One of the best days in Jeremiah Oatsvall’s football career came when he learned why Power Five colleges were not interested in him as a college quarterback.
Up until then nothing made sense.
Oatsvall was a record-setting, duel-threat quarterback who amassed an astonishing 8,756 total yards and scored 56 touchdowns while leading Brentwood Academy to two state championship titles in the state’s toughest classification. But for some reason none of the big-time college recruiters, who were blowing up some of this teammate’s phones, were calling Oatsvall.
Finally, while he was at a University of Tennessee football camp, Oatsvall’s father Scott pulled a coach aside and asked why his son, a two-time Mr. Football semifinalist, wasn’t being recruited.—
The answer was simple. At barely a generous 6-foot-1, Jeremiah lacked the height most Power Five programs look for in a quarterback.
Brentwood Academy’s Jeremiah Oatsvall scrambles in the DII-AA state title game. Oatsvall was named offensive MVP, completing 17 of 29 pass attempts for 280 yards and gaining 159 yards rushing and two scores on 23 carries.
Rather than becoming bitter or dejected by this news, Jeremiah breathed a sigh of relief. At least now he knew.
There wasn’t anything Oatsvall could do to make himself taller but he could prove he wasn’t short on desire or determination. And that’s what he did going on to enjoy the same type of success at smaller schools like Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech that he had in high school.
“I’m not going to lie about my recruiting; you’re seeing some skill position players you played with and a lot of the guys up front getting some bigger looks,” Jeremiah said. “And you think, ‘Is it me? Am I missing something, is there something I’m not doing?’ Then that coach told my dad if I was 6-3 or 6-4 I’d be able to go anywhere I wanted and at…
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