As promised, we here at WM Sports Blog are profiling every potential starter at quarterback for the William and Mary football team. This week, we are talking about Redshirt Sophomore, Steve Cluley.

Cluley attended Wall High School in Manasquan, New Jersey. He is listed as 6’3” and 215 pounds. As Cluley has never started a collegiate game for the Tribe, we will start off by examining his high school credentials.

In high school Cluley was a three-year letterman, finishing his football career with a school record 4,364 total yards, 3,289 of which were passing yards, and 30 touchdowns. In 2011, Cluley’s senior year, he was named conference player of the year after throwing for 1,292 yards and rushing for 558 yards with six touchdowns.

These stats propelled Cluley to a first team all-conference selection in 2011 and second team All-Shore selection. Cluley was a star not only on the field but in the classroom as well. He served as the Math Club President at Wall High School and he was a member of his high school’s Honor Roll.

Upon arriving at William and Mary, Cluley redshirted his freshman year, and saw action in one game as a Redshirt Freshman last season for the Tribe. In a wild game against no. 20 Villanova that saw two Tribe quarterbacks in Michael Graham and Brent Caprio (both seniors) go down with injuries, Cluley saw his first in-game action for the Tribe.

Cluley went just 4/9 in passing, throwing for 33 yards and one interception against Villanova. While these statistics certainly don’t suggest anything positive, it is important to keep in mind that it was only Cluley’s freshman year and he was thrown into action unexpectedly.

Even still, Cluley has a strong arm and seems to plays well from within the pocket. Although he may not be as mobile as Mosley or Ortiz, other Tribe quarterbacks on the roster, Cluley has more than enough speed to scramble outside the pocket and gain yards when the play breaks down.

During the Spring Game this year, Cluley showed flashes of his strong arm, letting one or two long balls fly. Fans also witnessed Cluley’s aforementioned scrambling ability when plays broke down. But overall, Cluley looked like a QB who needed more reps with the #1 receivers. Some of Cluley’s Spring Game throws were off target or sailed past their intended target –something that would need to be corrected before opening the season at Virginia Tech.

This year, Cluley is a Redshirt Sophomore with another year’s worth of experience in Jimmye Laycock’s offense. This experience, albeit still relatively small, may prove vital down the stretch in the Tribe’s QB competition this summer.

Cluley expects to be competing for the starting job this year, along with Redshirt Freshman Jhalil Mosley, Redshirt Junior Christian Brumbaugh, and Senior Raphael Ortiz. Read all of our QB Profiles here! 

Odds of Cluley Starting @ Virginia Tech on August 30: Medium

-Kyle