By LARRY VAUGHT
It seems remarkable that recent Kentucky quarterback commit Jake Nawrot went from junior varsity quarterback at John Hershey High School in Arlington Heights, Ill., in 2024 to throwing for over 3,000 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2025 to being the No. 2 quarterback in the 2027 recruiting class.
Hershey coach Tom Nelson said the potential was always there but Nawrot was playing behind Colton Gumino in 2024. He was a three-star recruit now at UCLA who threw for 6,612 yards and 73 touchdowns at Hershey. he was 118 of 177 passing for 2,265 yards and 20 touchdowns the season Nawrot was on the JV team.
“We had a Power Four senior player at quarterback and that is why Jake was on the JV team,” Nelson said. “I still thought he could be really good but you never know how much he was paying attention in meetings (his sophomore year), how serious he was taking it since he was not playing.
“I did not know for sure until he took his first snap as a junior and it was obvious he was paying attention. The dude was locked in and ready. For him to master what we do, it was good for him to spend time in the system (as a sophomore). He saw someone else do it and learned by watching.”
“He was not the player he is now as a sophomore. He was a little bit of a late bloomer. But the talent was there. He just needed some refinement.”
The refinement paid off. He is now a top 40 player in his recruiting class and had offers from Oregon, Iowa, Kansas State and others including Florida State, Louisville, Duke, Missouri, Purdue, Oklahoma State, Washington and others when he committed to coach Will Stein and Kentucky.
Nelson, who is also Hershey’s quarterback coach, said the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Nawrot knows he is not a “done deal” and hopes to make the same leap from his junior to senior season like he did from his sophomore to junior season.
“Then he will want to do the same thing his first year at Kentucky,” Lane said. “He is a competitor. He wants to play and get better and will take every avenue to get there. He is intelligent, wants to get better and works hard.”
Nawrot credits Nelson for having confidence in him even when the UK commit might have lacked confidence in himself.
“Coaching is a lot of psychological warfare. Obviously quarterback is the hardest position in spots,” Nawrot said. “I was just making sure he was confident in what we were doing and trying to give him a boost of confidence.”
Nelson believes his quarterback’s on field connection with teammates is special and adds to his productivity.
“He does a heck of a job with interpersonal relationships. One of his strengths is he knows when to pick a kid up and when to hold a player accountable. Teammates love him,” Nelson said. “He’s really a good communicator and is on top of everything from academics to athletics.”
Not only does Nawrot play football, but he also plays basketball. He also basically handled his own recruiting contacts with coaches.
“I kind of knew his recruitment was nearing an end based on the timeline of other quarterbacks picking schools. The reality is you don’t get a lot of time with how quick everything happens. He felt the time was here to commit,” Nawrot said.
The Hershey coach was with Nawrot’s parents when the quarterback made his visit to Kentucky. He thought both Stein and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan were “fantastic” coaches who know how to develop quarterbacks based on their past success.
“He was looking at the people there first. He does not know yet exactly who his teammates will be but the people were so attractive to him,” Nelson said. “Kentucky is also relatively close to Chicago, and that helped with his decision.
“I am just glad I get to coach him another year and now we can shift to getting ready for his senior season. Football is a complicated, tactical sport. There is always more you can do. We want to keep him progressing so he can step on campus and be ready.
“His arm is pretty good. That’s one of his strengths. We changed a few mechanical things his sophomore year. He is a really long kid. He has huge feet and hands. He is eventually going to grow into that body. He’s only about 200 pounds now but by the time he leaves here he will probably be 215 o 220 and then he’ll become a grown man in college.”
Nawrot said he wanted to be the next “Will Levis” and help change the culture at Kentucky.
“Kentucky is best known as a basketball school nation-wise but that could very easily change. College football is different now than when I played. Look at what Indiana did (winning a national title),” Nelson said. “Why couldn’t that be Kentucky is his thinking.”
