SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence went to high school about 20 miles from each other in the suburbs northwest of Atlanta.
They have worked out since middle school with the same quarterback trainer, a former Pac-12 player and full-time firefighter who is more well-respected than well-known in the business.
Lawrence and Fields were the Nos. 1 and 1a recruits in the signing class of 2018, competed at the same Elite 11 camp and have been linked for most of their young lives despite never playing in the same football game.
The rivalry becomes real Saturday when Fields and No. 2 Ohio State take on Lawrence and No. 3 Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The 8 p.m. matchup of 13-0 teams that will be televised by ESPN could be the start of something big.
Fields and Lawrence each has at least one more college season left, but it’s not hard to see where this could lead. They will head into 2020 as Heisman Trophy front-runners, and then – if they both skip their senior seasons for the NFL – could compete to be the first quarterback and maybe even the first player selected in the 2021 draft.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) is seen following the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019. Clemson won 62-17. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)“This is the future of the NFL playing in this game,” said Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who spent seven years as an NFL assistant. “For the next 10 years you have – God willing they both stay healthy – you have these two guys leading the way.”
Fields, who went to Harrison High School in Kennesaw, and Lawrence, who attended Cartersville High School, are more friendly than close friends.
“It’s funny we have to come across the country to finally play each other,” Lawrence said Thursday at media day for the Fiesta Bowl.
One connection between Fields and Lawrence is Ron Veal, who played quarterback at Arizona in the late 1980s and now lives in the Atlanta area.
Veal started working with young quarterbacks in 2002, getting into a business that has boomed since then and created some superstar coaches who attract and seek out players with blue-chip potential. That’s not Veal. He is now part of a group of trainers called the Quarterback Collective, and he trains up-and-coming passers of all kinds as a side gig to firefighting.
“Some other quarterback coaches, they brand themselves better,” Fields said. “He doesn’t really care about all the glamour. He just wants to see the guys that he trains have success.”
That seems to be a perfect match for two prodigies whose priorities were self-improvement, not the spotlight.
“They wanted to be different,” said Veal, who began working with Fields when he was in sixth grade and Lawrence when he was in seventh.
Their sessions were one-on-one with Veal for the most part, but at least once Lawrence came to Fields’ high school for a joint session before both went off to college. It was not particularly eventful for either quarterback. Instead of sizing each other up, they were more interested in getting better.
“They work like nobody’s business,” Veal said. “You know, when they came to a session there was really no talking between me and the kid. It was self-correction and correction. They put in the work to get where they are, and then the natural ability and a natural talent surfaced. But they just work at it.”
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields runs with the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)While Lawrence, a four-year starter at Cartersville, was drawing interest from Clemson, Fields’ first offers came from fellow Atlantic Coast Conference programs Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Fields said going to camps with players such as Lawrence motivated him to want more.
Fields broke out during his junior season, though, and by the summer heading into their senior seasons, he and Lawrence had become the top two QB recruits in the country. They were selected for Elite 11, a camp where top prospects train and compete on the field, spend time studying video and are taught how to become leaders.
They are regarded as two of the most impressive participants in the 22-year history of the competition.
Lawrence committed to Clemson before his junior season and never wavered. Fields – the MVP at Elite 11 – committed first to Penn State, then changed his mind and landed at Georgia.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Lawrence immediately lived up to his billing, leading Clemson to the national championship as a freshman last season. The 6-3, 225-pound Fields spent last season backing up Jake Fromm at Georgia before transferring last winter.
He has proved worthy of all the hype with the Buckeyes, throwing 40 touchdown passes with only one interception.
“Facing that adversity and just going through that,” Fields said, “I think it just helped me a lot as a person and also as a football player.”