His uncle Brett is a record-setting, future Hall-of-Famer, but Dylan Favre, Parade All-American out of Bay St. Louis, Miss., is a natural-born quarterback himself. He led his team to a state title with tremendous toughness and tenacity. So, when approached by Houston Nutt of the University of Mississippi about the possibility of switching to safety, he politely declined.
Favre just experienced what every high school prospect dreams of – he signed a National Letter of Intent with a Division I team in his home state. When taking a casual glance at Favre’s football resume, one might conclude his opportunity at a scholarship is no surprise. This season alone, he completed 342 passes for 5,589 yards and 63 touchdowns. He also had 1,265 yards rushing, and on 18 of those runs Favre reached paydirt. Throw in his defensive safety duties, an average of over 41 yards per punt and he is a regular superman.
His numbers this season shattered single season state records. He also leads the Mississippi record books in career yards with 14,175 and career touchdown passes with 144. In all, he owns 10 Mississippi state records and is top five nationally in several categories.
But, something is not right. Favre only had three scholarship offers including his final destination Mississippi State. With the type of season and career he had, not only did schools overlook him but the media did as well. Why? Recruiting guru Steve Robertson from Scout.com explains.
“Dylan’s size is the main reason why he has not received more attention from college scouts. People knew about his numbers and his pedigree,” Robertson said. “The lack of media attention is shameful. The state media should have been behind this kid counting down the days until he broke the national records. Most people in the state have no idea what he has been able to accomplish. They only know his last name. They don’t know his story.”
Favre stands just 5’11” and 195 pounds, but his size did not stop him from amassing all of his record-setting numbers and leading his team to a state title. His coach, Forrest Williams of St. Stanislaus said he believes his size is being looked at too harshly.
“He’s a warrior, he’s got heart. His intangibles and the arm he’s got far out-measure 5’11”. If you measured Dylan for the type of football player he is, he’d be 6’5″, 235 [pounds],” Williams said. “Dylan exemplifies what football in Mississippi is about with his toughness, grit and willingness to do what it takes to win. He’s not a pretty boy quarterback. Offense, defense, special teams – whatever you need, he will do it.”
Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen even acknowledged Favre’s height was an initial factor in his recruitment, but said he believes Favre has more than proven himself.
“Dylan came to our camp, we saw him. Our coaching staff said, ‘Boy, if he were 6’3″ he’d be perfect.’ At that point we said. ‘OK, let’s go see if we can find somebody that matches the criteria,'” Mullen said. “Dylan proceeded to go out and set every single state passing record, single-handedly carry his team to a state championship game.”
Before the season, Favre also had to put up with claims his notoriety was only a byproduct of his last name. He did not want attention or credit for his name, but for his accomplishments.
“I don’t want them to give me a shot because of my last name,” he said. “I think I’ve done enough getting the grades and the ACT score, winning championships and breaking records. I’ve done enough that if my last name was Johnson, at least I deserve a shot. That’s all I want.”
Favre’s plan worked out – his numbers spoke for him. He wanted an MSU offer the whole way through, and he developed a great relationship with his recruiting coach, Les Koenning. The offer ultimately came, and when it did, Favre said there was little thinking left to be done.
“My dad is real big about waiting it out,” Favre said. “At first he told me to not make a quick decision, but I told him Mississippi State was where I wanted to go. I told him I had been waiting on them to offer.”
Favre said he was happy to get the recruiting process over with, and the big MSU offer was a relief. He could stop worrying about proving himself, and focus on doing what he loves.
“I don’t ever worry about that kind of stuff or that recognition,” he said. “I just go and play and control what I can control. I have never been too high on the awards and records. I just enjoy playing the game.”
The proximity to home and the size of the school are not the only things Favre sees in Mississippi State. He said he believes good things are in MSU’s immediate future.
“I feel I fit in well with the spread offense. Coach Koenning likes to throw the ball but they were limited this year – personnel-wise. I know they want to throw it more in the future,” Favre said. “I am just real grateful to Mississippi State for taking a chance on me when a lot of other schools wouldn’t. I was impressed to see the direction of the program under Coach Mullen. He has things exciting again and I wanted to be part of that change.”
Favre is not the only one who is happy with what he’s getting out of the situation. Mullen said he sees great things in Favre’s future, and he believes Favre encompasses what MSU needs in a quarterback.
“I know Dylan, nothing was ever talked about how many yards he’ll pass for, what his responsibility is within our offense on an every-snap basis,” Mullen said. “100 percent of his concern was how he gets to come to Mississippi State to lead us to a championship. And that’s the type of quarterback we look for. So we definitely hit our goal by getting a championship quarterback in this recruiting class.”