Connor Mitch with his brother Ryan
1. Connor Mitch was raised in an athletic household. His father, Bob, was a standout at both cornerback and safety for Syracuse. He had a short stint in the NFL with New England, New York, and Detroit as a defensive back before moving on from professional football. Connor’s older brother, Ryan, signed to play football with Maryland out of high school. He tried to transfer to North Carolina but was blocked by former Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen, so he decided to play professional football in Finland, Austria and in the United States in the Arena League. His sister, Brittany, was a standout basketball player who played point guard for Duke.
Connor Mitch has had to wait3. Mitch beat out three other quarterbacks for the starting job. After sitting behind the winningest quarterback in school history, Connor Shaw, during his redshirt season, he had to watch Dylan Thompson in 2014. Thompson had one of the best single-season passing years in school history, which left Mitch with little on-field experience going into the spring. He battled junior Perry Orth (who enrolled in January 2013 and they spent the semester as roommates) and redshirt freshman Michael Scarnecchia in the spring. True freshman Lorenzo Nuñez entered the fray in June.
In limited action ...4. Mitch has remarkably little experience for a player that has been in the program since January 2013. He graduated from Wakefield High School early to go through spring practice but ultimately redshirted. He dressed for home games and traveled to Tennessee on his lone road trip for the 2013 season. As a redshirt freshman, the coaching staff found it difficult to get him into games as there was rarely a wide margin. He played sparingly against both Furman and South Alabama and went 2-for-6 passing for 19 yards.
Smoother than you'd think5. Both Mitch and the team were told on Tuesday afternoon in a team meeting just before the start of practice. Mitch has worked hard in the offseason to increase his speed and athleticism to work the zone-read rushing attack that South Carolina employs. He lost three percent body fat over the course of the summer and quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus called Mitch a “smooth athlete.” Mitch stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 211 pounds.
1. Connor Mitch was raised in an athletic household. His father, Bob, was a standout at both cornerback and safety for Syracuse. He had a short stint in the NFL with New England, New York, and Detroit as a defensive back before moving on from professional football. Connor’s older brother, Ryan, signed to play football with Maryland out of high school. He tried to transfer to North Carolina but was blocked by former Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen, so he decided to play professional football in Finland, Austria and in the United States in the Arena League. His sister, Brittany, was a standout basketball player who played point guard for Duke.
Connor Mitch has had to wait3. Mitch beat out three other quarterbacks for the starting job. After sitting behind the winningest quarterback in school history, Connor Shaw, during his redshirt season, he had to watch Dylan Thompson in 2014. Thompson had one of the best single-season passing years in school history, which left Mitch with little on-field experience going into the spring. He battled junior Perry Orth (who enrolled in January 2013 and they spent the semester as roommates) and redshirt freshman Michael Scarnecchia in the spring. True freshman Lorenzo Nuñez entered the fray in June.
In limited action ...4. Mitch has remarkably little experience for a player that has been in the program since January 2013. He graduated from Wakefield High School early to go through spring practice but ultimately redshirted. He dressed for home games and traveled to Tennessee on his lone road trip for the 2013 season. As a redshirt freshman, the coaching staff found it difficult to get him into games as there was rarely a wide margin. He played sparingly against both Furman and South Alabama and went 2-for-6 passing for 19 yards.
Smoother than you'd think5. Both Mitch and the team were told on Tuesday afternoon in a team meeting just before the start of practice. Mitch has worked hard in the offseason to increase his speed and athleticism to work the zone-read rushing attack that South Carolina employs. He lost three percent body fat over the course of the summer and quarterbacks coach G.A. Mangus called Mitch a “smooth athlete.” Mitch stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 211 pounds.
