Youth movement
Phommachanh making father proud as UConn’s QB
Sam Phommachanh’s phone rang sometime last Monday morning. His son, Tyler, a freshman quarterback at UConn, had news to share.
“They’re going to start me,” he told his dad.
At first, Sam didn’t believe him. Then again, he thought, it’s a bit late for an April Fools’ joke.
“I was like, ‘Stop playing,’ ” Sam said. “He told me, ‘No, they’re going to start me.’ I didn’t know what to say then. I asked him if he was ready. He said, ‘You know I’m ready.’ ”
He added, unequivocally, “I ain’t giving it back.”
The sample size is extremely small, with only 26 passing attempts under his belt. So caution about reading too much into it is required. But if it’s possible for a quarterback to quickly carve out an identity different from his predecessors, Phommachanh, a Stratford native and Avon Old Farms alum, seems to know how.
Phommachanh showed promise in his debut last Saturday against Army, doing what sophomores Jack Zergiotis and Steven Krajewski couldn’t during their brief cameos this season.
Statistically, Phommachanh was far from precise through the air and threw for just 109 yards and one interception on 11 of 26 passing. But he ran for 60 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown in the third quarter that represented UConn’s first points against an FBS opponent this season. Progress.
“My jaw just dropped,” Sam said of Tyler, the first Connecticut native to start at quarterback for the Huskies since Tim Boyle in 2015. “For him to start at a Division I program, man.”
That was always the dream, of course. Sam played quarterback, starring at Harding High in Bridgeport from 1988-1990, and Tyler’s older brother, Taisun, who also attended Harding and later teamed up with Tyler at Avon Old Farms, is now the backup to D.J. Uiagalelei for ninthranked Clemson.
Sam just never knew when it’d come to fruition.
“This kid, we used to be so mad at him because he would goof so much in the seventh grade, eighth grade,” Sam said. “Then all of a sudden he started tak
ing it serious in the ninth grade. For a kid that goofed around so much, he was a free body. He was a freespirited guy. You didn’t know what he was going to do. For him to go from that to starting at a Division I program, that’s huge.”
“He’s one those kids that when he’s home, you know he’s home,” Sam added. “When he’s in the locker room, you know he’s in the locker room. He’s one of those guys. He’s the light here. He makes everybody laugh. He’s definitely that guy.”
Tyler grew up — literally and figuratively — at Avon Old Farms where he threw for 1,144 yards and 15 touchdowns between his sophomore and junior seasons.
Now, having been handed the reins to UConn’s offense, he must continue to mature.
The 5-foot-11, 187-pound dual-threat opened the season behind Zergiotis and Krajewski on the depth chart, but was elevated after the Huskies were hammered 49-0 by Purdue — their second shutout loss in three games. Tyler met with the coaching staff the next day and was told to be ready to get 15 to 20 plays against Army.
Soon after those plans
changed, Sam connected with freshman wide receiver Josh Tracy, who grew up near Tyler in Bridgeport and was his teammate at Avon Old Farms. Sam was curious how the locker room reacted to the change.
“At first,” Sam was told, “they were kind of ‘ehh.’ Then as the week went on, everybody was on the same page as him.”
Tyler, who wrote “203” on each wrist to signify his hometown’s area code, looked composed in his collegiate debut despite a subpar offensive line and a lack of weapons.
“There’s always a little bit of butterflies going into it, but after that first snap they go away,” he said following the 52-21 loss, adding, “Thank God they gave me the opportunity. Shout out to the coaches for giving me the opportunity.”
Sam made sure not to miss it, making the 90minute trip to Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. The family has lived in Trumbull since March after losing their home to a fire just days before Christmas .
“Everything’s moving along,” Sam said. “We’ve gotten somewhat back to normalcy.”