DALLAS -- All eyes in Baton Rouge are on LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who's set to take over this fall for Heisman winner Jayden Daniels. But Nussmeier took a moment during SEC Media Days to shout out his younger brother, Colton, also a soon-to-be first-time starter as a sophomore at Flower Mound Marcus High School.
“I’m super proud of my brother,” Garrett said. “He’s extremely talented, more talented than I was at that age.”
Colton is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback in the class of 2027 with 10 college offers, including Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and SMU. He started his freshman season on Marcus's JV 'A' team before head coach Mike Alexander called him up to varsity halfway through the year. He served as a backup, getting a series of action in each half, but came off the bench in the team's first playoff game and threw for 190 yards.
“It all came together in the bi-district game against McKinney because he came in and played really well," Alexander said. "Not even to mention that he was a freshman, he played really well by anybody’s standard.”
Colton was comfortable on the varsity stage because he'd served as a ball boy for Marcus while his older brother led the team to a district championship as a senior. Both Colton and Garrett also spent their childhoods around Division I and NFL locker rooms. Their father, Doug, was an NFL quarterback and now the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach. Garrett recalled Monday how Texas coach Steve Sarkisian let him roam the Washington facilities as a young boy while his father coached there.
“When I first walked on the field actually playing, I was used to it and looking at that crowd,” Colton said.
Alexander, who coached at Grapevine for eight years, was excited for the type of quarterback he could have in store when he took the Marcus job and found out Colton was in eighth grade. While he never coached against Garrett on Friday nights, he remembers the now-LSU quarterback carving his team up in the summer 7-on-7 circuit.
“Garrett was a true competitor," Alexander said. "He was extremely confident in his abilities, to the point where, as an opposing coach, you kind of don’t like that guy. Because you know if he has the ball in his hands and it’s the end of the game, you just feel like he’s going to find a way to make a play.”
All those backyard throwing sessions must have rubbed off on Colton. He threw a game-winning touchdown pass as time expired against Fort Bend Ridge Point in the State 7-on-7 Tournament, winning a duel with Houston commit Austin Carlisle.
While Colton may be the next Nussmeier up at Marcus, he's determined to make his own name.
“(I’m going to) Make my own footsteps," Colton said. "Try to break his records.”
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