Penn State Sports Magazine
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4 6 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W ill Wood waited patiently this offseason and tried to get an idea of how the quar- terback dominoes would fall in the class of 2027. While he was trying to plot out his next move over the winter, Penn State entered the picture, curious about the three-star prospect from Xaverian Brothers High in Westwood, Mass. Just a few months later, Wood shot up head coach Matt Campbell's personal wish list and ended up as the Nittany Lions' signal-caller in the cy- cle. "They came and talked to me in January, and I talked to Coach Campbell in March," Wood said. "I made it to cam- pus and talked to him for a while. He made it clear. He said, 'You remind me of Brock Purdy. You're a guy that I feel we can win with.' They just wanted to see me throw before they offered." The comparison to Purdy, who went from being Campbell's starter at Iowa State to a starring role with the San Francisco 49ers, intrigued Wood. Penn State dispatched quarterbacks coach Jake Waters to watch Wood throw in April, and the PSU assistant came away impressed. "He said, 'You're the guy I want. You're the No. 1 guy I want for this class. We're going to offer you. Just let me talk to Coach Campbell, and we'll get back to you,'" Wood recalled. "A couple hours later, he called and wanted to set up a Zoom. I was stopping at my grandpar- ents' house [in York, Pa.], so he asked if I wanted to stop by [State College] for a visit. They offered me there, and since then they've been even more persistent." Upon his arrival at Penn State in December, Campbell's list of quarterback targets was a short one. Wood, who is rated by Rivals as the No. 37 quarter- back nationally and No. 3 pros- pect in Massachusetts, stayed patient while the Lions tar- geted a few of the nation's top- ranked passers. But the more Campbell and Wood spoke, the more enthused the former Iowa State coach became about his college potential. "We had a Zoom a day or two before they came to watch me, and we went through my film," Wood said. "He told me he was very impressed with my understand- ing of the game, and he thought I had enough arm talent and I was accurate. He was pretty fired up after that." The 6-foot-1, 224-pound Wood is far from a prototype at the position. His numbers last year were impressive — 2,828 yards and 42 touchdowns with only 1 interception — but bigger Power Four schools shied away. Wood nar- rowed his list to Penn State and Boston College, with the allure of playing for PSU ultimately proving irresistible. "To me, it was always a 'Who doesn't want to go play at Penn State?' sort of thing," Wood said. "Especially com- ing from the Northeast. It was always a dream opportunity. I didn't know that it would be an opportunity that would come up for me. I knew that if I was given an opportunity, I would be suc- cessful. "But when they came around, I would say it was a little surprising. I was a little more lightly recruited … but I'm appre- ciative that they took a chance on me and really believed in me. That means the world. It's the reason I committed to Penn State." ■ Quarterback Evokes Comparison To An Iowa State Great S E A N F I T Z | S E A N . F I T Z @ O N 3 . C O M Wood threw for 2,828 yards and 42 touchdowns with just 1 interception as a junior at Xaverian Brothers High in Westwood, Mass. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS COMMITMENT PROFILE WILL WOOD It doesn't matter the situation or the scheme — Will Wood shows he can execute at a high level. The Xaverian Brothers offense is run-first and pro-style at its core, but it incor- porates several pass packages and sub-systems that capitalize on Wood's skills, giving him exposure to a wide variety of football concepts. On the rarer side, Wood already knows how to take snaps from under center and throws three-, five- and seven-step drops in a classic pocket passer style. He also runs read-option from the gun, RPO footwork and even triple-option concepts. Wood generally makes the right decisions and executes with a large mental workload, traits that suggest he'll be able to handle whatever Penn State asks of him. The most notable flag on Wood's film is a longer windup than you'd prefer on his release. He lifts his elbow too high in his initial motion rather than keeping it on the proper plane, which adds time between decision and delivery. Overall, it reads more like a small tweak than a full mechanics rebuild, otherwise Penn State wouldn't have recruited him in the first place. The bottom line is that the Lions got a winner. Wood makes the biggest plays in the biggest moments at his current level, and those skills should translate. — Thomas Frank Carr P L A Y E R E V A L U A T I O N