In my own words: Finn Collins
Quarterbacks are usually the first position group to have dozens of pledges across college football pop up early on in the recruiting process. Not exactly a remedial task for ASU’s incoming freshman Finn Collins, who endured other challenges other than being pursued in a pandemic that eliminated in-person exposure to schools.
Collins talks to us about his recruiting process, which took a dramatic turn after his pledge, transferring to a school that he ultimately would never suit up for a senior season, to his relationship with offensive coordinator Zak Hill.
“The first time I picked up a football, I probably about three or four years old, and I really started playing when I was in sixth grade. I played quarterback because I was also a big baseball guy, and I pitched a lot. I thought both positions had some things in common, and I always just thought quarterback was the position for me. Playing quarterback takes a lot of understanding of what it takes to play. It’s probably the most difficult position on the field. You have to take control of the team and to try and win games. There's a lot of pressure being a pitcher in baseball, and that helps you as a quarterback. But you know, I feel it is a bit more pressure being a quarterback to be honest.
“I didn’t start to play on the varsity team until my junior year. But I felt I was good enough to go to college on a football scholarship my freshman year. That’s when I really started to take the game more seriously; I started training differently and seeing a lot more progress and in my development because I stopped playing baseball then. I wish I played it in high school. I love the sport, it's more calm and kind of chill, and it's just fun to be a part of a team. I had to make a hard decision just to concentrate on one sport. That’s what it all came down to. Myself and my parents thought that football was the best decision for me.
“The first time I got contacted by an ASU coach was Zak Hill, the offensive coordinator. He was recruiting me while he was at Boise State and I met him. I met in-person my sophomore season when he was still coaching there. There was a camp out here in LA, and he came out to it. He showed interest in me, and we just build our relationship from that day on. Coach Hill is a regular dude. Some coaches that talk to you try to put on an act, and he was never like that. He talks to me the same way he talks to my parents, and it's cool just to just have someone that's just a real dude and not trying to put on a show for you.
“My junior year, I played at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, and then I transferred to Bishop Alemany. I had to move back home to Los Angeles with my family, which is why I transferred. It was frustrating that I had to move back for my senior year I couldn’t play because COVID-19 delayed my season. Yeah, it sucks I can't play this year. I'm honestly ready to move on to the next chapter of my life and go to college. It would have been fun to play because we had an awesome team this year, and it would be fun to be a part of that.
“My coaches supported me graduating high school early and going to college in the spring. They knew I was ready for it, and they wanted me to move on as well. My parents thought it was the best decision for me too. So, I was putting in those extra hours in the classroom for my extra credits that I had to get down to graduate early. It wasn't really that hard of a decision to graduate early. The plan was always to graduate early, but I didn't honestly know it was really a thing until probably my sophomore or junior year since I saw like some bigger recruits doing that. Thankfully I was on pretty much on track the last couple of years, and I didn't have to do too much to graduate early.
“Transferring between all those high schools makes you resilient for sure. Every school had a different story in my life and definitely brought in a new aspect of life every time I went to a different school. It built a lot of character strengths and a lot of figuring out what kind of people you want to be around and figuring out where you belong with certain stuff. It was cool building new relationships finding my place where I belong.
“It was weird because of COVID-19 committing to a school before I had a chance to visit it. The whole year has been weird because you just didn't know what the future held, and my class didn’t get to visit campuses and be able to go out there and throw over the summer for the schools’ camps. We had to make a conscious decision on what would be good the best fit without visiting a school. My parents and my coach always wanted what was best for me, and their input went into the decision obviously. Cal, Michigan State, and Kansas State were some of the schools that were recruiting me right before I committed. Knowing Zak Hill from before was huge in my ASU commitment. He never changed during the recruiting process. He was always the same dude, which I liked a lot. I compare that to other coaches in other schools and how they recruited me differently, and that is what stood out with coach Hill compared to other programs, which I like and my parents liked a lot too.
"ASU really wanted to get involved with my family too, and they wanted to know all about them and talk to them as well. So that was a big part of my decision too. It always felt like they really cared about you, what kind of a person I am, what kind of family I come from, and what kind of community I come from. A lot of other schools just want to know what kind of player you are and how fast is your 40-time and stuff like that. That wasn't the case with Arizona State.
“Last year (2019) I honestly didn't I was not looking at Arizona State and what kind of offense they were running. I was looking at Boise State all the time, and I knew I could fit into Zak Hill’s offense. It fits pro-style quarterbacks who can also take off when they need to. I love his scheme, and he (Hill) thinks that I would be able to benefit from playing in it. I’ve been watching all the games going through my head what I need to work on now that I see them (ASU) playing this scheme. I really like the balance they have between the run and the pass.
“Coach Hill thinks my biggest strength is being able to read the defense and pick up the different schemes they are putting in nowadays. That’s what I probably improved on the most the last couple of years, and I also improved my athleticism a lot. I’m comfortable sitting in the pocket or taking off and running the ball. I saw this ASU offense definitely pick it up a lot towards the end of the season. So, it's cool to see like the evolution of it that and knowing that I can run this type of offense.
“Arizona state looking at other quarterbacks during the recruiting process after I committed didn’t bother me. I'm not afraid of competition. They had a scholarship quarterback, Jack Smith, who left, and that’s when they were looking to bring in a second quarterback. They looked at Jaxson Dart, and he’s a good quarterback for sure. I'm actually good friends with him, and we did work out together over the summer. He's a great dude, and he's a baller…you guys saw him play this past season. He's going to do great things at USC. I wasn’t thinking about what would happen if he came to ASU or if they would have another quarterback in my class sign with ASU. I was like, ‘whatever happens, happens.’ ASU told me straight up that they're either going to bring two quarterbacks in my class or bring two in the 2022 class because they only have two quarterbacks on scholarship right now. That makes sense, and I can totally understand that. That never affected my decision at all or my interest there.
“Like all the California players, I had to make sure I was keeping in shape with the delayed senior season. I work out with my quarterback coach, Sam Fisher, about four to five times a week and also lift forward four to five times a week as well in a gym with my (strength and conditioning) coach, Jeff McCann. They're two of the most awesome dudes I have in my life, and they really pushed me hard. It’s been a good six months of just straight, consistent and non-stop work throughout the week. It's been awesome. Balancing both school and workouts has been interesting, but it's been a fun process. Zak Hill has a good relationship with my quarterback coach, and they’ll go over together over my workout videos and see what I need to get done.
“Coming to Arizona State next month, it’s nice that there are just two (scholarship) quarterbacks on the team. Some schools have like seven quarterbacks, and ours is a smaller one. I'd rather be going into our quarterback room than the one that has seven, and I know we have a great quarterback room. But I know nothing is given, and everything has to be earned. I'm just excited to get there, work hard, and compete. Since I got the playbook and all the film from this past weekend (the game versus Oregon State), it's been so awesome. When you watch the game on TV, you get a good sense of it, but you watch the (coaches’) film, you really see the meaning and concepts behind it all.
“I’m really excited to go learn from Jayden and soak everything up that I can in my freshman year. I obviously have high expectations for myself, but I'm not even really trying to focus on that. I'm just trying to get myself established, really learn the playbook, and make sure I’m ready for the season.”
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