New 2021 QB target Clay Millen already knows Colorado well
The Colorado Buffaloes have a new 2021 quarterback target.
Quarterback recruiting has been a saga for this recruiting cycle and the coaching staff are zoning in on a couple of quarterbacks.
The newest to join the mix is four-star Clay Millen.
Millen is a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder from Snoqualmie (Wash.). He had an excellent junior season during his first year as a starter, he threw for over 3,000 yards and most impressively threw for 34 touchdowns and only one interception.
The name may be recognizable as his father, Hugh, played for the Washington Huskies along with a lengthy career in the NFL, including a stint with the Denver Broncos. And his brother, Cale, is currently a quarterback at Oregon.
Quarterback coach Danny Langsdorf started recruiting Millen a little over a week ago. And they have been moving swiftly to build a relationship.
“Yeah so (Langsdorf), he called me, I think it was a week ago from the day,” Millen said on Wednesday. “So I think that was the first communication that took place. It's kind of out of the blue. He said, just give him a call. And so I called him that day. And then last night they offered me he offered me so that was pretty cool. And then today I took a virtual visit, if you can call it that, or just a zoom virtual visit. So it was great.”
On the virtual visit, Millen got to meet the majority of the coaching staff including head coach Karl Dorrell and offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini.
“The head coach (Karl Dorrell) was on there and then Chiaverini and Langsdorf,” Millen said. “And then most of the staff was on there (at some point) so it was pretty cool. They seem to be really excited about me. Coach (Dorrell) seems like he’s building something special over there so it’s pretty cool to see what he has envisioned.”
The zoom meeting lasted two and a half hours and Millen got to see everything Colorado has to offer.
“Yeah, they showed me the facilities,” Millen said. “The strength coach is awesome, it seems like they’ve got a great lifting program going on down there. The stadium is awesome. Obviously they play at a pretty spectacular site on gameday. So they've got something great that they're building down there with their staff.”
the vision for Millen is clear: to come in, compete right away and build something special in Boulder.
“He seems to be a really genuine coach,” Millen said of Dorrell. “And I think his players really believe in him. And I think they're going to build something special over the next couple of years. They seem like they've got great people over there. So I think I think they're gonna have a great run in the next couple of years. So I'm pretty excited about that.”
Millen said one of their main pitches is the current state of the quarterback room. The Buffaloes only have three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster currently and one of them, Sam Noyer, has one year left of eligibility.
“I think that's the main point that Colorado kind of showed me is they don't have a ton of depth (at the quarterback spot),” Millen said. “So if I were to go there, there’s a pretty good chance to compete early for the job. So that’s a pretty intriguing point that they have there. So that’s a great opportunity that Colorado has, the potential to start early. So I’m pretty excited about that.”
Langsdorf recruited Clay’s brother when Langsdorf was an offensive assistant at Oregon. And Clay remembers having conversations with him when he was a freshman.
But there’s an even bigger connection that has less to do about CU and more to do with the state of Colorado.
“My mom's side, her entire side of the family lives in Colorado,” Millen said. “And our dog's name actually, kind of funny, is Denver after Denver because we're pretty close to our cousins down there. Yeah, so we've got a lot of family down there. I know they're pretty excited. When I got the offer, my cousin he's actually a freshman (going to be a sophomore) at CU, so he was pretty excited when he heard about my offer, so that's cool to hear their excitement.”
His mom is a Denver native and pretty much that entire side of Millen’s family lives in Colorado.
Clay has spent some time in Colorado but has never been to Boulder. In fact, he hasn’t visited any of the schools he’s still considering.
The schools sticking out from his offers right now are Arizona, Indiana and Colorado. He has a strong relationship with Arizona offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. And Indiana has been recruiting him hard.
He has also had discussions with LSU. They have yet to offer but could be very close. They have a couple quarterbacks higher on their board and if they miss out on them, they will likely offer Millen. The Tigers already have one QB committed but are interested in taking another.
Millen knows he will likely commit before every stepping foot on any of the campuses.
“Depending on how early things open up, there’s a chance that I may have to commit before I even take a visit,” Millen said. “So it’s a pretty unique situation. So we’ll see how that goes. I probably have a timeline of about four to six weeks. I'm assuming somewhere between that time I'll make a decision.”