Wednesday, May 13, 2015

BREAKING: Mornhinweg Transfers to Columbia UPDATED

Former Florida Gator QB Skyler Mornhinweg has transferred to Columbia according to Florida Head Coach Jim McElwain.

News of this had been buzzing under the radar for about a month after Mornhinweg was spotted attending a Columbia spring practice.

Mornhinweg is the son of former NFL Head Coach and recent Jet Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. Marty had a friendship with Lions Head Coach Al Bagnoli when he was in the Eagle organization and that played a big role in this move.

Mornhinweg was a much sought-after recruit out of Philly's St. Joseph's High School. He originally verbally committed to Penn State but signed on with the Gators in early 2012. He had also given a verbal commit to Jim Harbaugh at Stanford two years earlier, but that was nullified when Harbaugh went to the 49ers.

At Columbia, Mornhinweg may be able to reprise his high school role as a dual-threat QB who was big enough to give would-be tacklers a problem.

At the very least, this proves that Bagnoli is still able to attract top name transfers. There may be more to come.

12 comments:

WOF said...

Finally!

Do you think he will play QB? Kid is a very good overall athlete so he might be able to help in a variety of positions..

Jake said...

I think he's definitely playing QB

oldlion said...

When is he eligible?

Jake said...

Mornhinweg is immediately eligible.

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see which QB the coaching staff feels will run their offense better. If the OL holds up and they find some playmakers, this could be a sharp offense off the bat.

Coach said...

Not bringing this kid in to sit on the bench. He will get all the reps this fall.

alawicius said...

Mornhinweg was a 4-star QB and a very good DB...he can run so fits the new offense(he was also League MVP and Southeast Pennsylvania Player of the Year, see below).

PRIOR TO FLORIDA:
Rated a four-star recruit, the No. 6 player in Pennsylvania and the No. 19 quarterback nationally by ESPN.com…Went 110-for-229 for 1,546 passing yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior…Finished his career as the all-time leading passer at Saint Joseph’s Prep and is fifth all-time in Philadelphia city history…Totaled 4,912 passing yards, 1,243 rushing yards and 71 total touchdowns (52 passing, 17 rushing, 2 interception returns) in his high school career…Engineered six fourth-quarter comebacks playing for Saint Joseph’s…Was a four-year starter at quarterback and three-year starter at defensive back for Saint Joseph’s…Named the MVP of the Catholic League and was three-time First-Team All-Catholic (QB and DB)…First-team all-league, all-city and all-region selection…Won the Leroy Kelly Award, given to Southeast Pennsylvania’s Player of the Year…Named to the 2012 Pennsylvania Big 33 team…Played in the 2012 U.S. Semper Fidelis All-American game…Chose Florida over Penn State, Stanford and Tennessee…Coached by Gabe Infante…Son of Marty Mornhinweg, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator and former head coach of the Detroit Lions.

Unknown said...

Two kids ( twins) from Duke have transfered in too. Things are looking up fir the Lions!

oldlion said...

Are the Duke twins the ones who were originally offered by Yale who were told by Reno to go elsewhere since they'd been first offered by Tom Williams?

alawicius said...

Must be Jackson and Christian Conway. Both will be seniors, so just one year of Lion eligibility. I think they were originally headed for an Ivy team, maybe Yale which their father attended. Jackson is listed as a RB but it was Christian who starred at that position at Bronxville and he's listed as a safety. Neither did a whole lot at Duke but who knows?

WOF said...

Skyler is a better athlete than quarterback, athough he is such a high level athlete he should do very well in Ivies.

He initially verbally committed to Stanford but decommitted when Harbaugh left. He then committed to PSU and decommitted after the Sandusky stuff.

He has good size and can run and Florida was probably a stretch for him as a QB.

There is also a rumor that former Lion Jason Pitkin's pop warner team beat Marty Mornhinweg's team in the championship game in a huge upset way back in the late 70's.

Skyler has two years of eligivbility remaining, is that correct?

Anonymous said...

Hard to imagine they would not try and develop Hill and utilize his speed in some manner. I'm betting they identify the best players and get them on the field in some way.