Fitzgerald after an independent investigation confirmed graphic accounts of hazing within the football program. Three days later, that suspension turned into an unceremonious dismissal.

With the program in sudden turmoil, Brendan didn’t know where to turn. He considered sticking with his commitment to the Wildcats, but how could a quarterback feel any reasonable level of confidence in his collegiate decision when he truly had no idea who’d be coaching him upon his enrollment?

Then, amidst the sea of precarious uncertainty, a lifeline appeared via an unexpected phone call.

“Obviously, right after I committed there, everything with Coach Fitzgerald happened — the hazing, all that stuff,” Brendan recalled. “And he got fired, and out of the blue, Oklahoma reached out.”

I’d made it clear to him several years ago when he started getting recruited: I’m not gonna get involved at all. If he wanted any kind of advice or any kind of help from me, I was going to obviously give it to him. But ultimately, this was his life decision. This is what he was going to do. I wasn’t going to step in and chase scholarships and take him all over the country, and he knew that. And I think he appreciated that.
— Chris Zurbrugg, on his influence in the recruiting process for his son

When the Sooners offered Brendan, they already had a quarterback commit, as Hawkins had been locked in with the program since April. But the bitter, embarrassing memory of the Sooners’ 49-0 defeat in the 2022 Red River Shootout lingered within the walls of the Switzer Center. Throughout the distinguished history of Oklahoma football, there are few offensive performances that hold a candle to the sheer ineptitude of October 8, 2022 — and the Sooners’ futility that day was largely due to lack of any modicum of quarterback depth behind the injured Dillon Gabriel.

Determined never to find themselves in such dire straits again, Brent Venables and his staff decided to do something that hadn’t been done at Oklahoma since 2006. They were going to take two scholarship quarterbacks in the same recruiting cycle.

The Sooners flirted with Samaj Jones. They engaged briefly with Trever Jackson. But when the staff came across Brendan’s tape and began to converse with him, they soon realized that he fit the mold in every imaginable way.

Sure, they needed a talented quarterback that was worth the scholarship. But they also needed a mature young man who wouldn’t shy away from stiff competition. And from the get-go, Brendan made it clear to the Oklahoma staff that he wouldn’t be deterred by the presence of other top-flight arms in the OU quarterback room.

“Wherever you sign, there’s quarterbacks of different ages,” he observed. “There’s quarterbacks that you’re gonna have to compete with regardless. They’re all great quarterbacks all playing at the Division I, Power 5 level. So no matter where I go, it’s gonna be a competition.”

And as Goodman watched his star signal-caller navigate the courtship with Oklahoma, he couldn’t help but to perceive that Chris’ paternal influence — albeit implicit — helped shape Brendan’s perception of the opportunity that Oklahoma afforded him.

“I think it’s in large part due to his dad, and his dad’s experience at the University of Michigan,” Goodman opined. “His dad went through it. He had to compete with Jim Harbaugh. And I think he’s passed that wisdom down to Brendan that just says, ‘Hey, go out there and be the best that you can be. Let the chips fall where they may.’ I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve seen with Brendan throughout the recruiting process, is that he knew he’d have to compete no matter where he went. And he’s not going to back down from that competition.”

Within days of receiving the offer, Brendan had scheduled a July 29 unofficial visit to Oklahoma, and made the trip with his parents in tow. Immediately, the history and aura of Oklahoma football drew Brendan in, and Chris saw many of the same qualities in Norman that he’d appreciated in Ann Arbor during his collegiate days.

“When I went up to Michigan, it was business,” explained Chris. “It was tradition. You walk in that facility and you’ve got championship trophies all over the place in there. And the feel that you get when you step into a place that’s got that kind of tradition and that kind of history is phenomenal. And obviously, [Oklahoma’s] campus is tremendous. The support programs that they have there are tremendous. And I know my wife and I both were really impressed with the other things that Coach Venables has involved with the program that can develop young men. When you throw that on top of being such a historic program with their tradition, you can see why. And I think those kinds of things all come together, and it makes a decision that much more of an exciting situation.”

Chris has spent the vast majority of his life in Alliance, and he admits that he never imagined his son might move halfway across the country to attend college. But he could see that Brendan was comfortable at Oklahoma, and he had enough perspective to understand that the dynamics of a powerhouse football program would be one and the same regardless of the geographical location.

“A thousand miles away or two hours down the road, once you’re in school and involved with the football and all the other things that go on — no matter where you’re at, you’re going to be spending the time,” Chris observed. “You’re not going to be home. That’s college life, and that’s building character and building a future. That wasn’t ever a factor with me, and he knew that. And for him, it wasn’t either. He wanted to be a part of a program like this, and he wanted to compete with guys at that level. And that’s exactly what he’s got going right now.

“Things worked out, and he was ecstatic about it. He felt like he had found a stable program with a great tradition, and he was really happy with that choice. So it happened in a strange way and it all happened kind of quick; it was fast. But I think there’s reasons that things happen, and he was glad it did.”

On June 18, Brendan was a Syracuse Orangeman. By June 26, he was a Northwestern Wildcat. But finally, on August 1, his frenetic recruitment met its end as he announced his commitment to the Oklahoma Sooners.

Four decades after his father signed with a blue-blood college football program, Brendan was going to play blue-blood ball as well — albeit for a school that’s in a different conference, a different time zone and a very different region of the country. In many ways, he was mirroring Chris’ journey, and in just as many ways, he was creating his own path.

“I think meeting Coach Venables really sealed it for him,” said Goodman. “Brendan was always looking for a man of character to play for. I think that’s something he respected about his dad’s relationship with Coach [Bo] Schembechler at Michigan. So I think Coach Venables — and everything he’s building down there and the kind of person he is — really stuck with him. And Oklahoma’s one of the blue bloods of college football. I think just being able to be a part of that program with the tradition that it has, it’s something very few people get to do. So to be able to do that and to live that dream, I think it really stuck with him… I think he ended up exactly where he was supposed to be all along.”

Very few prospects cycle through commitments to three schools, let alone three schools in the span of six weeks. Those that do are generally regarded as immature, as mercenary. But that’s not Brendan Zurbrugg.

The recruitment process certainly didn’t unfold in the exact manner that he would have preferred. Had he known that he’d get a call from Northwestern while on his Syracuse OV, things might have transpired differently. Had he known that an imminent scandal would lead to the ousting of Northwestern’s longtime head coach, things might have transpired differently.

But at the end of his serpentine journey as a football recruit, the conglomeration of circumstances that led him to Oklahoma only deepened his gratitude for the ultimate destination.

“I thought that was kind of my little blessing,” he said of the very first call from Oklahoma. “It was a hard road to get there, but it all happened for a reason.”

He believes in himself; he puts a lot of faith in God in what he does. He’s not that guy that you’re going to see showboating on the field, or doing all that. He’s more of an ‘example’ type of player.
— Chris, on his son's mentality as an athlete