Eastern (Voorhees, N.J.) head coach Dan Spittal recalls his first encounter with
Tom Flacco in the summer of 2010.
Flacco, who spent his freshman season at Camden Catholic, showed up for his first practice at Eastern. Spittal, thinking he was a new freshman, approached the young man.
"I asked him what his name was, and he said Tom," Spittal said. "I asked him what his last name was, and he said Flacco. I did a double-take."
The younger brother of the reigning Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl MVP, Flacco has carved out his own identity around South Jersey in his three seasons at the helm for Eastern.
He's a straight-A student, a potential MLB Draft pick and a varsity basketball player for Eastern, which participates in New Jersey's largest classification, Group V.
Flacco also plays quarterback, and plays it very well. He's the No. 2 passer in South Jersey, having thrown for 1,680 yards and 14 touchdowns in his team's first seven games.
This comes on the heels of a junior campaign that saw Flacco excel against some of South Jersey's toughest competition.
He reminds Spittal less of his Super Bowl-winning brother and more of a Heisman-trophy winning signal-caller: Johnny Manziel.
"I call him Manziel, because he plays like him," Spittal said, referencing Flacco's 4.5 40-yard dash time and his athletic prowess, which Spittal believes is the most impressive of all five Flacco siblings.
Despite the lofty comparison and the gaudy statistics, Flacco has only three scholarship offers: Temple, Coastal Carolina and Delaware.
Whereas older brother Joe heard questions during the NFL Draft as to whether his success at a Division 1-AA school (Delaware) could translate to the NFL, the younger Flacco is facing questions about his ability to be a quarterback at the FBS level.
Temple offered him as an athlete, while Coastal Carolina offered him pitching the opportunity to play baseball as well.
Delaware head coach Dave Brock, who was an assistant at Rutgers in 2012, is all in on Flacco, however. He told Spittal that he knows a winner when he sees one and wants Flacco to quarterback his team.
"He has what you can't coach," Spittal said. "He's very football intelligent. He makes quick decisions. He's a leader. And he makes kids around him better. Not every QB does that."
Spittal estimates that he has sent Flacco's film to 40-50 Division I programs, most of whom have already decided on their quarterback for the 2014 recruiting class.
Since he is a three-sport athlete who has exchanged his springs on the combine circuit for time on the baseball diamond, Flacco is at a bit of a disadvantage. Spittal believes his potential, once he devotes to football full-time, is enormous.
"Most quarterbacks are QB-ing 13 months a year. He's QB-ing five months a year," Spittal said. "I think his ceiling is so much higher than those kids."
Right now, college plans are on the back burner. Eastern is in the midst of a state title chase.
Eastern currently sits at 7-1 and owns impressive victories over South Jersey powers Timber Creek and Williamstown.
It could avenge its only loss, a 28-21 setback to Cherokee, in the South Group V playoffs.
After the season, Spittal and Flacco will pick back up on the recruiting circuit, where Spittal believes Flacco's value can shift quickly and dramatically.
"We'll see what happens," he said. "[With coaching changes] when somebody decommits, suddenly you're a hot commodity."
Check out Flacco in action below.
Tom Flacco has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the state of New Jersey.
Photos by Richard Ta
