The FIU Panthers football team might have found another star quarterback from Tampa
Haden Carlson played fútbol and not football as a kid, and it was hard to fathom how he could carry only 135 pounds on a 6-foot frame as a ninth-grader.
But Carlson was bright, and that served him well when he decided to try out for the football team that season at Class 8A Steinbrenner High, which is in the Tampa area.
“I give all my quarterbacks quizzes,” Steinbrenner coach Andres Perez told the Miami Herald last week, “and Haden was answering correctly on things that even my senior QB didn’t know.”
Carlson earned the starting job as a sophomore, and he and his team improved each year, going 2-7 in 2017, 6-5 in 2018, and 12-2 with the first regional title in school history this past season.
This Wednesday, Carlson — who is now 6-3 and 195 pounds at age 17 — expects to sign with the FIU Panthers as their newest quarterback prospect.
FIU was the first and only scholarship offer that Carlson received. Western Kentucky and New Hampshire were interested but backed off after Carlson committed to FIU on April 30.
Carlson is considered a three-star recruit by 247 Sports, but you can bet FIU coach Butch Davis doesn’t care about that or the kid’s lack of other offers.
FIU went after Carlson hard, even after he committed. FIU offensive coordinator Rich Skrosky visited the Carlson home on Dec. 3. Last Wednesday, Davis and Skrosky visited Carlson at Steinbrenner High. And, on Friday, Carlson took his official visit to FIU.
“I was looking for an offense that would fit me,” said Carlson, a pro-style quarterback. “FIU has a great offense, and I knew I could play at that level. I ended up falling in love with FIU.”
The feeling from the coaches is surely mutual toward Carlson, who passed for 2,582 yards and 33 touchdowns with only five interceptions as a senior.
His greatest assets appear to be his football instincts — which he seems to have inherited from his father, Jeff Carlson — and his hand-eye coordination.
Jeff Carlson, a 6-3, 215-pounder during his quarterback days, played at Weber State and was the Los Angeles Rams’ fourth-round pick in 1989. His NFL career was brief — four games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and three with the New England Patriots. He started three games, losing all three, and he was out of the league after 1992.
Still, though not glorious, that is more than most people get in the league, and now Haden is the family’s quarterback. Haden’s brother, Noah, is 6-4 and played tight end for Florida Atlantic before suffering a knee injury.
Noah isn’t sure if he will try for one more season, but Haden is all in on a career with FAU’s main rival, FIU.
As for Haden’s hand-eye skills, allow his father to explain.
“At 18 months old, you throw him a ball, and he’s stroking it,” Jeff said. “When we shoot baskets, he’s like Stephen Curry.
“Haden is an amazing athlete.”
If Carlson reaches his full potential as he envisions, he would be FIU’s second starting QB from Tampa in the Davis era, joining Alex McGough, who is now in the NFL.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The other offensive skill-position recruits whom FIU expects to sign — according to 247 Sports — are Miami Central running back Kejon Owens, Jacksonville wide receiver Xavier McGriff, Miami Booker T. Washington wide receiver Teddy Richardson, and Boyd Anderson tight end Rivaldo Fairweather.
▪ FIU has a pair of guards on the list: South Dade’s Jose Mirabal and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Jahmari Sylvester.
▪ Two safeties have committed to FIU: American Heritage’s Andrew Volmar and Carol City’s Darius Stokes.
▪ Four defensive ends are on the list: Pahokee’s Tamarick Best, Northwestern’s Walti Huggins, Krop’s Giovanni Davis, and Monsignor Pace’s Shykieim Gloster.
▪ Defensive tackle Bobby Washington of St. Thomas Aquinas has also pledged to FIU.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 1:39 PM.