LITTLETON — For better or worse, gone are the days when a sophomore quarterback starts his first high school game, throws the ball well, looks like a potential phenom and draws this reaction: “Wow, where did that guy come from?”
At times, it can seem that recruiting websites start files on players by age 12. Video of young players is posted on YouTube or e-mailed around the country to recruiters. Summer passing camps are not only popular, the best of them require invitations.
Which brings us to Heritage High School quarterback Ryan Novak, who has thrown four varsity passes for the Eagles, all in 2009 as a freshman backup for the Class 4A state champions. He’s just 15 years old and — in fact — won’t even turn 16 until May 11. As a 14-year-old freshman, he led the Eagles’ junior varsity to a one-loss season.
But Novak, 6-feet-5, 229 pounds, drew raves when attending the invitation-only Junior Rank Diamond Flight camp this summer in San Diego, and he’s already getting mention in recruiting circles as a top college prospect in the class of 2013.
“It hasn’t gotten to the point yet where everywhere I go, people are asking me about this stuff,” Novak said Monday at the Eagles’ practice field. “It might get to the point where that happens in the next two years, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham — listed at 6-4 and 215 during his playing days — was at the San Diego camp.
“We were riding in the same elevator, and he was talking about when he was playing,” Novak recalled. “He said he would have loved to be my size as a sophomore in high school. He said that I had a really good opportunity, that if I grab onto it, I can make something really special out of it.”
Among the other camps Novak attended this summer were the Rivals 5-star Academy in Los Angeles, the Purdue Elite Football Camp, the National Underclassman Combine and invitation-only Football University (FBU) in Denver.
At Heritage, Novak is being penciled in as a three-year starter, succeeding Mitch Griebel, now at the Air Force Academy prep school, as the Eagles step up to Class 5A this season.
Griebel, a do-everything threat and two-way starter, threw for 5,350 yards and ran for 2,670 in his three seasons as a starter. Listed at 6-feet, his only drawback was his height. Novak doesn’t face that drawback, as he’s a more conventional pocket passer.
“It’s going to be difficult, but I’m up to the challenge of filling his shoes this year,” Novak said. “Mitch used to give me pointers on how just to slow the game down, how to just be as calm as you can be. He was great to be around, and I learned a lot of leadership and life lessons from him.”
Heritage coach Mike Griebel has a unique perspective: Mitch is his son. Now the coach is hoping to get the most he can out of his son’s successor.
“When Ryan was watching last year, he knew that this year, he’d go through the same three-year growth cycle Mitch got to go though,” Mike Griebel said. “We drew a lot of parallels to all of that. Mitch was a good mentor to him.”
Heading into the Eagles’ Sept. 3 season opener against Lakewood, Novak is talking in the huddle to players more than 2 years older — and trying to take command. In the midteen years, that two-year difference in age can seem monumental, far more so than after players have moved on to college. But Novak played like a poised upperclassman under game-type conditions in a full scrimmage against Fort Collins recently.
On the practice field Monday, he was imposing physically among generally much smaller teammates, and his arm strength, motion and touch all were impressive.
“That respect is going to be something he has to earn,” Griebel said. “He hasn’t had the chance to do that yet. We’re not worried. Mitch didn’t have that when he started. . . . That’s going to take a couple of games. We can’t just ask the seniors to do that. They’re going to have to watch and see what he does. It’s on Ryan a little bit, and that’s how it should be.
“Ryan will handle it OK. He’s pretty calm, he’s not hyperventilating, he’s laid-back. I know he’s going to have giant butterflies in Week 1, but he doesn’t come across as a nervous kid. He’s kind of imposing size- wise, with that calm demeanor, and you think you’re facing a senior.”
Novak’s father, Scott, is a Big 12 Conference referee and worked the Alabama-Utah Sugar Bowl and the Oregon-Ohio State Rose Bowl the past two Januarys.
Because of the complicated weight restrictions for backfield players in youth football, Ryan didn’t begin to play quarterback in organized games until he was in the eighth grade. But being around his father, the referee, contributed to his education. Scott Novak gets “all-22” tapes of his games, meaning the vantage point shows every player (and all the officials) on the field.
“After he worked a game, he’d be watching the tape of it for three or four hours,” Ryan said of his father. “He’d be looking at his calls, and when I started to become a quarterback, I’d be watching the quarterback. I’d say, ‘This is a good read, a bad read, a good ball,’ those kinds of things.”
Said Scott Novak: “Since Ryan’s been 9 or 10, he’s been watching these tapes and learning the game. He sees the coverages. He’s watched the Sam Bradfords and Colt McCoys and learned from watching those guys. He’s very disciplined and interested in this. I didn’t force him.”
Again following Mitch Griebel’s path, Novak also has worked with Tim Thenell and former CSU quarterback Justin Holland at Thenell’s Colorado Quarterbacks Academy, and that goes back to even before he was allowed to play quarterback in the eighth grade.
“Tim said, ‘Let me take you under my wing and make you a quarterback,’ ” Novak said, “and he’s done a wonderful job of that.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Colorado full of watch-list recruits
Some of Colorado’s high school football players to keep an eye on this season:
Shane Callahan, OL, Jr., Chaparral: CU has already offered. Michigan, Northwestern and Notre Dame are showing interest.
Isaiah Hendrix, RB, Jr., Denver East: Ran for nearly 600 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore.
Zach Jones, TE, Jr., ThunderRidge: Big target at 6-4, 235 pounds.
Stanley Gilbert, DT, Soph., Valor Christian: 260-pound anchor is popping up on national watch lists.
Chris Fox, OT, Soph., Ponderosa: He’s already 6-4, 280, and he will be one of the state’s best in the 2013 recruiting year.
