North Olmsted’s Collin Willard is as good as they come.
Last year, he formed one of the better area wide receiver combos with now Kent State wideout Jared Kelley. Both of them have blazing speed, with Willard having posted a 4.54-second laser-timed 40-yard dash.
Willard also managed to best Keystone’s reigning 100-meter state champion Ryne Shackleford, one of the best runners in the state and a Purdue signee in the event during the 2023 track season.
While he does play a good bit of safety on defense, all eyes turn to Willard as the No. 1 option on the Eagles’ offense following the graduations of Kelley and quarterback Xavier Balson. It’s the senior’s time to step up and embrace the lead role as a three-year starter.
“Last year, we had Jared as the lead role for us. This year, it’s finally time for me to step up and kind of lead the team to what we want to do,” Willard said.
He’ll be doing it with a new starting quarterback in junior Tommy Horsfall. The backup to Balson in 2022, the one advantage the new North Olmsted quarterback has is having a third year of experience running coach Tim Brediger’s offense to Ballson’s two seasons.
“This offense has a lot of potential to do a lot of great things. I’m really excited,” Horsfall said.
Willard’s speed helps open up the playbook, with jet sweeps and other crazy ideas within the realm of possibility. Perhaps more importantly, having an experienced weapon like Willard helps Horsfall feel confident in his new role as the QB1 and to provide a jolt to the offense.
“Having a player like Jared (last year) or like Colin is something most teams don’t have,” Horsfall said. “With Collin, he’s a guy you can always count on. He can play any position… He’s just a natural athlete, really gifted, a beast. He’s fast and can do anything that your offense needs.”
Those attributes have made the wideout invaluable to North Olmsted. His leadership and his ability to perform aren’t in question. Though without Kelley, who steps up alongside Willard?
“Collin will be a three-year starter for us on both sides of the ball and this year he obviously is a focal point,” Brediger said. “And a lot of times last year he was too, him and Jared. The question for us really is if there’s going to be one other guys that takes over Collin’s role or is it going to be by committee? That’s kind of what we’re trying to figure out but that’s what we’re trying to figure out on the offensive side of the ball.”
Breidger knows they’ll be looking for more ways to get Willard the ball, be it on jet sweeps, different wideout alignments, whatever that may be. They want to stress the defense and put the pressure on the opposing defender. As Willard put it, “you just can’t teach speed.”
There will be that adjustment period on Willard’s part to working with Horsfall, given the prior chemistry he had with Balson. However, It won’t be as difficult as people think, given all the offseason work the pairing has gotten in during the summer and early fall practices.
“Everyone knew Tommy had that arm strength and he had that good accuracy,” Willard explained. “It’s just all in the head and seeing his reads. This year, I think he’s really seen and made those reads so far.”
With significant progress made a year ago to crack the postseason field, expectations to make another trip back with the experience under their belt. Horsfall spoke to Willard’s leadership credentials, credentials that will help drive the senior wideout and his teammates to keep pushing for a deeper postseason run than before, keeping up the discipline and upholding standards.
“Collin is just a great leader on and off the field,” Horsfall said. “After last year’s loss versus Highland, he really brought me in to work as his new quarterback. We’ve been training for a while now throughout this whole offseason. There’s been a lot of team bonding with me and the guys and he’s a great leader – all of these guys are.”
