Sell and Blood: two quarterbacks, two generations, one school

Two quarterbacks. Two generations. One school. Current Aragon Varsity Football Head Coach Steve Sell quarterbacked the Dons in the ’80s, and current quarterback Nat Blood is leading the Dons under center this year. Sell and Blood have experienced high school football in two very different generations, which makes for an interesting comparison.

“The difference between the style of offense, between the ’80s and now, is night and day,” says Sell. “We still pride ourselves in being a physical, running football team.”

“Back when I played, it was rare for a team to pass more than they ran. Now, you have several teams who throw more than they run. Today’s game is a lot more wide open, a lot more pass-oriented.”

“The offense has a lot of motion, more of a run-first game, which really sets up the pass very well, so I don’t mind it,” says Blood.

Sell adds, “We’ll still run the ball more than we pass, but last year there were a couple of games where we attempted 30 plus passes. We never did that before.”

The main reason for the shift towards the passing game is Sell’s confidence in Blood. “He’s such an accurate [passer]. He’s smart and throws the ball with such velocity. I have just such an abundance of trust in him that he’s going to make good decisions,” Sell says.

Sell recalls, “There was not as much attention to detail [in the ’80s]. There was not much specialization in terms of coaching positions. Now it’s a lot more specialized, where you’ll actually have someone specifically work with the quarterback.”

“We can actually take time to dissect the feet of the quarterback, and the release, there’s so much more attention placed on it. I think that’s why quarterback play has improved so much. There’s a lot more stuff done in the offseason than there ever has been. When I played, we hardly practiced during the summer,” adds Sell.

In football, the quarterback position creates a big opportunity for leadership on the field and in the locker room. Sell says, “I was very outspoken. Nat’s a lot nicer person than I was in high school. I was a lot more vocal, and I was pretty intolerant of anybody who didn’t want to win as badly as I did. I wasn’t always popular or the most well liked guy on the team. I wanted to win.”

“[Blood] is not the type to pump you up with adrenaline and motivation,” says senior wide receiver Matt Foppiano. “He’s soft-spoken, hard-working and a person with a general passion for the game and improvement. That kind of attitude is just contagious and inspires a lot of players to do the same.”

In addition to the leadership and style of play of both Sell’s and Blood’s teams, the new studies on concussions in football have changed the game’s safety and the players’ approaches on the field.

Says Sell, “In the beginning of the season, I went through the whole tackling sequence about keeping your head out of the tackle. A lot of us were taught to have the face mask involved, to get your head across, and the things that were taught weren’t necessarily dangerous, but it’s become more of a priority now to keep the head safe.”

Sell contrasts, “[Today], in designing your offense, you are a little more reluctant to just line up and pound the ball at people because the more collisions you have the greater chance there is that someone takes a big hit to the head. You still want to play physically, but at the same time, if you lose one of your best guys for weeks, you’re in trouble, so now we have less contact in our practices today.”

“I don’t really think about it. I just think about the play,” says Blood.

Sell elaborates on the insight and wisdom he gives Blood through the college recruiting process, saying, “It’s a rough process. There are a lot of great quarterbacks out there; a coach may tell you one thing while he’s telling the quarterback down the street the same thing. I tell him to control what you can control, just play and have fun, and the rest takes care of itself.”

Many young quarterbacks feel pressured by the presence of recruiters at their games. Sell adds, “I don’t think that helps. It didn’t help me. I try to focus with Nat to just play and don’t worry about that other stuff. He’s very grounded. He comes from a great family, and that is a blessing in terms of what makes him so good. You can see how his family helps him. It would be really hard for Nat to lose total perspective with the parents [he has].”

Their relationship is one of mutual respect. Blood says, “[Sell] really knows a lot, especially being a quarterback himself. He’s very experienced, and knows the game very well.”

In regards to being a quarterback, Blood says, “I like having the ball in my hands. I like throwing the ball, spreading it out to different receivers and having a lot of trust in my offensive line.”

“At the start of last season, I felt really inexperienced,” adds Blood. “My first throw of the season [last year] was a pick, and growing from there, my game just got better and better. I became more accurate and I made better decisions. I try to not be nervous, and just stay cool and confident and stay composed.”

This year, Blood broke the record for the most passing touchdowns at Aragon, which was previously held by Sell. Sell and Blood have their similarities and their differences, partially due to the fact that they played in two different eras of high school football. Sell’s outspoken leadership contrasts Blood’s soft spoken approach, but both quarterbacks effectively lead by example for their respective teams and have a strong bond with their teammates. Blood currently is in a more pass-oriented offense in today’s game, and continues to grow as a player under coach Sell.