By Howard Tsumura (Varsity Letters)
VANCOUVER — Blake Nill is set to begin his second decade at the helm of the UBC football program, and so perhaps it’s fitting that the coach who landed two of the most prodigious quarterbacks in program history is starting his next big chapter with what not only qualifies as a battle at the game’s most influential position, but perhaps most importantly, provides enviable depth against the rigours of a demanding Canada West season.
The Thunderbirds are off to Saskatoon for Wednesday’s 6 p.m. preseason clash against the Saskatchewan Huskies, and it’s there that returning, battle-tested general Derek Engel, and NCAA Division 1 transfer Drew Viotto will each get a chance to show their best selves for Nill and new offensive coordinator Khari Jones, in what will serve as a quick lead-in to UBC’s Canada West opener Aug. 28 (6:30 p.m., Canada West TV) at home to the Manitoba Bisons.
And while the swiftness with which off-season change seems to hit university football programs, thus serving to temper the trumpeting of any grand proclamations, there is no way to deny the compelling nature of this storyline.
It is, simply put, a chance for UBC football fans to appreciate what happens in those years when change comes to the quarterback position as part of an era where extended excellence has created great stakes and even greater expectations.
Since Nill’s Vanier Cup-winning 2015 debut on the Point Grey campus, the Thunderbirds have just once gone through training camp without an incumbent starter installed at the offensive pivot position.
That’s what happens when you march out a kid named Michael O’Connor (2015-18), and you’re able to follow in quick succession with another named Garrett Rooker (2021-24).
Yes, it is clear that the upward trajectory of passing proficiency is part-and-parcel of the game’s natural evolution.
Yet in the case of Nill’s first 10 seasons at the helm (actually only nine if you include the COVID-cancelled 2020 campaign), the evidence is overwhelming in terms of a DNA reveal: The hallmark of UBC football over the last decade has been its ability to throw the football, and it’s been like no other era in program history.
The proof?
Six of the seven greatest UBC single-season quarterback passing performances have come during Nill’s nine previous editions, as the O’Connor-Rooker dominated list below indicates.
UBC MOST PASSING YARDS IN A SEASON
1 Michael O’Connor (2015) — 3,959 yards
2 Michael O’Connor (2016) — 3,577
3 Garrett Rooker (2023) — 3,471
4 Jordan Gagner (1987) — 3,328
5 Michael O’Connor (2017) — 3,216
6 Michael O’Connor (2018) — 3,131
7 Garrett Rooker (2024) — 2,637
8 Jordan Gagner (1988) — 2,600
9 Billy Greene (2010) — 2,572
10 Billy Greene (2011) — 2,558
(Source — UBC Athletics)
All of which brings us to the 2025 season.
With O’Connor, UBC’s all-time passing leader (13,883 yards) and Rooker, who sits fourth (9,282 yards) despite missing much of the 2022 season after suffering a potentially career-ending dislocated hip injury, now a part of the program’s history books, the focus falls squarely on the battle for this coming season’s starting job.
Fifth-year returnee Engel, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Grapevine, Texas native, is the veteran of the bunch, having displayed his brand of toughness and leadership, not only playing a valuable back-up role with his ability to both run and pass, but stepping out and leading the team for much of the 2022 season following Rooker’s injury.
That season, Engel not only led UBC to an 18-17 win at Simon Fraser in what stands as the final Shrum Bowl game, he also led the Birds past host Regina 28-14 in the Hardy Cup semifinals.
In addition, UBC has brought in the highly-touted Viotto, a 6-foot-4, 230-pounder from Sault Ste. Marie (Ont.).
Viotto, nicknamed the Canadian Cannon, comes in with a full five seasons of eligibility. He first prepped in the Detroit high school system, then spent the past two seasons in the NCAA’s FBS ranks, in 2023 with Minnesota, and last season at Eastern Michigan.
The other returning pivot is Alex La Vecchia, a 6-foot-3, 180-pounder coming off a redshirt 2024 campaign. The Ottawa native had a chance to attend B.C. Lions’ training camp.
Rounding out the quartet of signal callers: Jovin Shoker, who at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, formerly played locally in Surrey for the Panthers of Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary. He spent last season in the OUA at Toronto’s York University.
For his part, with everything else being equal, Nill admits that regardless of how things play out, the competitive atmosphere the QBs have found themselves in over camp is just what any head coach would want.
And if you start with Engel, the reports couldn’t be better.
“Derek Engel is playing his best football he’s played since he’s come into the program,” said Nill on Friday. “He knows how to win. We’ve won playoff games with him. He can make the throws. He’s great in the locker room. And he has the backing of his teammates. That’s important.”
La Vecchia’s improvement, according to Nill, has been two-fold from his understanding of the system to the way he has embraced his battle within the depth chart.
“He’s improved immensely, his arm-strength has improved, and it’s the way he conducts himself… you can see the maturity has evolved. He’s a kid, who in a lot of programs might be the starter and that’s what I appreciate about him the most. He’s not prepared to just take a back seat.”
Which brings us to Viotto, who like O’Connor before him, has enrolled in UBC’s prestigious Sauder School of Business.
“Man, he’s good. He’s good,” begins Nill of a quarterback who has lived up to the nickname that he picked up while earning all-state honours during his high school career in Michigan. Nill says he has impressed with both his arm strength and his accuracy.
“I’ll tell you what else he’s done,” says Nill. “The two incumbent quarterbacks are having the best training camps I’ve seen them have because they know this guy’s coming in to try and take their jobs.”
Any team’s battle for starting quarterback will always be, rain or shine, its most compelling.
And with the kinds of performances the UBC Thunderbirds have gotten at the position over Nill’s first 10 seasons in Vancouver, the bar keeps getting pushed higher and higher. Now the challenge is on to make the next 10 years even better.
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