Recruiting Wrap

Season of redemption for Brandon Pechloff

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Friday, September 11, 2009 12:19 PM

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Things didn't go according to plan last year for Brandon Pechloff.

A Division I recruit due to his combination of size (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) and arm strength, the Lombard (Ill.) Montini quarterback was relegated to the bench as then-senior starter Tom DiCristina broke school passing records.

Feeling jilted, Pechloff, then a junior, focused on his football life after high school, much to the dismay of his teammates.

"The seniors did not like me at all," Pechloff said. "It was not a fun year. One, my pride was destroyed being that I wasn't (playing). Then two, (the seniors) had to rub it in every day. It was not a lot of fun."

However, Pechloff was encouraged as he received recruiting interest from big-name schools like Alabama, Georgia, UCLA, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA. But as the quarterback prepared to take over as the new Big Man on Campus this summer, a meeting with Montini head coach Chris Andriano changed his outlook.

"I was told by my coach in the beginning of the summer that people on my team didn't really respect me because I was more about myself than my team," Pechloff said. "When I heard that, it hit deep with me, and I stopped everything dealing with colleges and only focused on my team and building a trust and bond with them."

Pechloff has cast aside the countless pieces of recruiting mail from colleges, previously a source of joy. He said he no longer reads any Internet reports about his recruitment. The Montini quarterback leaves the stacks of mail and phone calls from college coaches to his mother because "it makes her feel a lot better when she reads all the stuff and knows people are calling," Pechloff said.

Though he's still being recruited heavily by several programs, including Indiana, Purdue, Connecticut, Vanderbilt and several Mid-American Conference teams, Pechloff said he's completely focused on leading the Broncos to their 17th-straight playoff appearance.

"When it was about me, it was about putting up my stats," Pechloff said. "It was about me doing the best I could do, making me look the best. It almost felt like I was T.O. (NFL receiver Terrell Owens) almost. I feel like that's how a lot of people felt about me. I wanted to change that because nothing was more important to me than my team. They're like my family. I just wasn't portraying that on the field."

Pechloff took his first snap as a varsity starter two weeks ago against defending Class 6A champion Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

"At school, everyone was really anticipating that I was going to come out and do really well," Pechloff said. "I had a lot of pressure on me from the media and peers at school. But I don't know, I came out there and I wasn't nervous at all and I was ready to go. I felt like I had prepared everything for this."

The Broncos lost 28-14. Pechloff completed 12-of-27 passes for 132 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. In week two, Pechloff hit his stride, completing 9 of 10 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

Pechloff said teammates who weren't friends before have warmed up to him, high-fiving him in the hallways, assisting with a favor or just extending a quick "hello."

It's a season of redemption for the Montini quarterback.

So far, so good.

"I don't have anything to live up to anymore," Pechloff said. "I know (last year) people were saying, ‘Oh, he probably wouldn't have all these (colleges) looking at him if he played because maybe he's not that good.' ... It just feels a lot better (to play). I don't have a worry that I might not start or maybe that I'm not good enough to start on the varsity level because I've actually done it. I did it last week. I've done it pretty well, and I can only build from that. I know what I'm capable of now. It feels like a lot of (pressure) has been taken off of me."

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