At Palatine High School, Jeff Hecklinski was wanted by almost everyone. He was called “a young Dan Marino” and “the next Jeff George.”
He was rated among the top three quarterbacks in the country by the scouts, and powers in college football courted him before he committed to Illinois in November 1992. At 6 feet 4 inches, 205 pounds, he had a good arm and an even better head for a passing offense. He passed for 25 touchdowns and 2,387 yards as a senior.
Now, after leaving Illinois last month, he hopes he’s the next Kent Graham, the former Wheaton North star playing for the New York Giants after collegiate stops at Notre Dame and Ohio State.
“I feel I have to get on the field and let the chips fall where they may,” said Hecklinski. “There is no other reason for my leaving. I didn’t come here to sit. I came to play football.”
Hecklinski, who has had serious interest from schools including Iowa State, Maryland and Southern Illinois, isn’t an oddity. Transfers have been a part of football since before they started using helmets. Chad May, who led Kansas State to a top 10 ranking, was a transfer. Super Bowl hero Troy Aikman was at Oklahoma before he found happiness at UCLA. George himself spent a year at Purdue before he went to Illinois.
“There have always been transfers,” said talent scout Tom Lemming, who is helping Hecklinski find a school. “It happens a lot more at quarterback. Jeff is just looking for his niche. Some may look at his situation at Illinois as a failure, but others are looking at a potential blue-chipper who can turn a program around.”
In his second recruitment, the former Palatine star is listening to all offers. Since the redshirt freshman left the Illinois program, he has been sifting through phone messages and letters from 30 to 50 schools looking for a quarterback. He won’t reveal the leading candidates, but there are plenty to choose from.
Just like when he was a high school senior, Hecklinski will be able to make five paid visits to schools and an unlimited number of unpaid visits. Unlike when he was in high school, he’s going to take them.
“I didn’t take any visits and I think that was a bad move on my part,” said Hecklinski. “But I can’t change the past. I have a second-chance opportunity here and I’m going to look at every situation I can.”
At the time, Illinois seemed like a perfect fit. Hecklinski was one of the most highly touted quarterbacks in the country. Stanford, Alabama, Notre Dame, Penn State, Northwestern and Washington State wanted his services. Illinois had a recent history of producing pro quarterbacks. He had wanted to play for Illinois since he was a kid and followed John Mackovic’s teams.
When Mackovic left for Texas, Hecklinski transferred his allegiance to new coach Lou Tepper and was a showcase recruit. As it turned out, Hecklinski was redshirted his first year and threw just two passes this season as he watched Johnny Johnson and Scott Weaver quarterback Illinois to a disappointing 6-5 season.
“Jeff has outstanding character and is a real student of the game,” said Illinois offensive coordinator Greg Landry. “He spent lots of time with film last season, even knowing he wouldn’t play a lot.
“He did press too hard last spring in practice, trying to make plays to impress us. He improved when he relaxed and was himself.
“He throws well enough to lead a team. He throws a little sidearm and has been working on throwing more three-quarters. He would have been battling Scott Weaver next season as the backup to Johnny Johnson and the opportunity was there for him to play the next two years.
“He’s not a great scrambler, but can avoid the rush. He’s intelligent, but it’s hard to judge how someone will mature.”
Instead of the “next Jeff George,” Hecklinski might turn out to be the next J.J. O’Laughlin, a California hotshot Illinois recruit who left and recently completed a successful career at Cal State-Northridge.
Hecklinski and his father, Mike, a former high school football coach, won’t comment on his tenure at Illinois. Sitting behind Johnson, who has one year of eligibility left, and Weaver, who has two seasons remaining, wasn’t an acceptable option. Tepper stated Hecklinski had worked hard, was loyal but was No. 3. Hecklinski didn’t think that would change.
Hecklinski’s older brother, Randy, was in a similar situation at Bowling Green. The staff that recruited him as a quarterback was fired after his freshman year. Randy elected to stay at Bowling Green and was never given the chance to start in his five years there. The two brothers often discussed Jeff’s situation.
“We understand the reality, but we also understand it’s only five years,” said Mike Hecklinski. “You can stay and take your chances or leave. As long as this is what Jeff wants to do, we support him. I think he’s leaving for the right reasons. School was going well, he liked the people, but he wanted to play football.”
Hecklinski could be the victim of unrealistic expectations that the media and talent scouts have created in the last 10 years. Before freshman eligibility returned, a sophomore starting quarterback was a rarity. Now players are lauded as future pros before they leave high school and when those dreams aren’t fulfilled, athletes like Graham and O’Laughlin often transfer.
“As his high school coach, I tried to bring him down to earth and give him some broader perspective,” said Palatine coach Joe Petricca, who has no love for talent scouts. “At that age, it’s hard to see. It’s your first dream. I think now he’s really studying the schools he’s been offered and I think he’ll make a good choice.
“I think he expected the chance to get out and play. If he would have gone into the university as a lesser recruit with lesser expectations, maybe he’d be satisfied being a backup right now. Maybe he put the pressure and expectations on himself. A lot of kids on scholarship are just happy to be there. He wanted more.”
The recruitment of Jeff Hecklinski now is more important than his high school crush on Illinois. This time there is no margin for error. If he goes to another Division I-A school, he will have to sit out a year and will have two years of eligibility left. If he moves to a Division I-AA school like Illinois State or Eastern Illinois, he will have three years left and will be eligible immediately.
Hecklinski is finishing the fall semester at Illinois. When he’s done with finals, the traveling will begin. He hopes to find a situation with the right school, the right coach, the right offense and the right opportunity to play by early January. He thinks his experience at Illinois will help him make the right choice.
“I think when you come out of high school, you don’t know what questions to ask and you don’t know what to look for,” he said. “I think the difference is now I know what to ask and what to look for. I understand the process. Now I just have to find the right situation.”
Hecklinski’s career parallels that of Graham. Graham, a pocket passer like Hecklinski, signed with Notre Dame but transferred after two years of being a backup in an option offense. He transferred to Ohio State, where he started the majority of his games his senior year. Now he is a backup in the NFL.
Whether Hecklinski follows Graham to the NFL remains to be seen. Hecklinski simply wants to give himself a chance to find out if he can play. Illinois, he thought, didn’t offer that chance and it’s hoped his new school will.
“I have to play,” he said. “I have to get on the field. I’ve never seen a quarterback get drafted or signed as a free agent who didn’t play. Whether I make it or not, that’s not my goal. I want to play for no other reason than I’m competitive. It didn’t work out here and I have to go someplace else. That doesn’t bother me.”
Hecklinski might have helped two of Illinois’ recruiting classes. When he committed as a high school senior, he helped attract a top 20-ranked recruiting class. When he left Illinois, Tepper has stated a highly touted No. 3 quarterback with three years of eligibility remaining has hurt Illinois recruiting at that position.
Now that a quarterback with such glittering credentials is leaving, a spot has opened up for a “young Dan Marino” or “the next Jeff George.”
