Jake Browning's emergence as Heisman Trophy candidate doesn't surprise high school coach

Video: Jake Browning high school highlights
As a senior at Folsom, Browning broke the national record for career touchdown passes with 229.

It didn't take long for Folsom (Calif.) football coach Kris Richardson to figure out that his former quarterback Jake Browning was an old soul.

Ballyhooed before he even attended classes, Browning threw for 687 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first varsity start as a sophomore. He went on to throw for 5,248 yards and 63 touchdowns that season for the 14-1 Bulldogs.

But gaudy numbers and victories is not what Richardson remembered most about the then lanky 6-foot-2 lad.

"Even as a sophomore he could sit across from a bunch of adults and hold a conversation," Richardson said. "He's just very mature, very at ease with himself and others."

So, the fact that Browning became just the first University of Washington true freshman to start a season opener didn't surprise Richardson last season.

Nor has it caught him off guard that during his second year at the helm of the Huskies, Browning has thrust himself into the Heisman Trophy conversation.

"None of it surprises me about Jake," Richardson said by phone this week. "We've always known he was special. His work ethic, knowledge of the game, skill set. … and the fact he's surrounded with such great players and coaches. .... No, none of us are surprised by his success."

Browning currently ranks No. 1 nationally in touchdown passes (23) and passer rating (204.9). He's also third in completion percentage (.722) while throwing for 1,418 yards and just two interceptions.

More importantly, the Huskies are 6-0 and in the College Football Playoff conversation.

All is par for the course, according to Richardson, who watched Browning obliterate almost every state record by completing 1,191 passes in 1,708 attempts (.697 percent) for 16,775 yards and 229 touchdowns against 40 interceptions.

The Bulldogs went 44-2 in his career, winning a state crown his senior season after losing in the regional final twice to eventual champion De La Salle.

"Through all that — all the national records and earning Gatorade Player of the Year awards — all Jake authentically ever cared about was winning games, being a good teammate and a good person," Richardson said.

It reflected in his recruiting also.

He never attended any quarterback camps, including the Elite 11, or combines and he politely told coaches east of the Pac-12 Conference that he wanted to stay on the West Coast to be near family.

All of it dropped his recruiting rating, but none of that mattered to Browning, whose father Ed played quarterback for Oregon State in the early 1990s.

All of it was derived from his maturity and self assurance. Plus he had a lot of support and coaching at an early age, namely from his dad, former Folsom co-coach and Cal quarterback Troy Taylor and Richardson.

Browning attended Taylor's camps since he was in the fifth grade. He said his dad, Taylor and Richardson were always his idols, but of course tried to emulate "the preparation of (Peyton) Manning, the competitive edge and fire of (Tom) Brady, and accuracy of (Drew) Brees."

He's shown a little of it all under coach Washington coach Chris Petersen, whom Browning connected to early in the recruiting process when Petersen was at Boise State.

"Jake has always been comfortable in his own skin," Richardson said. "Even though he was getting even bigger offers to even bigger traditional programs, he knew coach Petersen was his type of person and coach. Look at what their doing up there. It's all a fit."

If it continues and Washington and Browning garner all the national honors their on pace to do, none of it will change the Folsom kid, Richardson said.

"Every time he visits he's the same humble, sloppily-dressed, hair barely combed kid he always has been," Richardson said. "He's just the real deal in every sense. He's just Jake."