Monte Vista Quarterback Off to Stanford in the Fall

Brett Nottingham has gotten a lot of attention lately.  This past season, the Monte Vista quarterback put his name in the record books, throwing for 3,962 yards and 45 touchdowns, both second in Northern California single-season history. Nottingham also led the Mustangs to the North Coast Section Division I semifinals, while earning the Bay Area News Group's East Bay Offensive Player of the Year Award.

He recently caused a stir by changing his college plans.  After making a verbal commitment to UCLA last June, Nottingham visited Stanford in January and liked what he saw.  After his graduation this summer, he'll be off to training camp at Stanford to study under Coach Jim Harbaugh.  The Cardinal picked up a wealth of talent from around the country at the quarterback position this recruiting season, but Nottingham, an Alamo native, is the standout.  Scouts tout his accuracy and his size as his best assets.  

"Freshman year I was about six foot," said Nottingham, currently listed at 6'4" and 210 pounds. "When I was younger I was always the biggest guy."

Rivals.com currently ranks him fourth in the country among pro-style high school quarterbacks, and he was a first-team All-California selection by MaxPreps.com. Nottingham is also an academic standout, with a cumulative 4.0 GPA going into his senior year.  

"Trying not to get too bad a case of senioritis," he said, laughing.

Brett cites academics as a big reason for choosing Stanford over UCLA, the school attended by his two older sisters.  Ali, currently a senior at UCLA, played soccer at Monte Vista, where Megan, the eldest, played tennis.  Megan is currently in law school at Hastings.  Brett's father Paul also went to UCLA for medical school after completing his undergraduate degree at Cal, where he briefly played football.  He is now an orthopedic spine surgeon. Brett's mother Debbi, another Cal graduate, helps run her husband's office.  

Ultimately, Brett had to make the tough decision to go his own way.  

"Stanford has a lot of things to offer, and people don't always recognize how well their football program is doing right now," he said.  "Nobody really saw them doing what they did last year.  Coach Harbaugh is a fantastic coach and he's really helped turn the program around."  The Cardinal went 8-5 last season, falling to Okalahoma 31-27 in the Sun Bowl.

Perhaps the decision was made easier by the presence on the Stanford football team of Nottingham's former Monte Vista teammates, tight end Zach Ertz and wide receiver Ryan Whalen.

It's just one of many tough decisions Nottingham has had to make during his burgeoning athletic career.  Like a lot of great athletes, he excelled at several sports growing up, and played baseball at Monte Vista. He gave it up this season to focus on his main athletic talent.

"It was unfortunate that I had to make that decision," Nottingham said, "but with athletics as competitive as they are now, I wanted to spend all of my time this offseason preparing for my future – playing football at Stanford. I'm trying to get in better shape and progress at throwing the football, becoming a better football player. I miss baseball a lot, but it was just the right decision for me."

Making good decisions is part of being a great quarterback.  Though Nottingham is a Raiders fan, he cites Brett Favre as one of his heroes at the position, not just for his strength of arm but also for his strength of character.

"Just the way he leads his team, how he's a vocal leader but also leads through his actions. He's an awesome teammate. He's just a great role model."

Nottingham has always understood the importance of having good role models, something he may have gleaned from his father, who coached many of Nottingham's youth soccer, baseball, and football teams, including his San Ramon Valley T-Birds teams.

Nottingham also understands the importance of hard work.  Told by some scouts that his arm strength and mobility needed improving, he set out on a mission last season to improve all aspects of his game.

"I'm always trying to improve in everything I do," Brett said. "Continuing to get stronger and faster, those are my two main goals. But also reading coverages, and footwork is really important.  I'm taking advantage of the time I have, not just to enjoy my senior year, but also to get better at all aspects of my game."

Next year Nottingham will have the advantage of learning not only from Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback, but also from current Cardinal starting QB Andrew Luck, a sophomore.

"I'm really looking forward to learning from him, he's got all the tools you look for in a quarterback," Nottingham said.  "I had the privilege of meeting him on a few recruiting visits.  He's a really good guy."

It looks like Nottingham has all the pieces in place to literally take his game to the next level.  Along with talent and dedication, luck is definitely on his side.

For now, family remains most important to Nottingham.  As the last of his siblings to leave home, Nottingham will take a brief vacation with his family before reporting to training camp a week after his graduation on June 11th from Monte Vista.  Once at Stanford, he will start taking summer classes right away.

While his academic interests remain varied, he is leaning towards a history major.

"My favorite class growing up has been history," he said. "I really, really like that. I don't know how much a history major will help me when I'm going to look for a job, but I really enjoy history."

If his football career at Monte Vista is any indication of his future success, perhaps Nottingham can look forward to simply rewriting the history books.