Who is the USD Coyotes' next quarterback?
Feb. 1—VERMILLION — It may only be February, but Travis Johansen knows what everyone will be talking about when his USD Coyotes report for practice in late summer.
Aidan Bouman has moved on after a legendary career, meaning Johansen's squad needs a quarterback.
"We're probably going to have this conversation about the quarterbacks from now until, you know, mid-August," the second-year coach said.
He's right, of course. Bouman set all kinds of records and led USD to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. He also made a huge impact on the program and campus for his leadership and personality, meaning his replacement will have big shoes to fill.
From spring ball through the summer and into training camp, all eyes will be on the men under center.
There are three candidates for the job.
* Nevan Cremascoli , a 6-3, 225-pound senior who backed up Bouman for two years and started three games for Northern Illinois in 2023.
* Austyn Modrzewski , a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman from Colorado.
* Jackson Proctor, a 6-2, 210-pound senior transfer who spent last year at Northern Illinois and was previously a starter at Dartmouth.
They'll get their first stab at winning the job when the Coyotes report for spring practice, but Johansen said they won't be choosing a starter that early. The Coyotes have reached the point where they expect to be a national championship contender regardless of who's coming or going, so they want to make sure they get this right.
"It's a full-on competition, it really is," said Johansen, who led USD to a 10-5 mark in his first year at the helm. "And it's going to be an interesting spring because it's going to be centered around evaluating quarterbacks. Like, everything we do has got to put them in as many of these situations to prove they're the guy. And frankly, it's not going to handle itself by the end of spring ball. We're going to take that thing into the fall."
There are reasons to like all three candidates.
Cremascoli appeared in 12 games in 2024, seeing some action as a running quarterback to play off of the more stationary Bouman, and he rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown and threw two touchdown passes. Last year, however, Cremascoli saw very limited snaps in five games.
Prior to that, he spent two years at Northern Illinois. He walked on at the FBS school and ended up starting three games as a true freshman, throwing for 600 yards and five touchdowns.
Modrzewski (pronounced 'Muh-jess-kee') redshirted this past season, but came to USD as a prized recruit. Twice named Colorado's Gatorade Player of the Year, Modrzewski threw for over 12,000 yards in his prep career, and as a senior threw for 3,400 yards and 57 touchdown passes.
Proctor comes to Vermillion for a single season and will surely be motivated to win the job. A native of Kent, Wash., Proctor led Dartmouth to an 8-2 mark as their starter in 2024, then transferred to Northern Illinois where he didn't see any action in 2025.
"Austin's a youthful guy with a ton of athletic ability and arm strength and all those things, we're excited about him," Johansen said. "But, you know, he's inexperienced in college football. Cremascoli's a six-year guy that has a mastery of the offense but doesn't have all the crazy, high-end measurables. And then Jackson's a guy who's been productive at a pretty high level. It'll be interesting to get him on the field and work with them and see how that's going to go. But I think there's three really good people, guys that are going to go at this thing the right way."
Proctor's proven production may give him a slight leg up. He's a legit dual threat, which the Yotes previously lacked, but Johansen points out that not using Bouman as a runner kept him on the field for every snap. Cremascoli has the relationship with his teammates and knowledge of the offense on his side, while Modrzewski is intriguing as someone who could be developed long-term into a star. Personality and leadership will play into it, too, though no one will be expected to be the kind of presence Bouman was.
"Each one brings something that's completely different than the others," Johansen said. "It's going to be where the growth happens for each one in the margins of where they can grow. But you know, that position doesn't have to be the hero of our football team, either. We've got a pretty good backfield coming back. We got a pretty good O-line coming back, a great tight end room. Our receiving core is really talented. So (quarterback) has to do what that position's always done for us — manage a game, be great at the line of scrimmage, great leadership, smart decision-making. We don't ask that position to throw the ball 55 times a game and we don't plan to start.
"You'd love to have an Aidan Bouman every year that you're coaching, but that's not realistic," Johansen added. "But I think all those guys are really capable of carving out their authentic leadership role, and will need to as the quarterback. The guys have to believe in that person."
