Nicholas Starkel (born February 24, 1998) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

, and

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Early life

Starkel was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

to Wendy and Murray Starkel. Starkel lived in eight different cities prior to graduating from high school, as his father Murray was a longtime

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer who worked with the Army's Corps of Engineers. Starkel attended Liberty Christian School in

Argyle, Texas Argyle is a city in Denton County, Texas, Denton County, Texas, United States, with a population of 5,503 as of 2022. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. History The first European settlement, consisting of a few families, occurred in the Argyle area ...

, where he threw for 4,745 yards and 48 touchdowns in three seasons, 3,091 of which came from his senior season. A three-star recruit, Starkel initially committed to

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, but after talking with former

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

quarterback Cody Kessler, he de-committed from Oklahoma State and narrowed it to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, committing to play college football at Texas A&M.

College career

Texas A&M

Starkel entered

redshirting his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, he won the starting quarterback job, although he suffered a broken leg in the season-opener against

. Starkel returned to play six more games in 2017, including a 499-yard, four touchdown performance against Wake Forest in the Belk Bowl that was a Belk Bowl record. Under new head coach Jimbo Fisher, Starkel lost the starting job to Mond, the latter thriving under Fisher's system, leading to Starkel announcing he would transfer as a graduate student, with immediate eligibility.

Arkansas

Starkel transferred to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

before the 2019 season. He competed with Ben Hicks for the starting quarterback job, and split time with Hicks in the season opener against Portland State. After replacing Hicks in a 31–17 loss to

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

, Starkel was named the Razorbacks starter for their game against Colorado State, throwing for 305 yards and three touchdowns in a 55–34 win. The following week, he threw five interceptions in a loss to

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. Starkel announced he would transfer from Arkansas after one season, later citing conflict with head coach Chad Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock.

San Jose State

After Starkel put his name in the transfer portal, former

football player Josh Love reached out to Starkel and informed him the San Jose State coaches were interested in a transfer quarterback and put the two sides in touch. Starkel later announced that he would transfer to San Jose State in 2020. At San Jose State, Starkel had a stellar 2020 season, posting career-highs in passing yards, touchdowns, and passer rating, as San Jose State went 7–0 in conference play and won the 2020 Mountain West Conference Championship. Starkel was named the game's most valuable player after throwing for 453 yards and three touchdowns in the game. Starkel was also named to the Mountain West's All-Conference second team. With the NCAA approving a waiver that allowed college football players to retain their 2020 standing for the 2021 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Starkel announced on Twitter that he would return for a sixth season of eligibility.

Statistics

Post-college career

After not being selected in the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

, Starkel attended the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

' rookie minicamps but was not signed. He later became the quarterbacks coach, passing game coordinator, and junior varsity head coach at Corona del Mar High School. Starkel also works as a private quarterback tutor.

References

External links

*
San Jose State profile

Arkansas profile

Texas A&M profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starkel, Nick 1998 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football players San Jose State Spartans football players Texas A&M Aggies football players Players of American football from Pittsburgh Players of American football from Denton County, Texas Liberty Christian School (Argyle, Texas) alumni High school football coaches in California