Change for the Better

When Mike Price was hired as Texas El Paso’s football coach, one of the residual questions became: How lucky can one quarterback family from Southern California get?

“There definitely are some parallels there,” UTEP sophomore quarterback Jordan Palmer said, smiling, after a recent workout.

The career of former USC star quarterback Carson Palmer was transformed after the Trojans hired offensive coordinator Norm Chow in 2001. In two years under Chow, Palmer developed into a Heisman Trophy winner and the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

And now, Jordan Palmer, Carson’s younger brother, figures to reap benefits, thanks to an off-field indiscretion that cost Price the Alabama coaching job.

“That went through my whole family’s mind,” Jordan said. “How fortunate [Carson] was to get a great coach his last two years and how fortunate I am to get a great coach my last three years. To be able to play for him is going to be awesome.”

The fun has already begun.

Saturday night, in a 51-20 home victory over Hawaii, Palmer completed 28 of 44 passes for five touchdowns, all career highs. Price, who coached Drew Bledsoe, Ryan Leaf and Jason Gesser at Washington State, is acknowledged as one of the finest quarterback mentors in the country.

Contrary to rumor, Jordan Palmer said, he did not flee the Southland to escape the long shadow of his older brother.

Never mind that the brothers play the same position, bear a striking resemblance to one another and the comparisons, Carson versus Jordan, were always going to be there.

“It didn’t have anything to do with that,” Jordan said. “I’m not trying to hide from anything, I’m not trying to run toward anything.”

Simply put, Jordan was not heavily recruited at Mission Viejo High and UTEP was one of his few options.

“If a California school would have offered [a scholarship], I probably would have gone there, you know?” Jordan said.

As it is, Palmer might have ended up in a perfect spot.

Price says Palmer is “getting better every game.”

Palmer started six games as a freshman but completed fewer than half of his passes, with seven touchdowns but 13 interceptions. Price says the 6-foot-5 Palmer, who is built along the lines of Bledsoe, has an excellent arm and lacks only experience.

“I don’t sense he’s trying to prove anything,” Price says of any sibling rivalry. “I’m sure there’s competitiveness in their family, but I don’t sense he’s trying to be anything other than Jordan Palmer.”

Price, however, says Jordan may be better off playing away from home.

“This is probably good enough because it’s far enough away from the Pac-10 and USC where he can build his own name, and he is,” Price said.

Because the Cincinnati Bengals had the weekend off, Carson Palmer was able to attend UTEP’s upset of Fresno State on Oct. 9.

Jordan says, though, it’s not always easy being Carson’s brother.

“The trash talking [from opponents], the comparisons, the extra write-ups, stuff like that,” Jordan says, “but all that stuff is meaningless.”

More than anything, he says, it’s nice to lean on a brother who has already seen it all.

“It helps a ton,” Jordan said. “He went through a lot of the same things I went through and am going through right now, with the losses, with the interceptions, all the little things and bad things that have happened. You’ve got to see the big picture, and that’s what is helpful for me, to be a sophomore and see someone else go through it.”

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The Other Brother

Texas El Paso quarterback Jordan Palmer’s statistics this season:

*--* Date Result Yds TD INT Sept. 2 lost to Arizona St., 41-9 196 0 4 Sept. 11 def. Weber St., 32-0 223 0 0 Sept. 18 lost to Boise St., 47-31 235 2 2 Oct. 2 def. New Mexico St., 45-0 15 0 0 Oct. 9 def. Fresno St., 24-21 185 1 0 Oct. 16 def. Hawaii, 51-20 317 5 4

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