On the camp trail
Starkville quarterback Luke Altmyer hasn’t really gotten off of the wild ride that is his football career yet and it doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon.
Back during the spring, Altmyer jumped on board with head coach Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles as a commitment for the 2021 class. For quarterbacks, it’s always best to reserve a spot in the class as quickly as possible and his relationship with Norvell and the staff from their time at Memphis made for an easy decision to choose Tallahassee as his new home.
Still, Altmyer is getting recruited by several schools nationally despite that commitment and it’s only going to continue with his work at the few camps he’s allowed to attend. Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), those camps are limited, but he went to the Elite Underclassman Under Armour camp in Vicksburg last month earning a trip to the Under Armour All-american game. He followed that up by getting an invite to the prestigious Elite 11 quarterback camp last week.
“It was super fun to be able to compete the last couple of weeks at the Under Armour camp and Elite 11,” Altmyer said. “I haven’t been able to compete since the Oxford game in November, so it’s been super fun but weird.”
The invite to the Under Armour All-american game is one of the biggest thrills that Altmyer has experienced in his life. After seeing A.J. Brown play in it nearly five years ago along with Kobe Jones and Willie Gay Jr. in their respective All-star games, he knew he wanted to follow along with his own in the future.
The Under Armour game hit different than the others though in his mind. It’s where 100 of some of the best players in the country get to play football under some great former players and coaches in Orlando in the first week of January. His performance in Vicksburg earned him that opportunity, but he even admits it wasn’t his best work which was telling to how far he’s come as a player.
“I’ve worked extremely hard with my footwork, throwing motion and X’s and O’s,” Altmyer said. “I told (Starkville coach Chris Jones) that wasn’t my best day at all, but I’ve gotten more polished. I’ve been working really hard with David Morris in Mobile with QB Country in just improving my mechanics and I think that really helped.”
Also in June, Altmyer was offered by one of the country’s best teams in Alabama as the Crimson Tide have now joined in on his recruitment. Altmyer enjoyed a conversation with the head man himself on Monday as Nick Saban had a Zoom call with the talented quarterback to let him know that he is a priority in the class.
As it stands, he’s not ready to open up his recruitment and isn’t interested in going to any other schools than Florida State, but Altmyer does want to be prepared in case something happens that changes his situation.
Saban did have plenty to talk about with Altmyer after his past week, though. The SHS field general was a late addition to the Elite 11 Finals quarterback competition in Nashville as one of 20 quarterbacks around the country to get the call and compete with some of the best.
A player tested positive for COVID-19 prompting the committee to select Altmyer as the final participant. He had just missed the cut before his selection.
“I jumped in and was super excited,” Altmyer said of the event. “I learned that there were a lot of great quarterbacks out there and I saw where I stacked against them. I got a chance to learn under Trent Dilfer, Jordan Palmer, Quincy Avery,
George Whitfieild and others. They liked my game. Being a late invite, they thought I did really well. I went in there with a chip on my shoulder.”
On top of competing at events the last two months, Altmyer is also working with his Yellow Jacket team as he prepares for his senior season. It’s been a successful few weeks on the field as Altmyer and his teammates have tried to be careful.
Altmyer says that the team comes in at 9 a.m. every morning from Monday-thursday
and gets a temperature to assure no one has a fever. They follow that up by splitting into groups and spending a couple of hours working out on the field. The quarterbacks just recently starting throwing the football again and installing offense and defense as SHS gets closer to a season.