Graham Mertz Ready to Start Winning for Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – Graham Mertz can be defined as a meticulous note taker, a young gunslinger whose notebook and pen could be a more valuable tool to him than his lively arm. He also comes armed with a work ethic that made him one of the most coveted quarterbacks in the 2019 recruiting class.

So, even though he was unlikely to see the field during the 2019 season behind junior quarterback Jack Coan, Mertz studied, worked and prepared like he was going to be that week’s starting quarterback.

“I think that’s the way it has to be for starters and backups,” Mertz said Thursday. “Everybody has got to prep because you never know. Right now, I’m very confident in my ability to win games here. Practices have been going great in that sense, and I feel like I’m ready to go.”

That inner confidence is going to be critical for the University of Wisconsin in getting its abbreviated 2020 season on track from the beginning.

With Jack Coan’s successful foot surgery Tuesday, and being ruled out indefinitely, Wisconsin quarterback coach Jon Budmayr said “the path we’re on right now” is to have Mertz start the season opener against Illinois at Camp Randall Stadium on Oct.23 or 24.

Since Coan’s injury last Saturday, Mertz has taken the first-team reps, redshirt sophomore Chase Wolf has worked primarily on the second team and redshirt junior Danny Vanden Boom has filled in where needed.

“When Jack went down on Saturday, you come back to work on Sunday and sometimes guys flip that whole script and now they are someone they are not, and that’s really noticeable,” Budmayr said. “I don’t want him to change who he is. Graham has always had got a great presence in the huddle. He’s got a great camaraderie with guys, so that didn’t change. I didn’t see anything with his play that changed.”

Mertz has been viewed as the future at the position for the Badgers. He threw for 3,886 yards and a state-record 51 touchdowns as a senior at Overland Park (KS) Blue Valley North High School. In his final act as a high school quarterback, Mertz threw a record five touchdowns in the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, earning game MVP honors. He enrolled at Wisconsin in January 2019 and appeared in two games last season, completing 9 of 10 passes for 73 yards in mop-up duty against Central Michigan and Kent State.

Watching film with Budmayr over the last two years, whether it be in a group or one-on-one sessions, Mertz admits he sees structures of defenses with greater ease, as well as how pressures affect coverages and rotation. The quicker he can pick up tendencies, the easier it has become for him to attack the weaknesses of the defense.

“It’s been overall comfortability of the offense, owning that leadership role in the huddle and just know where I’m going with the ball in different coverages,” Mertz said of what he's learned from his film sessions. “That’s been a consistent growth for me and now it’s at a place where I’m very confident of where I’m going with the ball, how I am throwing guys open.”

Part of that growth comes from watching Coan, who rarely put his defense in a precarious situation. Starting all 14 games last season, Coan completed 69.6 percent of his passes, threw for 2,727 yards and had 18 touchdowns to just five interceptions.

“Jack is a fantastic decision maker,” Mertz said. “He knows every coverage where he’s going with the ball. That’s one area where last season I needed to work on that. Seeing him in play and in the film room, that’s one area where he helped me a ton and continues to help me here.”

On the doorstep of Mertz making his first start, Budmayr says he hasn’t seen an added hunger in the young quarterback since the weekend, noting Mertz’s motivation to contribute remains unchanged. Budmayr also said he doesn’t expect the offense will be altered in large part because of Mertz’s notetaking.

Trying to capture every coaching point from a meeting and referring back to those scribbles to grasp the concepts, Mertz’s penmanship has proved beneficial.

“The biggest thing is his approach to the game and understanding how to study,” Budmayr said. “Whether that’s the playbook or defenses, I think what's helped him do is apply it to on the field. I’d say his off-the-field approach and a lot of that he learned from going through what he went through last year. Being able to see what a game week looks like and be able to jump into an offseason and know what kind of time he has to focus each day and have a different emphasis.”

Mertz is the highest-rated quarterback Wisconsin has signed in the internet recruiting era. Ranked the No.2 pro-style quarterback and the No.42 prospect in the country for his recruiting class, Mertz committed to Budmayr early in the recruiting process and stayed committed despite receiving offers from Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State and dozens more.

That decision likely has earned him a start in just his third college appearance.

“The biggest thing for me in the recruiting process is everybody says find a place that’s like home, and I feel like this is a place where it was home for me,” Mertz said. “We’re going to win a bunch of games here. Recruitment and all that stuff, ratings are great, all that stuff is great. In the end, you can’t fall into the hype of, 'all right, I’m a four-star (recruit), I’m going here because I’m a four-star and all the four stars go here.' That’s not how it goes. You got to find the perfect spot for you and how you play.

“I feel like I found the perfect spot for me here. I can’t wait to win games here.”