South Bend (IN) QB Armstead breaks down why he picked UVa
It's not exactly how he expected the moment to hit him. But there was South Bend (IN) quarterback Ira Armstead, on the back of a horse in Virginia as it clicked in his mind that he was ready to be a Wahoo. Conversations with his mom and sister confirmed it. But what the 6-foot-3, 200 pounder hoped heading into his official visit was true.
“This is the place I want to be,” he recalls thinking.
And that’s why Armstead pulled the trigger this weekend and ended his recruitment.
He told CavsCorner on Sunday afternoon that going into his OV, the blueprint was clear: If he thought it was right, he was going to commit.
“I knew Virginia was a great school academically,” he explained, “and also that they had a great football program. But I didn’t know about the culture of the team and the coaches, stuff like that. I knew if that fit me, it was pretty much a done deal. That’s where I wanted to go.”
It was the coaching staff and the environment they’ve created in Charlottesville that grabbed his attention so immediately.
“The atmosphere, just the family feel,” Armstead said. “No matter what, there are people there that care about you. They’re so close together. For example, the football team and the coaches, they’re so awesome and they’re always together. They’re always a family. That mattered so much to me.”
His background in football is an interesting series of twists and turns. Prior to high school, Armstead’s lone experience with playing quarterback was in eighth grade, when he went from his usual WR/RB spot to play the final game of youth football at QB. His family then moved from Colorado to South Bend and he began his high school career at receiver and cornerback. The next season, though, his coach decided it was best for the team for him to make a permanent move to QB. Despite dealing with a strained hip flexor and a mild concussion that season, it was clear that Armstead’s coach was right.
“I had always thought about being a quarterback,” he remembers. “Even when I was playing backyard ball, I was always the all-time QB and stuff like that. When he said [to move there], I didn’t think it was the right move because I was comfortable where I was and throughout that year, I thought a lot about changing back but he told me to trust the process. Then my junior year, that’s when everything took off.”
And with more success on the field came the attention of college, some of whom still wanted him to play receiver but most liked him at quarterback.
“When I got my first offers and things took off for me, I thought it was really nice,” Armstead said. “I thought that finally the hard work was paying off for me. Most of my offers were to play quarterback and some weren’t. Some schools liked me as a receiver because they know I’m athletic as well.”
UVa was all quarterback from the jump and that meant a lot.
“They were coming at me for quarterback the entire time,” he recalled. “They let that be known from the very beginning.”
Which brings us back to that moment on the back of a horse, when head coach Bronco Mendenhall unknowingly sealed the commitment.
“We went to Coach Mendenhall’s house and went fishing with some of the coaches, ate breakfast together too, but we went into his backyard and there are these horses back there,” the Adams standout said. “And I’m like ‘Okay let’s see what’s up’ and so I get on this horse and we’re riding these horses and he’s teaching me about the horses and talking about football. He was talking to me about how the players are always welcome there and it just really showed how cool of a guy he is and I thought, ‘Yeah, this is it. This is awesome.’
“I saw totally different sides of him,” the Indiana signal caller added. “It’s not strictly business or anything like that. He actually takes care of the horses and I know horse people are usually really great people. So that was huge for me.”
Despite deciding then that it was the right fit, he didn’t tell anyone right away.
“It was actually the day after that, when we went to his office and talked for a while,” he said of his commitment.
On the visit with his mom and sister, their point of view played a big role.
“My mom and my sister were important factors for me in this, which is why I had them come on the trip with me,” Armstead said. “What’s cool is they actually talked to me about it. They were like ‘Yeah this is honestly the spot for you.’ And I was like ‘Yeah totally. I’m all in.’”
Sitting down and watching film with quarterbacks coach Jason Beck allowed Armstead to see more into the football side and it fit him like a glove.
“Coach Beck, he likes to work to your strengths,” Armstead said. “So, he’s going to fit the offense around me and what I’m good at. Just like with Bryce (Perkins), he fits the offense around what he’s great at and that helped to make them so great.”
With the recruiting process behind him now, the excitement for what’s ahead comes along with something else.
“Honestly, it’s a relief,” Armstead said. “The whole recruiting process is hard because you never know who’s being honest and who’s not. It’s just a weight lifted off of me for sure.”
While he’s planning to look into the possibility of enrolling early, his main focus is on the work he can do to help his team this fall.
“This offseason, just getting ready with my guys,” Armstead said of what’s ahead. “Just getting prepared for the season and what’s ahead of us. Trying to get more of my guys some offers, at least one other guy besides me getting some looks. But this season, I’m just ready to compete. I’m trying to stay healthy and make some history for once.”
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