Football Turned Into a Slam Dunk for Him

One of the first priorities for a new football coach is to search the campus for athletes not playing football and persuade them to join the team.

Harry Welch faced an especially urgent task when he returned to Canyon Country Canyon in 2001. He discovered there was no creditable quarterback in the program.

Welch started showing up at basketball games and was intrigued by a tall, thin freshman, Nate Longshore. Longshore’s brother had been a standout offensive lineman for the school, but Nate decided not to play football after the former coach wanted him to be a lineman.

Longshore told Welch he’d agree to try out if he could play quarterback. He was one of 11 students auditioning for the position.

“The first day he came out I thought I made a big mistake for both of us,” Welch said. “He had some of the worst throwing form I’d ever seen. He was a nice kid I had reached out to and was going to have to politely say he didn’t pass the tryout.”

But Welch saw something in Longshore. Maybe it was his self-confidence. Maybe it was his determination to work hard and not retreat when Welch launched into a tirade.

“He hung in there and hung in there,” Welch said. “I thought there was hope. He just kept working and improving and putting up with someone who’s not very easy to be coached by all the time.”

In less than 2 1/2 years, the 6-foot-4, 227-pound Longshore has transformed himself from a basketball player who wanted to emulate Michael Jordan into a football player who could be the next Peyton Manning.

During the summer, Longshore was selected to participate in the Elite 11 passing clinic, designed for the top quarterback prospects in the nation. This month, he accepted a scholarship to California.

“It is truly amazing,” Welch said.

Added Longshore: “I’ve always had a dream I was going to be good. But I never really thought I’d be where I am now. Things just fell into place.”

Longshore has been making dramatic leaps in terms of his release time, arm strength and ability to make tacklers miss.

He’ll never be an option quarterback, but his size and deceptive speed make him a difficult player to bring down.

There are still people who think he’s a lineman playing quarterback, but he said, “People can say that, but send your middle linebacker and see what happens.”

After reading how former Newhall Hart quarterback Kyle Boller impressed NFL scouts by kneeling at midfield and throwing a football between the uprights, Longshore pulled off a similar feat last August in Canyon Country, kneeling at the 45-yard line and firing the ball through the uprights to demonstrate his arm strength.

“There’s no real stop to what you can do,” he said. “Michael Jordan would get older but would watch other people’s weaknesses and was still getting better even though his athletic abilities were dwindling. I’ll keep working on my weaknesses to try to get better.”

Longshore comes from a family of athletes. His older brother Nick is a starting offensive lineman at College of the Canyons. Younger brother Ben is the starting quarterback for Canyon’s freshman team. Sister Courtney, 11, is a promising basketball player.

Nate is dedicated to his Mormon church and plans to take a two-year Mormon mission, probably after his first year of college. He has led Canyon to a 5-0 start, one season after passing for 2,088 yards during a 10-2 junior season.

“The most striking attribute is his ability to continue to improve in all areas,” Welch said.

The fact Longshore soon will be training under California’s Jeff Tedford, considered one of the best quarterback coaches in the college ranks, only enhances visions of how good Longshore might become.

Longshore is glad that his younger brother is already getting a head start on playing quarterback as a freshman.

“He has the coaching from the beginning,” he said.

Ben, who’s 6-1 and growing, gets a ride to school from Nate, who’s not quite ready to let him take control of the family car.

“I’ve seen him on those car video games,” Nate said.

Mastering the quarterback position comes before driving in the Longshore family.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.