Q&A with Burnet QB Stephen McGee

[BurnetBulldog]

Q&A with Burnet junior QB Stephen McGee

By: Jason Suchomel
Date: December 4, 2002

Content from Red Raider Sports

Burnet junior quarterback Stephen McGee has all the physical tools that will have college coaches from across the country beating down his door next season. The standout signal caller opened a lot of eyes at this year?s 7-on-7 State Tournament, where many felt he was the best player in attendance. McGee is a big, strong player who has the arm strength to make any throw on the football field and he also possesses tremendous leadership qualities. Burnet plays Jasper this weekend at Kyle Field for a shot at the state title. We caught up with McGee to see how things are going for him on the recruiting front:

I read where you were banged up a little last week. Will you be ready to go against Jasper?

“I sprained my MCL a little bit but it will be all right. It’s still a little stiff but at least it’s not a tear. We’re just going to have to try to keep things in the pocket and if it’s not there I’ll have to throw it away. I’m not going to be able to scramble much.”

Is that part of your game normally?

“Normally it is. I like to move around and see if I can get people open.”

Have you started to worry about recruiting yet?

“Well, during the season I try to focus on games but I guess I’ve thought about it a little bit.”

Which schools are sending you the most mail?

“Of course A&M is probably the most. Texas Tech. Pretty much everywhere really. The handwritten letters that I get are mainly from A&M, Tech and TCU. But I’ve been getting other letters from a lot of schools.”

Which summer camps did you hit last year?

“The Nike Camp. I went to the UT mini-camp, and A&M mini-camp, the Gulf Coast Passing Camp and a Hill Country passing camp.”

Have you broken it down as far as who jumps out for you right now?

“Right now I’d say it’s probably A&M and Tech. But there are a lot of other schools that might offer down the road so that could change.”

Who has offered so far?

“A&M, Tech, TCU, SMU.”

Your teammate Jordan Shipley is pretty high on Texas Tech too. Do you two ever talk about going as a package deal?

“We’ve talked about it. But there’s nothing dead set. We’re going to go wherever is best for both of us. If it works out that would be great. If we could play college ball together that would be really fun. And it might happen.”

You opened a lot of eyes at the state 7-on-7 tournament. What do you think are your stronger points that are making you such a hot prospect?

“I would say my leadership ability and rallying my teammates. The guys know they can rely on me. There are a lot of guys that have the physical ability, but I feel like when the game is on the line I can make a play and lead the team to victory.”

Are there areas that you want to work on over the next year or so to take yourself to the next level?

“Physically, I want to put on some weight and just keep getting faster and stronger. And I’ll just be throwing the ball a whole bunch, having fun. I hope to get up to about 210 and maintain quick feet and keep my 40 down low.”

What are you at right now as far as a height, weight and 40?

“I’m 6-3, 195 and my 40 is a 4.68.”

Do you know any weightroom numbers?

“My bench is about 280.”

Do you know any stats from this year (13 games)?

“I think my passing yards are about 2,300 or so. I have like 28 touchdown passes and 12 touchdown runs. I think I have four interceptions and I’m completing about 58 percent of my passes.”

Do you want to try to make a decision early next year or do you want to go through the whole process and take some visits?

“Well, I plan on graduating early so I’ll probably commit sometime during the football season. That way I can go ahead and enroll in January.”

CLASS OF 2004 TOP DROP BACK QUARTERBACKS

NAME SCHOOL DIST HT WT 40 PASSING RUSHING
Rhett Bomar
Grand Prarie
8-5A
6'4
195
4.6
122-198-9-2194-20
89-501-6

Scott Elliott
Bay City
24-4A
6'3
190
4.9
92-181-7-1581-16
NA

Mike Funchese
Dickinson
23-4A
6'2
195
5.0
39-78-3-686-5
NA

Graham Harrell
Ennis
16-4A
6'2
180
4.7
134-230-4-2258-32
28-183-1

Kellen Haynes
Crosby
21-4A
6'1
205
4.7
129-223-3-1887-17
21-72-0

Chris Marshall
Texas High
13-4A
6'1
185
4.8
57-111-3-873-9
NA

Stephen McGee
Burnett
25-3A
6'3
190
4.5
NA
NA

Jordan Reever
South Garland
12-5A
6'2
180
4.5
185-294-11-2234-24
NA

Greg Richardson
Allen
9-5A
6'2
185
4.6
47-100-7-640-6
NA


DROP BACK QUARTERBACKS

Rhett Bomar looks to be not only the top quarterback in the Class of 2004 but perhaps even the top player. He is your classic drop back quarterback who can run also. He has a strong arm plus has the smarts of being a coaches son. Only thing to worry about is he is standout baseball player who will be a high draft choice.

Stephen McGee is the next best quarterback in this class. When we first heard about him at the Round Rock 7-on-7 Tournament the high school coaches were telling us we had to check him out. They were right, he has a rifle for an arm, makes good decisions and plays with passion. He has already been offered by Texas A&M.

[HotDawg89]

Thanks for posting that- it was interesting info!
Looks like his future is gonna be bright! :cool:

[dunn78]

Hey take a look at this!

Burnet (TX) QB Stephen McGee Profile 2004-Stephen McGee (QB)
By Randy Sumner (Fox7 Sports)
Date: Jul 29, 2002

Stephen has quickly established himself as one of the prime passing prospects for the Class of 2004 in the country.


"Its kind of always been my position. I like to throwing the football a whole bunch. I like everything about the position. My strengths would be technique, footwork and my drops. I'm working on just getting stronger and faster and quicker feet. But I'm working on every area of the game because I feel I have a lot of room for improvement."

The Bulldogs came out of nowhere in 2001 to make a run in the playoffs. Now Burnet is being seriously noticed across the state in the 3A ranks. "We've got a great coaching staff. I think we've always been a town that have enjoyed athletics. Right now we're fortunate to have a lot of really talented kids. You add that to a town that really supports us and we should be really good."

Stephen burst to the attention of college coaches everywhere with an outstanding sophomore season for the Bulldogs in 2001. Under new head coach Bob Shipley, Stephen was asked to take the reins of a high-powered passing offense and it was an unmitigated success. He started all 11 games for the Bulldogs passing for over 1800 yards and 20 TDs. He also scored 8 more touchdowns on the ground and he even caught a couple of passes for 101 yards and yet another score. "I guess I kind of anticipated the success. I kind of expect a lot so nothing really grabbed me by surprise. It was fun and I learned a lot. There are lot of things I can look back and improve. Hopefully it should be a lot better with most everybody on the team coming back."

He saw some brief action in the final two games in his freshman season in 2000. But the Bulldogs were in a run-oriented offense that season. Stephen moved from Alamo Heights in San Antonio in the 8th grade.

Texas, UCLA, Stanford, Colorado, Purdue, Wisconsin, A&M, Notre Dame, Duke, Illinois, Oklahoma State and Michigan among others, have expressed interest in Stephen through the Burnet coaching staff.

It may be early, but Stephen already has some schools that stand out to him as favorites: "I like UT. They've always been the team I've followed. Of course the competition there is going to be real tough there. But I also like Stanford a whole lot. And I like UCLA, A&M and Colorado. I like Stanford for the school. If you graduate from there you have a degree you can fall back on at any time. The UCLA program is one of the top in the nation and their campus is beautiful. A&M is up there kind of because its close to home and its so rich in tradition. And it'd be fun to play there. I love the Buffs. I enjoyed watching them play this past year. There's just something about them and I can't really tell you what it is right now. I just like watching the play."

Stephen spent much of the summer of 2002 on the camp circuit. "I started out going to the Nike Camp at A&M in May. After that I went to Texas for a mini-camp on June 16th. I then I went ot a Gulf Coast Camp in Houston on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (6/18-20). Its at University of Houston and is held by David Lee, the offensive coordinator from Arkansas. Its not really an exposure type camp as much as a skills. Then I went to the A&M Mini-Camp on the following Saturday (6/22). This past weekend, I went to Branndon Stewart's Hill Country Camp on Saturday and Sunday (6/29-6/30) at St. Stephen's."

Stephen on Nike Combine: "It was a lot of great D-1 players and I was just one of a few juniors there. Bob Johnson was there and that was neat. It was great to matchup against some of the top guys in the state. I though some of the guys like Drew Tate would be a lot bigger & better, but it was great."

Stephen on Texas Camp: "I loved it. I'm a big UT fan. I got to talk to (UT Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Greg) Davis a little bit and I met some of the other coaches. Both sessions were great even though it rained on us. I worked out with guys like Philip Daugherty & Kris Heavner."

Stephen on A&M Camp: "It was neat too. I got to talk to Dino Babers & RC Slocum for awhile. They were really nice and they had nice facilities. They were telling me the new acility is going to be the best in the nation. Drew Tate was there of course, since he's going there. It was fun but it was more of an exposure thing for me."

The time spent at the camps is already proving valuable. "After both Texas and Texas A&M camps, they said they were very interested in me and they have talked to our coaches and told them I was high on their lists."

But the summer hasn't been just about camping. Its also been about competing in 7-on-7 competitions for Stephen and his Bulldog teammates. "Our 7-on-7 team is going to state after we won the Waco Midway tournament. We started out with Gatesville, Corsicana, Killeen, Copperas Cove and then we beat Waco Midway in the Championship. It should be fun in College Station. Its just our second year to have 7-on-7 and we won all four of the tournaments that we've had all our guys playing in this year."

In the weightroom, Stephen benches 270 and squats 485.

He also stars at point guard on the basketball for the Bulldogs under his father, Rodney McGee, who is the head coach. "There's a little bit of comparison between point guard and quarterback. The leadership skills are important in both seeing the whole floor and passing are your main tasks."