Personal information | |
---|---|
Born: | Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, U.S. | November 22, 1994
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
Weight: | 211 lb (96 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) |
College: | Houston (2013–2014) Michigan (2015–2017) |
Position: | Quarterback |
Undrafted: | 2018 |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
John August O'Korn (born November 22, 1994) is a former American football quarterback. After attending St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he led his team to the 2012 FHSAA 7A state high school title, O'Korn chose to attend the University of Houston. [1] He began as the starting quarterback for Houston during the 2013 season as a true freshman after teammate David Piland suffered career-ending injuries. [2] After throwing 3,117 yards and 28 touchdowns as a freshman and honored with the American Athletic Conference Freshman Player of the Year, he lost his starting position after starting the first five games in the 2014 season. On February 5, 2015, he announced his plans to transfer to the University of Michigan, where he threw for 1,146 yards and 4 touchdowns over two years. [3]
John O'Korn was born to Gary and Paula O'Korn in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. [4] He attended Huntingdon Area High School, where he played quarterback, throwing for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, starting 5 games. As a youth, John was an outstanding baseball and basketball player as well as wrestler, placing in several national tournaments. When his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, O'Korn attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In his first season at St. Thomas Aquinas, he threw for 377 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. The next season, he led the team to the 2012 FHSAA 7A state title with an average of 43 points per game. Throwing for 22 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions and over 2,500 yards.
He received scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Louisville, Syracuse, Mississippi State, North Carolina, South Florida, and UCF in addition to Houston. [5]
O'Korn earned the backup position for quarterback during preseason camp behind David Piland. [5] However, he made his first collegiate appearance during the first half of the season opener. He became the quarterback beginning with the 2013 Bayou Bucket Classic against Rice. [6] When Piland announced that he would end his career due to concussions, O'Korn was solidified in the role. [7]
O'Korn was the starting quarterback for the first five games of the 2014 season before being benched in favor of Greg Ward Jr. [8] The benching was due to an offensive scheme change due to 2013 Offensive Coordinator Doug Meacham leaving for same position at TCU.
On February 5, 2015, O'Korn announced that he would be transferring to the University of Michigan. Due to NCAA transfer rules, O'Korn sat out the 2015 season. He spent the 2015 season serving as the scout team quarterback. [8] [9]
2016 Spring practice began on February 29 with a highly anticipated quarterback battle between redshirt junior Shane Morris, O'Korn, redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight, true freshman Brandon Peters and redshirt freshman Alex Malzone. [10] [11] As Spring practice wound down in late March, Speight, O'Korn and Morris seemed to be the leading three, [12] but in that order. [13] O'Korn and Speight were the starters in the April 1 Spring game. [14] [15]
On September 3 before the opening game against Hawaii, Speight was named as the starting quarterback, despite O’Korn leading the preseason point challenge. [16] O'Korn made his Michigan debut in the third quarter after Michigan had built a 49–0 lead, [17] and he went 3–3 on a touchdown scoring drive. [18] After Speight was sidelined with an unspecified shoulder injury, O'Korn started and led the team to a 20–10 victory over Indiana on November 19. O'Korn posted 7 completions in 16 attempts for a total of 59 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The performance represented the lowest passing yardage total for Michigan since John Navarre posted 58 in a November 17, 2001, victory for the 2001 Wolverines against Wisconsin. [19] [20]
After another quarterback battle for the starting role, [21] O'Korn entered the 2017 season as Speight's primary backup again and relieved him briefly in the second quarter of the season opener against Florida. [22] [23] After Speight suffered what would become a season-ending injury on September 23 against Purdue, O'Korn became the primary starter. [24] He helped lead the Wolverines to victory against Purdue, [25] but in his first season start of the season in the rivalry game against Michigan State, O'Korn threw three interceptions in a 14–10 loss. [26] [27] Against rival Ohio State, he also threw a costly pick in the fourth quarter with 2:47 left to play which cost the Wolverines the game. After the game, he emotionally blamed himself for the loss, saying with tears falling down his face, "the hardest part for me is just you come here to win this game and our senior class wasn’t able to do it, and you know I hold myself responsible for a lot of that…. I can’t imagine a worse feeling right now" [28]
Through the end of the 2017 season, O'Korn's statistics are as follows: [29]
NCAA collegiate career statistics | ||||||||||||||
Houston Cougars | ||||||||||||||
Season | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Comp | Att | Yards | Pct. | TD | Int | QB Rating | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||||
2013 | 259 | 446 | 3,117 | 58.1 | 28 | 10 | 133.0 | 77 | 104 | 1.4 | 1 | |||
2014 | 90 | 173 | 951 | 52.0 | 6 | 8 | 100.4 | 32 | 18 | 0.6 | 1 | |||
Michigan Wolverines | ||||||||||||||
2015 | ||||||||||||||
2016 | 20 | 34 | 173 | 58.8 | 2 | 0 | 121.0 | 12 | 31 | 2.6 | 0 | |||
2017 | 84 | 157 | 973 | 53.5 | 2 | 6 | 102.1 | 44 | −54 | −1.2 | 0 | |||
NCAA career totals | 453 | 810 | 5,214 | 55.9 | 38 | 24 | 119.6 | 165 | 99 | 0.6 | 2 |
Devin Jaymes Gardner is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played professionally in Japan for two seasons.
Denard Xavier Robinson is an American former professional football player and a former staff member for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacksonville University and the University of Michigan. He played four seasons as a running back in the National Football League (NFL), and was a college football All-American for the Michigan Wolverines as a quarterback. Robinson was selected by the Jaguars in the 2013 NFL draft.
Taylor Jonathan Yates is an American football coach and former player who is the quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played professionally as a quarterback in the NFL. After playing college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, Yates was selected by the Houston Texans in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills.
Jeremy Jermaine Gallon is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at the University of Michigan, finishing second all-time in school history in receptions and receiving yards. He also has the school record for the most receiving yards in a season, 1,373, and the Big Ten Conference record for the most receiving yards in a single game, 369. Gallon was selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played professionally in seven other football leagues after his NFL stint.
Shane Ryan Morris is a former American football quarterback. He was a highly touted five-star prospect from De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren, Michigan, until he endured mononucleosis midway through his senior season. He played in the 2013 Under Armour All-America Game.
Connor Cook is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was their starting quarterback from 2013 to 2015. He holds the record for most career wins at Michigan State. Cook was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Jacob Michael Rudock is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was a starting quarterback playing college football for the 2013 and 2014 Iowa Hawkeyes and 2015 Michigan Wolverines. He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Ty Isaac is a former American football running back. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. He played his freshman season for the 2013 USC Trojans before transferring to the University of Michigan.
Robert Wilton Speight III is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and UCLA. In high school, he was a 2014 Under Armour All-America Game selection and subsequently committed to play in college for Michigan. Speight redshirted in 2014 and was the backup quarterback in 2015. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, he started 12 games and earned third-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2017, Speight started four games before suffering a season-ending injury. In April 2018, Speight transferred to UCLA for his final season of eligibility.
The 2016 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the sport of college football during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolverines played in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan was led by head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was in his second season.
Shea Christopher Patterson is an American football quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels (2016–2017) and the Michigan Wolverines (2018–2019). He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2020. He was drafted in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers and they retain his rights until 2024. The Michigan Panthers drafted Patterson with the first pick in the 2022 USFL draft. He has also played with the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL).
Michael Brandon Peters is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Michigan before transferring to Illinois.
Chris Evans is an American football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Michigan and was selected by the Bengals in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft.
Michael Juey McCray II is a former American football linebacker. He is currently the outside linebackers coach at the University of Massachusetts.
Amara Darboh is a Sierra Leonean-born former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. He played college football at Michigan. A native of Sierra Leone, Darboh was orphaned during the Sierra Leone Civil War and moved to Iowa at age seven. He enrolled at the University of Michigan and was the Wolverines' leading receiver with 58 catches in 2016.
The 2017 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the sport of college football during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolverines played in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan was coached by Jim Harbaugh, who was in his third season.
Joe Milton III is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and Tennessee Volunteers. Milton was selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft.
Cade McNamara is an American football quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He previously played for the Michigan Wolverines, winning a Big Ten Conference title as the starting quarterback in 2021, and was a backup behind J. J. McCarthy in 2022.
Jonathan James McCarthy is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected tenth overall by the Vikings in the 2024 NFL draft.
Alexander Orji is an American football quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines. He won a national championship with Michigan in 2023.