White Hall (Ark.) head coach and former high school, college and NFL star quarterback Ryan Mallett, 35, drowned Tuesday in Florida according to
Deltaplex News.
Deltaplex reported that Mallett was transported to a Florida hospital from a beach and was "pronounced deceased at the hospital."
Mallett had been preparing for his second year as the head coach of White Hall after going 4-6 in his first season at the helm.
As a high school quarterback, Mallett burst on to the scene at
Texas (Texarkana, Texas) as a 6-foot-6, 246-pounder with a rocket arm.
From 2004-06, Mallett threw for 7,879 yards and 72 touchdowns. As a senior he passed for 33 touchdowns against three interceptions and took the Tigers to the state quarterfinals. The opponent that day was a Copperas Cove squad led by future Heisman winner Robert Griffin III.
He was the No. 2 rated quarterback in the class of 2007 and the No. 5 player overall according to the 247Sports Composite.
Mallett went to Michigan and is the third highest recruit in the 247Sports era to don the maize and blue. He left for Arkansas after his freshman year and helped the Razorbacks get to the 2011 Sugar Bowl, their first big-time college football bowl game since the 1987 Orange Bowl.
The signal caller was then selected in the third round by the New England Patriots and played six NFL seasons, throwing for 1,835 yards.
In 2020, he became an assistant at Mountain Home (Ark.) before he became head coach at White Hall in 2022.
Ryan Mallett looks down the field at the 2006 Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge. He would go on to star at the University of Arkansas and played six seasons in the NFL. (Photo: Jim Owens)
