What the college football world now sees in Jake Nawrot, Hersey coach Tom Nelson first saw a few years ago.
“He looked like a baby Labrador,” Nelson told the Sun-Times. “He was long; he had big feet and big hands.”
Those physical traits weren’t so apparent to the outside world when Nawrot spent his sophomore year backing up Colton Gumino, who’s now a freshman at UCLA.
“I was under the radar in a way,” Nawrot told the Sun-Times.
But then he had a breakout junior season, completing 71% of his passes for 3.078 yards and 41 touchdowns with only two interceptions for the 9-3 Huskies.
That put Nawrot on everyone’s radar. And after shooting up the national prospect rankings — he’s the consensus No. 5 quarterback and No. 62 player overall nationally in the 2027 recruiting cycle — Nawrot committed recently to Kentucky.
The 6-4, 200-pounder had more than a dozen Power Four offers, including Northwestern, Iowa, Louisville and Missouri.
The whole recruiting process seemed like a whirlwind.
“It’s pretty wild,” Nawrot said. “Even a year and a half ago, I never thought I was gonna get one [offer]. Then [former interim] coach [Robert] Weiner out of Toledo offered. He believed in me more than I did.”
Now pretty much everyone believes in Nawrot. National recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove calls him “a big, pro-style pocket passer. Big arm, great decision-maker. He has every tool to be very good.”
Besides Nawrot’s physical gifts, Cosgrove likes his toughness.
“He’s not afraid to throw into a guy running into his face,” Cosgrove told the Sun-Times.
“My dad has trained me to be tough,” Nawrot said. “In eighth grade, I was scrawny, I was lanky. I learned how to take hits.”
As good as he is, Nawrot doesn’t big-time his peers.
“His teammates love and adore him,” Nelson said. “He’s a humble, homegrown kid who wants to be a part of Hersey football.”
Nawrot also wants to be part of a successful Hersey basketball team, which went 22-8 last season. He plans to enroll early at Kentucky but will play high school basketball as long as he can because he enjoys his time with teammates and coaches.
“I think basketball made me the football player I am,” Nawrot said. “It made me have better footwork and be better conditioned. It’s something that’s hard to go away from.”
But football is where his future lies. He’s the latest star at the position for Hersey, which has produced six all-state quarterbacks under Nelson since 2017.
Nelson said he has made the system adjust to the player rather than the other way around.
“All those kids are super talented,” he said. “We just fit what we want to do offensively with what they’re really good at.”
Even in that company, Nawrot stands out.
“He’ll be the most highly recruited kid at Hersey ever,” Nelson said.
Nawrot and Nelson believe the QB can continue to grow under new Kentucky coach Will Stein and new offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. Stein was the O-coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon the last three seasons, while Sloan had been the O-coordinator at LSU.
“I felt I could go in there and compete early,” Nawrot said. “I fit into their schematic.”
“I think it’s a good fit,” Nelson said. “Their coaching staff on the offensive side has proven their ability to develop quarterbacks.”
Much like Hersey’s staff.