COLORADO SPRINGS — Brayden Dorman fidgeted anxiously in his seat in the brief silence before a life-changing decision.
The top-rated 2023 quarterback prospect in Colorado went live Tuesday evening on to reveal his college decision from the Vista Ridge High School gymnasium. Dorman was surrounded by teammates, family and friends when he made it official. The desert is calling.
“I’m going to the University of Arizona,” Dorman said on the live stream, unzipping his jacket to reveal a Wildcats shirt and then donning a hat to match. “Bear down.”
Dorman is a tall (6-5, 205) and strong-armed passer who quickly elevated to one of the most highly touted college football prospects in Colorado. The four-star recruit picked the Wildcats over scholarship offers from California, Colorado, CSU, Iowa State, Kansas, Mississippi State, Oregon State and Wisconsin. Dorman passed for 6,502 yards and 67 touchdowns over his first three seasons at Vista Ridge.
“The leadership showed more than anything,” Wolves head coach Mike Vrana said. “A total standup guy who understood what we wanted to do. He wasn’t just a coach on the field. He was a coach everywhere.”
Dorman trains with a year-round football academy in Colorado, Jenkins Elite, that has produced a growing list of area D-I football signees — including Palmer Ridge’s Ty Evans (N.C State/Texas State), Pomona’s Ryan Marquez (Wyoming) and Cherry Creek’s Alex Padilla (Iowa).
“I had to wait all day throughout school for this announcement. But itap over with and I’m super excited. I know my family and everybody else here is really excited,” Dorman said. “As a young kid, I’ve always dreamed of playing high Division I football. Thatap exactly what I’m doing now. It feels good that all my hard work has paid off and that I have the support behind me.”
Arizona offered Dorman a scholarship in July but it wasn’t until he visited in January that the Wildcats became his leading school. Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch touts 13 seasons of NFL coaching experience. Dorman called it a “perfect fit” and is already recruiting fellow ’23 prospects to follow in his footsteps to Tucson.
“Come join me,” Dorman said. “I want to have a Top 10 class this year. I want to throw the ball around to great targets, an O-Line thatap going to protect me and a defense thatap able to put the ball in my hands. Thatap the biggest thing. … I’m obviously going to have to go in there, compete and prove myself.”
Dorman’s selection continues a long-running narrative in the Colorado prep football community of the Buffs missing out on the state’s top prospects. CU offered Dorman a scholarship in 2020 under former quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf (now at Temple). The Buffs have since brought in new offensive coordinator/QBs coach Mike Sanford.
“After that new coaching staff came in this year, they kind of fell off,” Dorman said. “They weren’t recruiting me as much.”
The good news? Dorman will have the opportunity for a return to Folsom Field while in the Pac-12.
“It will be nice,” he said. “Another great thing is that I’ll be able to come home and play against the home team every year.”
