Jason Swanson played in only seven football games last season for City College of San Francisco, but Rams coach George Rush is convinced his former quarterback will be taking a lot more snaps for Kansas University next fall.
“I’d be shocked if he didn’t start for them,” said Rush, whose team won its fourth national title in five years.
Swanson, who signed with Kansas last month and was expected to arrive on campus this weekend, completed 175 of 277 passes for 2,465 yards and 18 touchdowns with seven interceptions as a freshman when CCSF was 9-2.
The Rams were 12-0 this season, despite the fact Swanson was sidelined in the seventh game when he hyperextended the elbow on his non-throwing arm.
The sophomore completed 62 of 104 passes for 1,187 yards with nine TDs and three interceptions. Swanson’s numbers were limited because of the five games he missed, and he rarely was allowed to finish the games he did start because CCSF outscored its opponents, 520-81.
“We shut him down in the middle of the third quarter, sometimes sooner,” offensive coordinator Dan Hayes said. “We scored a lot of points and beat a lot of people by wide margins. A lot of our guys were outstanding Division One players but didn’t have great numbers because we had such a great team.”
Freshman quarterback Joseph Ayoob, who had been the Rams’ mop-up man, took over for the final five games and earned all-conference honors with 1,296 passing yards and 14 touchdowns.
“He was all-conference because he played great in two big games,” Rush said. “To be honest, it wasn’t a very good year for quarterbacks in our league. The two best quarterbacks in the league were our guys.”
Swanson recovered from his injury and could have played in CCSF’s final two games, but the coaches stuck with Ayoob.
“Joe played extremely well, so we went with Joe,” Hayes said. “He didn’t give us any reason to take him out. It was an extremely tough call for us, but it worked out well. It wasn’t about Jason. It was about how well we played with Joe. Jason handled it great. He had a real tough time. He was very disappointed with the decision, but he had missed a lot of practice time. Once the decision was made, he understood he needed to get ready in case he was needed, and he handled it extremely well.”
Swanson’s injury didn’t effect his recruiting. He had committed to Kansas before he was sidelined.
“Jason has a lot of great qualities,” Rush said of the quarterback, who also had scholarship offers from Oregon State, Utah and West Virginia. “He’s real athletic. He can run, and he’s got a great arm. He’s real bright, a student of the game. Our guys like him. He’s got a great personality. He’s real positive. There’s no negativity with him.”
Swanson likely will battle a freshman for playing time during spring drills. Adam Barmann completed 67.1 percent (57 of 85) of his passes for 564 yards in three games while filling in for injured senior starter Bill Whittemore last fall.
Swanson (6-foot, 190 pounds) and Barmann (6-4, 210) appear to be the top candidates to replace Whittemore next fall.
The transfer’s talents, however, aren’t limited to the gridiron.
“He’s different from most kids,” Rush said. “He didn’t go to a regular high school. He went to the High School for the Performing Arts in San Diego. He can play about five different musical instruments. He’s a very talented person. He’s much more complicated than just football.”
KU’s winter conditioning program begins Friday.