Steven Threet Steven Charles Threet ( born January 2 , 1989 ) is a former American football quarterback who played for both Michigan and Arizona State . He currently is a Student Assistant on the Arizona State football team ' s staff . He was the starting quarterback for the Arizona State Sun Devils . During the 2010 season Threet completed 208 of 336 passes for 2 , 553 yards , 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions . He passed for a career - high 391 yards and three touchdowns against Northern Arizona in September 2010 . He threw for 4 , 824 yards and 49 touchdowns as a high school player in Adrian , Michigan , and was ranked by Rivals . com as the No . 9 quarterback prospect in the nation in the Class of 2006 . Threet committed to Georgia Tech and enrolled early there in January 2007 . After the coaches who had recruited him left the program , Threet announced in July 2007 that he was transferring to the University of Michigan under head coach , Lloyd Carr . Carr was replaced before the 2008 season by Rich Rodriguez . After sitting out the 2007 season under NCAA transfer rules , the redshirt freshman Threet would go on to start at quarterback in eight of Michigan ' s 12 games . Later that same year , Threet transferred to Arizona State University , citing the incompatibility of his playing style as a traditional pro style dropback passer with the spread offense of Rodriguez . After sitting out the 2009 season , Threet had two years of eligibility remaining with Arizona State . On August 30 , 2010 , Arizona State head coach , Dennis Erickson , announced that Threet would be the starting quarterback for the coming season . Early years . Threet was born in Adrian , Michigan , and graduated from Adrian High School . During his senior year in high school , he accumulated 1 , 896 passing yards and threw 20 touchdown passes . He also had had 1 , 528 passing yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior . In all , he threw for 4 , 824 yards and 49 touchdowns in three seasons at Adrian High School . As a high school senior , Threet was four - star prospect and the No . 9 quarterback prospect nationally according to Rivals . com . He was also named to " The Detroit News " Division II All - State first team . In August 2006 , " Detroit Free Press " sports writer Chris Silva wrote that Threet " has the brains of a Steven Q . Urkel and an arm of a young Peyton Manning . He can audible at the line of scrimmage , like NFL star Peyton Manning , and absorb a playbook faster than Urkel could memorize physics formulas . Threet had Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Princeton clamoring over his smarts and skills . " Threet had offers from several major schools , including Wisconsin , Stanford , Illinois , North Carolina State , Indiana , Cincinnati and Georgia Tech . Georgia Tech . Threet committed to Georgia Tech in July 2006 and enrolled early in January 2007 . His high school coach recalled , " He fell in love with the recruiters and the position coaches at Georgia Tech . " Soon after Threet arrived at Georgia Tech , both of the coaches who had recruited him took jobs elsewhere . During spring practice in April 2007 , " The Atlanta Journal - Constitution " reported that " Threet appeared to take the lead over Calvin Booker for the No . 2 quarterback spot , " completing 7 of 11 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown while working with the No . 1 offense . University of Michigan . In July 2007 Threet announced he would transfer to the University of Michigan . While Lloyd Carr was still head coach at Michigan , he had also recruited five - star quarterback Ryan Mallett . Threet called his former high school coach and left a message saying , " Coach , I ' m going to go back to Michigan , and I ' m going to beat [ Ryan ] Mallett out for that starting job . " In a July 2007 interview with " The Atlanta Journal - Constitution " , Threet explained his decision : " The biggest thing is that the two coaches that recruited me took jobs at other schools , and that happened after I got there . People have been asking if it was homesickness , or classes were too hard , or if it was all the competition at Tech . It was not any of those at all . I had a 3 . 76 grade - point my first semester , and the competition ( at Michigan ) is as good or better . " Threet had been ineligible after his transfer from Georgia Tech . During the 2007 season , the majority of the snaps were taken by senior Chad Henne . However , Henne was sidelined by injury enough that Mallett received a considerable amount of playing time , appearing in 11 games ( to Henne ' s 10 ) and attempting 141 passes ( to Henne ' s 278 ) . Carr , who had recruited both Mallett , and a year later , Threet , was set to retire as head coach , and Rodriguez was brought in to begin as head coach for the 2008 season . Mallett believed Rodriguez ' s offense to be unsuitable for a pocket passer , and therefore transferred to Arkansas . That made Michigan ' s quarterback job was up for grabs . Threet would battle to become the team ' s starting quarterback along with former walk - on redshirt sophomore , Nick Sheridan , and redshirt sophomore , David Cone . First - year Michigan head coach , Rich Rodriguez , tabbed Sheridan the Michigan starting quarterback to begin the 2008 season . Threet , although , saw action in Michigan ' s season opener against Utah , entering the game as a substitute and closing the 25 - 10 deficit before eventually losing , 25 - 23 . He recorded 132 yards on 14 - 32 passing along with one touchdown and zero interceptions . Threet was slated for his first career start at Michigan in the following game against Miami ( Ohio ) , although Sheridan would also see playing time . On the first offensive play for Michigan , Threet completed a screen pass to Martavious Odoms that was good for 50 yards . On the fifth play , Threet faked a handoff to Sam McGuffie and ran nine yards for a touchdown . Threet finished with six completions on 13 attempts for 63 yards and no touchdowns , although Michigan evened its season record at 1 - 1 . Threet also started in a 35 – 17 loss against Notre Dame in the third week of the season . According to " The Michigan Daily " , " Threet ' s breakout start " came on the road against Notre Dame when he went 16 - of - 23 for 175 yards , one touchdown and no interceptions . In its game coverage , the paper reported , " Redshirt freshman quarterback Steven Threet played with poise , leading the Wolverines to 330 total yards . " After a bye week before the team ' s fourth game , Threet was named the starter again and would lead Michigan to their second biggest comeback in school history and the team ' s biggest win of the season . Michigan trailed # 9 Wisconsin 19 – 0 with three minutes left in the third quarter and then scored 27 unanswered points in 13 minutes to take a 27 – 19 lead . After a poor performance in the first half , Threet led the team to 247 yards of total offense and 27 points in the second half . In the third quarter , he led the Wolverines on an 80 - yard , 14 - play drive ending with a 26 - yard touchdown pass to Kevin Koger . Not known for his mobility , Threet ' s most impressive play was a 58 - yard run in the fourth quarter that set up Michigan ' s game - winning touchdown . After the game , Rodriguez said Threet ' s run " surprised a lot of people , maybe even himself . " Quarterback coach Rod Smith said of Threet ' s second - half performance , " He ' s a competitor . He ' s got some heart . He ' ll fight you , which is what I want . That ' s a start , you know what I mean ? We ' ll keep working on the rest . " In the sixth game of the season , Threet started against Toledo , but he was injured and sat out the second half of the game , which Michigan lost 13 – 10 . Starting in a 35 – 21 loss Michigan State , Threet completed 13 of 27 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown pass to go along with a career - high three interceptions . In a start against Purdue later in the season , Threet threw two touchdown passes for the second time , including a 51 - yard touchdown pass to Darryl Stonum . Michigan scored a season - high 42 points against Purdue , but the defense gave up 48 points in the game . Threet missed two of the last three games of the season due to a shoulder injury . He did not make the trip to play against Ohio State . However , by the end of the season , " The Michigan Daily " wrote that " Threet has stepped up as a capable signal - caller . . . And now , fans can take a measure of relief — Michigan has a quarterback . " One of the low points of the 2008 season for Threet came after the loss to Michigan State when Michigan ' s offensive coordinator Calvin Magee publicly criticized Threet ' s performance as " inconsistent , like it always is . " Asked later about Magee ' s comments , Threet said : " I guess I feel like that ' s a difference of philosophy from the previous staff . Granted , coaches do different things to get the most out of their players . Some people close to me were upset that a coach would call me out in front of the media , but you know , in the end it didn ' t really matter to me . And to be honest , my play in the Michigan State game was inconsistent . Is it right to say that at the press conference after the game ? I mean , we had just lost a big rivalry game , so I would chalk most of that up to emotions after a big game like that . " " The Michigan Daily " ' s sports editor , Dan Feldman , later questioned the wisdom of Magee ' s public criticism of the team ' s starting quarterback . Feldman opined that Threet had been impressive and concluded , " Whatever happens from here , credit Threet for handling a difficult season with class . " Threet would start a total of eight games , four more than Sheridan ' s season total . The team recorded its worst season ever after posting a 3 - 9 record and stopping the country ' s longest streak of consecutive bowl appearances at 33 . He ended the season with 102 completions on 200 attempts for 1 , 105 yards and nine touchdowns . He also threw seven interceptions . In the off season , Rodriguez would sign quarterbacks Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson on National Signing Day . In February 2009 , Threet released a statement saying , " I have decided to transfer from the University of Michigan . I have requested and received my release . I do not yet know where I will continue my collegiate career , and have no further comment until that decision is made . " As a 6 - foot , 6 - inch , traditional pocket passer , Threet had not fit into the Michigan offensive scheme under first - year head coach Rodriguez , whose spread offense emphasizes mobile quarterbacks . On announcing his transfer to Arizona State , Threet said : " I like the pro style offense and the coaching staff at Arizona State . My career has been filled with ups and downs and coaching changes aren ' t easy . I was at Georgia Tech for two weeks when they changed coaches . Michigan had the same coaches for like 30 years and then they change . When Coach [ Lloyd ] Carr retired I wanted to transfer , but I took Coach [ Rich ] Rodriguez at his word about the offense . I tried to stick it out . I tried to help Michigan win . But in the end the offense didn ' t fit me . They have a run first offense at every position . What they want is Pat White and that ' s not me . " Arizona State University . Transfer to ASU . In April 2009 Threet announced his decision to transfer to Arizona State University . Interviewed by " The Michigan Daily " , Threet explained his choice of Arizona State over Oregon State : " The first thing I looked at for any school I was going to go to was the offense they run and the coaching staff . Arizona State , I feel it fits me offensively with the type of offense they run , it ' s a pro - style offense . I get along very well with the coaching staff , I feel like they will be able to help me get better every day in practice and throughout the season and help me develop . " Under transfer rules Threet was required to sit out the 2009 season , but had two years of eligibility remaining . In March 2010 Threet started for the first unit in Arizona State ' s spring game , though head coach , Dennis Erickson , said that that was only because Threet won a coin flip . At the time , Threet said , " I ' m very excited , but I ' m just a competitive person . Anytime I go out to practice , I ' m trying to compete with whoever I ' m playing against whether its last year on the scout team or this year trying to win the starting job . " Throughout August 2010 Threet was in close competition with Brock Osweiler for the starting quarterback position . In an interview with " The Arizona Republic " , head coach Dennis Erickson also praised Threet ' s progression : " Every quarterback I ' ve been around it just takes awhile to get used to what you ' re hanging your hat on and what we ' re doing offensively . He ' s got a quick release , and he has a hell of an arm . He just needs to continue to get more accurate . " On August 30 , 2010 , Erickson announced that Threet would be the starting quarterback in the Sun Devils opening game against Portland State . In a short statement , Erickson said that Threet " was the most consistent throughout fall camp . " 2010 season . In the season opener for Arizona State , Threet led the team to a 54 - 9 win over Portland State . Threet completed 14 of 21 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns . He also ran with the ball three times for 24 yards and garnered a passer rating of 184 . 17 . His 239 passing yards were the most ever in a debut performance by an Arizona State quarterback . In the second game of the 2010 season , Threet led the team to a 41 - 20 win over Northern Arizona . Threet set career highs with 33 completions and 391 passing yards in the game . He also threw three touchdown passes and two interceptions and completed passes to eight different receivers . Through the first two games of the 2010 season , Threet completed 47 of 70 passes for a 67 % completion rate and five touchdowns . The next few games had their ups and downs for Threet , a very close 20 - 19 loss at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison , started a downward spiral for the Sun Devils in 2010 . In this game Threet went 21 of 33 for 211 yards with 0 TD and 0 INT . Many believed that the Sun Devils outplayed Wisconsin , Threet played well in the game but it started a trend of what - ifs for the Sun Devils season . Threet finished the 2010 season with 2 , 553 passing yards , 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions . On February 23 , 2011 , Threet announced his retirement from football due to repeated concussions .