FORT COLLINS — After Colorado State’s practice Wednesday, I began prefacing a question to new Rams coach Steve Fairchild by kindly pointing out that Billy Farris, his designated starting quarterback for the Aug. 31 opener against Colorado, hasn’t played much football in . . .
Fairchild jumped in.
“. . . a long time,” he said.
Then he laughed as I continued, asking how whether he had misgivings about going with a fifth-year senior who has thrown only 39 passes at CSU, only a few of those in significant situations; and arguably hasn’t been on the field for sustained duty under major pressure since he was a senior at Baton Rouge’s Woodlawn High School in 2003.
“I don’t know if ‘misgivings’ is the right word,” Fairchild said. “I’m anxious to see what he’s going to do. He’s worked hard.”
A year ago, Fairchild was the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator, working with quarterback J.P. Losman. In Fairchild’s return to CSU, where he was a star quarterback himself and later served eight seasons on Sonny Lubick’s staff, the new Rams coach has had to readjust his standards — and those of his quarterbacks, too.
“I’ve said this all along: The quarterback spot is a developmental position,” Fairchild said. “I don’t mind having a first-year starter, but I wish I coached him the three or four years prior to that, because you can definitely groove good habits, both from a technique standpoint and mentally.
“I’m not sure we’re there at any point of our program right now, but that’s just the nature of being new. I’m confident we’ll play well at quarterback down the road.”
Last season, Farris backed up Caleb Hanie, who had a rough year as he tried to do too much in a bad situation, yet now is in line to stick with the Chicago Bears as their No. 3 quarterback.
The best-case scenario is Farris, 23, will be solid as Hanie’s successor. All the while, in a transition season, Fairchild attempts to stop the slide and establish both credibility and a tone for the new coach’s program.
“As quarterbacks, we constantly have pressure on us, because he’s always on us,” Farris said of Fairchild. “Always. That’s a big difference. You have to be perfect. Even if you complete a ball, it needs to be better. You have to hit him in the face. That’s definitely a big change for me.”
Klay Kubiak, a redshirt freshman from Regis and Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak’s son, is running No. 2. It probably would help in the long run if neither Kubiak nor any of the other potential 2009 starters on the roster are thrown in too soon.
But Farris won’t go along with any “transition quarterback” talk, or suggestions he could be a bit rusty. “I’ve been working at it for five years, too,” he said. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready to play.”
And he similarly recoils at any mention of a CSU rebuilding process that might begin with some bumps.
“My question is, ‘Why would you look at it that way at all?’ ” he said. “Every year’s a fresh year. You have to come beat me first.”
Farris has the swagger of a leader, and at 6-feet-3 and 223 pounds, he looks the part. Yet he was lightly recruited following his high school career in Baton Rouge, hearing mostly from Division I-AA and II programs.
“I didn’t do a very good job of getting myself out there,” he said. “I didn’t make tapes or do any of that. I felt like I was good enough to go D-I.”
After playing well in all-star games, he started out at Dodge City Community College in Kansas, but showed up with a broken hand and didn’t play before heading back to Mississippi’s Pearl River Community College. He went out for spring football there. But soon, Farris said, a coach on the Dodge City staff called one of his Pearl River coaches and passed along the word that Farris should consider heading to CSU because the Rams were looking for quarterbacks.
“So I came out and talked to Coach Lubick and all the other coaches, and it worked out,” he said.
Briefly a walk-on, he was awarded a scholarship within a couple of weeks of his arrival.
And, finally, he’s getting his chance to start.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
