Jaren Hall: Football Has Finally Started To Slow Down

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – BYU quarterback Jaren Hall missed his second game in a row – his status for this week vs. Boise State is still to be determined – but that is not giving him a sour attitude about what he has learned about college football.

Hall was previously been preoccupied with being a two-sport athlete when he played baseball. Meaning, he was unable to participate in much if any, of spring football since baseball overlaps. That is not a way to be able to master the game of football, so when Hall made the choice to go to football-only, things started to clear up.

Athletes say it all the time that the game slows down and things are more reactionary compared to thinking about every little detail. Hall explained how that has changed during his appearance on KSL Unrivaled this week.

“The offseason, who you work with, time with your guys, and how much film you watch,” Hall said. “Obviously, not playing baseball gave me so many extra hours in the spring months to early summer to focus on [foot]ball. That definitely helped out with the game slowing down.”

Jaren Hall explains how the game slowed down for him this past offseason. #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/OFQl3UJ5re

— KSL Unrivaled (@KSLunrivaled) October 6, 2021

Clearly focusing only on football for the first time at BYU paid dividends for Hall as he was named the starter to replace Zach Wilson, who he said he learned so much from last year.

This makes a lot of sense in Hall’s improvement. He is beyond athletic and had a potential pro career in baseball in addition to football, but now that he is laser-focused on football he will get that much better.

Now, being out the past two games is only a short bump in the road, but once Hall started to hone in on the offense and running the plays out of instinct over having to think about what to do or look for is when he turned the corner.

Gaining Trust From Aaron Roderick

Both Hall and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick are new to their position in 2021. The two are not necessarily learning on the job but they are in an enhanced position compared to last year. Hall is now the guy at quarterback taking all the reps, when healthy, and is leading this team on the field.

Roderick was the passing game coordinator last year and had a big influence on play-calling toward former offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. He is in a new position but Roderick has seen Hall grow as a quarterback and very much trusts his quarterback when he brings something to his attention is taken seriously.

“He welcomes any ideas we like, whether it be in practice or watching film, he is very open and really wants to know what we are seeing,” Hall said. “During the game, obviously, we see things a lot differently on the field than he sees in the box.”

“We talk on the phone and talk about what we see differently. There is no pressure at all and say what you are feeling and the coaches will work that in.”

That is the ultimate trust between a quarterback and an offensive coordinator to trust his player on the field enough to not just listen to what is being seen on the field but to implement and make adjustments as needed.

All of this came to be as Hall put in a lot of effort to only focusing on being a quarterback, and all of that work from spring, summer, and through fall is paying off with him seeing the game at a slower pace which in turn has led to him being a really good quarterback.