Blue White Illustrated

front of the TV when he was watching Colts games and I was pretty much brainwashed to like football. One day, I told my dad I wanted to be the next Pey- ton Manning, so I guess that's when it all started. As soon as I picked up a football, I knew I loved it. I loved to throw and stu5, so that's how I got into it. I started playing when I was nine. I think I played one year of soccer, but I hated it, so my parents took me out. BWI You started camping at Penn State when you were just getting started. Did those early visits end up helping PSU in the end? VEILLEUX I remember going down there when I was really young. It was, I think, my freshman year. I just remem- ber that during the 3rst camp I did, Coach [Joe] Moorhead was still the [of- fensive coordinator] there. I remember talking to him, and he pulled me out in the middle of camp to have me work with the upperclassmen. That was the 3rst time that ever happened for me. I remember thinking, "Shoot, this is a big deal." But yeah, I've always had a rela- tionship with those guys because I've been there so many times and I know people who go there, so I visited a bunch. We de3nitely built a good rela- tionship with Coach [James] Franklin early on, so that helped. BWI Who are you friends with on the current team? I know you're friends with Jesse Luketa and some of the other Canadian guys, but is there anybody else who you've become close with over the past year? Or do your connections mainly go back to Gridiron Academy? VEILLEUX Yeah, my connections go back to Gridiron. Jonathan [Sutherland] and Jesse are really the two guys who I know the best. I've gotten to know Cam Brown some from going to Bullis, which is pretty cool. I've gotten to know Theo Johnson and Malick Meiga, so I have good relationships with those guys. BWI Did you play against Theo back in the day or train with him at all? Or did you just get to know him through re- cruiting? Same with Malick. VEILLEUX No, I just got I got to know both of those guys, Malick and Theo, from recruiting. Knowing that they're from Canada, I started talking to them some. BWI You took a lot of visits early on, but two of the more recent o5ers you re- ceived, Duke and Clemson, ended up being Penn State's main competitors. How hard was this commitment? VEILLEUX It was really di6cult. I really bounced around from team to team at times, but Penn State was usually at the top. But there were times where I was high on Clemson, high on Duke, high on Tennessee. But I think at the end, it re- ally came down to Penn State being best. We looked at Duke and Clemson hard. We looked at those schools profoundly and then compared them to Penn State. Penn State, from the beginning, was al- ways one of the schools that I knew that I would love and that I really liked, so from the get go, Penn State was at the top of my list. Ever since they o5ered me, they were the team I was comparing everyone to. I 3nally made the decision on Sunday morning [April 26]. I woke up and told my parents at breakfast that I was ready to make a decision. I told them, and they were all on board and super happy. But yeah, the past two weeks really were tough. I spent a lot of time comparing Duke to Clemson. Penn State was kind of always at the top. I think Penn State always had an edge on all the other schools, so it was really a 3ght between Duke and Clemson. Figuring those two out, and how they compared to Penn State, was what I wrestled with the most. But ultimately, I just kept coming back to Penn State, which was my initial school. BWI What's Kirk Ciarrocca like? We haven't been able to get to know him much yet. What would you tell fans about Penn State's new o5ensive coor- dinator? VEILLEUX I'll say this: As soon as he got hired and I built a relationship with him, it de3nitely helped Penn State in every single way. If I were to describe Coach Ciarrocca, I would say that he's just an honest and straightforward guy. He'll tell you how it is. He'll really tell you how he feels and stu5. That's how he did it with me. He was just honest about everything. He understood my process, so I feel like what he brings to the table is de3nitely special and something that I can bene3t from. BWI Can you pinpoint anything that really separated Penn State from the other schools? VEILLEUX I think the biggest factor was location. Being from where I'm from, I like that I can hop in the car and take a seven-hour drive to campus. My family can come watch games and come visit. I think that was really important to look at compared to all the other schools. It was either that or I would have to take two 4ights to get to school, so that was a pretty big factor for me. BWI How hard do you plan to recruit players? Some players are really active, others take a more laid-back approach. Did you like hearing from recruits else- where? VEILLEUX During this whole recruit- ment, I've definitely been in contact with a bunch of top recruits from my area. I got some texts from the guys al- ready committed to Penn State. I felt like that was really important. It really showed that not only do the coaches want you, but the players do, too. I felt like that was important. But for me personally, I know that I'm definitely going to recruit like crazy. I'm going to make sure that this class is going to be special. I'm going to make sure that I have the right guys around me to suc- ceed. So I definitely plan on helping to maximize the potential of the class, for sure. BWI If there's one thing you really want to improve on before enrolling at Penn State, what is it? Also, is there one thing that just comes naturally to you as a quarterback? VEILLEUX I think my biggest weakness is accuracy outside of the pocket. I de3- nitely want to work on that and work on getting my throws on the run on point and on target. I want to be able to utilize my arms and my legs at the same time. I SEE VEILLEUX PAGE 63

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