Evan Simon is no stranger to a quarterback competition.
As a former 3-star recruit out of central Pennsylvania’s Manheim Central High School who had offers from programs like West Virginia, Pitt, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Colorado and Temple before signing with Rutgers, Simon worked his way up the depth chart through his first three seasons. He redshirted as a true freshman in 2020, played in six games in 2021 and then nine in 2022 with two starts.
Last fall, however, he spent most of the season as Gavin Winstatt’s backup and decided to enter the transfer portal. He landed at Temple, only to be put in the same position again.
Temple’s week one starter at Oklahoma is up in the air, and the two main candidates appear to be Simon and Forrest Brock, with third-year head coach Stan Drayton also keeping redshirt freshman Tyler Douglas’ name in the mix.
Simon is used to fighting for the right to start under center by now.
“Whether it's summer workouts, winter workouts, it's competing every single day,” Simon said after Friday’s practice. “You have to bring your best. I guess at this point it kind of comes natural. While being at Rutgers, competing for four years and all that. So it kind of comes naturally.”
Watch Simon's interview with reporters following Friday's practice here.
When Simon committed to the Owls on Dec.15, the expectation was for him to be a prime candidate to replace E.J. Warner after the all-conference signal caller transferred to Rice. The Owls also brought in Montana transfer Clifton McDowell to compete, but McDowell re-entered the transfer in the spring.
Could Drayton and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf go with two quarterbacks in the opener, where the Owls figure to be more than 40-point underdogs? It’s certainly possible, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Simon, Brock and Douglas all get snaps to see how they handle adversity in a big-time road environment.
The move wouldn’t be ideal, but it’s not something Simon hasn’t dealt with already.
“The hardest part with that is getting a groove. If that's what [the coaches] want to do, I'm sure Forest and I will be all for that,” Simon said, perhaps inadvertently tipping his hand as to where things stand with the competition. “Whatever coach says we're going to do, we're going to ride with that.”
Drayton has talked about how difficult Langsdorf’s offensive scheme is to learn, and it gave Simon his fair share of growing pains in the spring. Could that be why he didn’t win the job in the spring? Perhaps/ Either way, from April to August, Simon feels he’s grown more comfortable with the playbook.
“Really night and day from the end of spring to the beginning of training camp,” Simon said. “You have a lot of time during the off season. It's just us here. We're some of the only athletes here. All I was doing was football, so I really got to grow my learning curve with that.”
One of the most important relationships Simon has forged has been with South Carolina transfer Grayson Mains, Temple’s likely new starter at center. Drayton said earlier this month that the starting center job is Mains’ to lose. He was paired to room with Simon, and the two hit it off, carpooling to practice and getting food after. Mains has become his closest friend on the team, Simon said.
Whether Simon gets the first snap at Oklahoma or comes in later, playing in Big Ten road environments like Ohio State and Wisconsin has prepared him for the atmosphere he would face against the Sooners.
“I played in several big-time games at Rutgers,” Simon said. “It just comes down to your training and your preparation. I'll trust that all day. if I'm on the field first, I'm going to be ready to go.”