By Ben Klau ’18
College football fans around the country now know the name Baker Mayfield, but where did he come from? After being a finalist in the past two Heisman races, Baker Mayfield has established himself as one of the top players in the country.
Mayfield grew up in Travis County, Texas. The fifth most populated county in Texas. Football is bigger than life itself in Texas. Being able to play on any good team takes a lot of talent. Although Mayfield has always had immense talent, his size had held him back early in his high school years. His high school coach, Hank Carter, always knew that his talent would shine one day.
“If that Baker Mayfield ever grows,” the coaches said in an interview with NewsOK, “he’d end up being a good player.”
Mayfield hit a big growth spurt going into his junior year. By the time he was a junior, he was the starting varsity quarterback for Lake Travis High School. He then went on to lead his high school to two state championships.
Mayfield started his collegiate career with Texas Tech. He won the starting job in 2013 when Michael Brewer, who had graduated from the same high school as Mayfield, went down with a back injury. Mayfield started off that 2013 season with a bang, passing for 413 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He tallied 43 completions in that game against SMU which broke a school record held by Billy Joe Tolliver. That performance earned Mayfield the Big 12 offensive player of the week. Little did Mayfield know that was the start to something much bigger.
Mayfield’s season was cut short after injuring his knee on Oct. 5th, 2013. Once he returned to practice, he soon found out that his starting job had been given away. He finished the season with 2,315 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Mayfield earned the Big 12 Freshman Offensive player of the year in 2013. After miscommunication with the coaches and an overall anger with the staff at Texas Tech for giving his job away, Mayfield decided to leave the program.
Mayfield has always had a competitive nature about him. “He’s beyond competitive — I think that’s obvious — and he’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind,” Carter said in an interview with NewsOK. “He’s always been that way.”. That competitive nature lead Mayfield to part ways with Texas Tech and look for new opportunities. This decision would be one that Texas Tech looks back on and wishes they didn’t make.
Mayfield’s next opportunity came at the University of Oklahoma. At first he did not know whether he would continue to play football. Mayfield enrolled in January of 2014, without contacting anyone on the Sooner coaching staff. Just a month after enrolling, head coach Bob Stoops confirmed that Mayfield would be walking on. After the transfer from Texas Tech, Mayfield was forced to forfeit a year of eligibility as a result of a failed appeal of his transfer restrictions. At the start of the 2015 season, Mayfield was named the starting quarterback after winning the job over Trevor Knight. Mayfield, who has been playing as the underdog for most of his life, showed that trait off to the Sooner fans with his second win of the season over the no. 23 Tennessee. That win showed college fans that Baker Mayfield was the real deal and here to stay. Mayfield finished his first season with 3,700 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also finished fourth in the Heisman race. Mayfield then lead the Sooners into one of the two college playoff games. The Sooners lost 37-17 to a very talented Clemson Tigers team.
Baker Mayfield continued his tear into the 16-17 season. Mayfield along with his top offensive weapon Ded Westbrook, were up for the Heisman Trophy. This time Mayfield cracked the top three finishing third in the race. Mayfield capped off a great season by leading the Sooners to a 35-19 win over Auburn in the Sugar Bowl. Mayfield is projected again to finish atop the Heisman Trophy race. Baker Mayfield looks to continue his reign of terror on defenses in the 17-18 season.
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