VIDEO: Coaches in Cars Getting Coffee – Chuck Petersen
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – This is the sixth part in an eight-part series chronicling Carson-Newman football's positions for the 2024 season. This feature breaks down the Eagles' quarterbacks and fullbacks with aid from offensive coordinator Chuck Petersen.
While Carson-Newman's offense will be a new look as it returns to full triple-option football, the Eagles can rely on a slew of quarterbacks who have experience for the Orange and Blue or a couple of veteran transfers.
"I've always felt a couple things are mandatory, and necessary, and the first of those is you have to take care of the football," Petersen said. "The number one rule of life is you can't beat yourself. If we maintain possession of the football, we've got a great chance to win. They have to be elite leaders, the successful programs that I have been a part of have had a quarterback who is an unquestioned leader on the team. Finally, they have to be physical and get us in the right play. As I evaluate our guys, they all give us a chance to win because they do those things. It's a great problem to have."
Zane Whitson and Tre Luttrell split time at QB last season before Luttrell's season came to an end due to an injury.
Luttrell rushed the ball eight times for 16 yards and completed 5-of-10 passes for 65 yards before his injury. His first career pass in the Orange and Blue was a 43-yard dart for a TD to Cade Meeks against Virginia-Lynchburg (Aug. 31).
Whitson started the first three and the final three games of the year under center for the Eagles. He wrapped up the year completing 60-of-128 passes for 984 yards and nine touchdowns. He also ran the ball 43 times for 154 yards and a score. His best day passing came at UVA Wise when he was 10-of-14 through the air for 188 yards and three scores, including an 85-yard pitch and catch with Galen Washington.
"Zane and Tre are both great kids," Petersen said. "It's clear that Tre is a coaches kid. He grew up around the game and understands the game. Zane is not as serious as Tre in a good way. He is a great kid to be around. Both are students of the game and the game itself isn't too big for them. They both want to succeed and use different tools to do that. Tre is more physical, but Zane can run the ball better in terms of space. They both have their own special talents and gifts."
Joining them under center are two transfers, Navy's Tedros Gleaton and Army's Justin Johnson.
Gleaton did not see any varsity action in 2022 with the Naval Academy. He entered the 2023 fall camp as Navy's starting quarterback. A 2021 graduate of North Point High School in Waldorf, Md., Gleaton completed 83 of his 149 passes for 1,482 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also rushed for 384 yards on 80 carries with nine TDs.
Johnson tallied 5,200 yards passing and more than 1,200 yards rushing at Central Gwinnett. He had 50 touchdowns through the air and on the ground combined en route to earning all-county and all-region honors. He led his team in both passing and rushing.
"In Teddy's case, he has extensive experience in this offense having gone to Navy," Petersen said. "He was comfortable with the system coming in. Justin comes in from West Point, and he came here as more of a gun-option guy. However, the principles are the same as we do here. Teddy is a bit bigger, but they are both effective throwing and running it."
Gavin Gosnell makes the change back to QB after spending part of last year at TD, and has grown by leaps and bounds throughout fall camp.
"You can't just play a kid because he cares about the team," Petersen said. "But he really cares about the team more than he cares about himself. He wanted to come back to QB and compete. Over the 15 days of spring and 12 days of fall camp, he is starting to really get it. Of our five guys, the most physical runner and fastest kids. Gavin has put himself in a position to be competitive in the environment were in."
As for the B-Backs, Jayden Sullins has grabbed the reigns.
Sullins started in eight games and appeared in all 11 contests as Carson-Newman's F back last year. He was the Eagles' second-leading rusher with 43 carries for 296 yards. He averaged a team-best 6.9 yards per carry. He found the end zone once, a 71-yard jaunt for a score at Erskein (Oct. 14). He carried the ball for 84 yards on three touches against the Flying Fleet. He had three carries of 20 yards or longer on the season. A prolific kick returner, he had 11 kickoff returns for 221 yards with a long of 32 against Virginia-Lynchburg (Aug. 31) and at Limestone (Sep. 16). He had more than 100 all-purpose yards the first three weeks of the season and two more games with more than 90 all-purpose yards.
"He felt his way through the spring and continued to figure things out as the spring wore on he continued to figure things out," Petersen said. "He's had a great summer committing himself to the conditioning things that we did. He was recruited by Navy. He could have played at Navy, but we are fortunate to have him here with us."
James Maddox, CJ Puckett and Tyler Curtis provide ample experience and depth at the position.
Carson-Newman's position previews continue Tuesday with a glimpse at the slots with help from Mike Patrick.
