Former Oregon QB Nate Costa gives high school hopefuls tools to succeed

Nate Costa dropped to his knees, the same clunky joints that cut short a promising football career.

The former Oregon quarterback rolled an 8-pound medicine ball into his clutches. With a crowd of high school quarterbacks standing at attention, sticky from the summer heat, Costa continued to build their “tool kit,” as he likes to say.

“These will make you faster, stronger and more explosive,” Costa said before beginning a series of dynamic stretches and conditioning drills. “If you take them seriously.”

With a swift, powerful drive through his hips, Costa launched the weighted orb – no different in size or shape than a bowling ball – almost 20 yards. Past the line of wide receivers. Without a roll.

The prodigal son returned to Hilmar on Wednesday to host his annual clinic, the three-day Nate Costa Football Camp. Costa was joined by Modesto Junior College head coach Rusty Stivers and Oakdale High coordinator Tim Meyer, forming a triumvirate of offensive innovators.

Growing up, Costa never had the luxury of a camp like this. The lesson plan was derived from the cutting edge football laboratory at Oregon, where Costa works as an offensive graduate assistant. To no one’s surprise, the drills move at warp speed.

“We practice at two speeds: walk-through and game speed,” Costa warned the group. “There is no in-between. You should be out of breath.”

Golden Valley’s Armando Muzquiz appeared comfortable with the pace. The highly-touted junior zipped balls around the practice field at Hilmar High and showcased footwork that should serve him well against Central California Conference pass rushers.

His biggest stride, however, wasn’t physical. About a half-hour before they took the field, the quarterbacks gathered inside the film room. They dissected defenses, leaning on Costa and his trusted staff.

“I wasn’t very comfortable with ‘Man Free,’” Muzquiz said referring to a man-to-man defense with a single safety patrolling the deeper spaces. “I didn’t know much about it, so it was nice to learn about that. (Costa) made some really good points.”

Muzquiz wouldn’t have to wait long to apply the lesson. Meyer’s first drill required the quarterbacks to scan the field (quickly, of course), freeze the safety and then bullet a pass to their receiver along the boundary.

“Hold me in the middle of the field,” said Meyer, acting as the deep safety.

By the end of the drill, quick-study Muzquiz was handing out instruction of his own. “More flash,” he barked at one of his receivers. Translation: Show me your hands.

Muzquiz is a second-year starter and part of a heralded class pegged to return Golden Valley to the upper echelon of the CCC. The 6-foot-3 gunslinger struggled in his first varsity season, completing less than 50 percent of his passes as the Cougars failed to win a game last fall. Golden Valley is 30-61 with one winning season since its last CCC title in 2005.

While Muzquiz is tasked with returning the Cougars to the land of contenders, Modesto senior Max McCabe has an equally daunting task: building on the legacy of Nate Phillips, the Modesto Metro Conference co-MVP. Phillips led the Panthers to a 9-2 record and a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth.

“It’s going to be a tough one. I hope I can fill his shoes,” McCabe said. “I’m not as quick and don’t scramble as well as he could, but I can throw the ball just as well.”

McCabe arrived at the camp looking to broaden his knowledge of defenses and gain more reps with his top receivers, Cameron Cruce and Dylon Jackson.

“I’m hoping to learn more about routes and coverages,” McCabe said. “I’ve been playing quarterback for seven years now, so I have a little bit of knowledge, but I’d like to better that knowledge.”

Like Muzquiz, McCabe benefitted from the class setting in the film room.

“It was pretty neat,” he said. “He taught us a lot about pre- and post-snap stuff.”

The added perk: footwork and conditioning lessons from one of the area’s most gifted athletes of the new millennium.

Costa was a three-time all-state honoree and The Bee’s 2005 All-District Player of the Year. In his senior season, Costa accounted for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. His feet and arm drew interest from scouts at major universities all over the map, including a rising power in Eugene, Ore.

As promised, Costa delivered the full Oregon experience. He’s worked with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota, so his voice seemed to resonate with the teens, many of whom dressed in wild hyper colors like the fashion-forward Ducks.

“It’s awesome to know that a local boy was able to go play Division I ball and perform the way he did,” Muzquiz said.

Costa showed he still has a little juice left, too. He demonstrated each stretch and conditioning drill and playfully mocked the teens’ footwork and agility.

He did date himself, though, with a reference to the “Ickey Shuffle,” the touchdown celebration made famous by former Cincinnati Bengals running back Elbert “Ickey” Woods in 1988.

While the kids seemed baffled by the obscure reference, it was the only thing antiquated about Costa’s Day 1 lesson plan.

He’s been given the blueprint for building the modern-day quarterback, and he dispersed some of those keys to Muzquiz, McCabe and the next generation of quarterbacks on Wednesday. He called them tools.

“There’s a reason why we’re doing these exercises,” Costa said. “I want to build your tool kit, so that when I leave and go back to work, you’ll have things you can work on.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Former Oregon QB Nate Costa gives high school hopefuls tools to succeed."