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Sports

Who's Your Daddy's Quarterback? Brian Sipe Returns to Bowl Season

Former Little League and Grossmont High School star is helping SDSU turn its program around.

Two Brian Sipes are on display this week. One is the proud and happy San Diego State alum—recruited from Grossmont High—who ranks as one of the best quarterbacks ever to wear red and black. The other has a job to do.

As SDSU gets ready Thursday night to take on Navy  in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium, Brian Sipe can't wait to see his alma mater play its first bowl game since 1998.

He's eager to see the program take one more big step on its long climb from a deep, dark hole.

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"When I have my letterman's jacket on, I'm excited," he says.

The second Brian Sipe is almost too busy to be excited.

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That Sipe is the one who wears a whistle. He's the one who's been working hard to prepare for Navy,  so focused on his job as SDSU's quarterbacks coach that he hasn't had much chance to sit back and banter with ex-teammates.

"It's all business now," said Sipe, 61, the former NFL star, as the team entered its final days of preparation for the Midshipmen.

After going 8-4 this season—SDSU's first winning season since that '98 team went to the Las Vegas Bowl—Sipe says the Aztecs want to make the most of this moment. He says second-year head coach Brady Hoke "remains hungry" for win No. 9.

"These players are proud about it; they've earned it," he says of the Aztecs. "Of course, they've never been to a bowl game before, so this is a brand new experience. We didn't make it last year, but we got there this year. We want to take full advantage of it."

Star as a Foothiller

For Sipe, it's been a long—and surprising—road from his youth as a standout athlete in East County to returning to SDSU as an assistant coach.

In 1961, at the age of 11, he was the youngest member of the El Cajon-La Mesa Northern team that won the Little League World Series.

Later, as a senior quarterback at Grossmont High in 1966, he was the CIF San Diego Section co-Player of the Year. In a time when high school offenses weren't as pass-happy as they are now, Sipe played in an offense tailored to his skills, where he could roll out and throw as often as 20 times a game.

"My whole life was that team," he recalls. And he still remembers the sting of losing to rival Helix his senior year 14-13, when Grossmont was ranked No. 1 and Helix No. 3. "That," he says, "was a big deal."

But the only school that offered him a scholarship year was SDSU, then in its heyday under Don Coryell.

Sipe agreed to play one season at Grossmont College in 1967, then transferred to SDSU and redshirted in 1968. In 1969, he was the backup to Dennis Shaw on what he calls "a spectacular team" that went 11-0, culminating with a 28-7 win over Boston University in the Pasadena Bowl.

When Shaw was injured in the second quarter of that game, Sipe came in to pass for one touchdown and run for another. It was the start of a terrific college career in which he was twice honorable mention All-America in 1970 and '71.

Sipe was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1972 and played 12 seasons with the franchise, including the 1980 season when he was selected the NFL's Most Valuable Player after throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 30 TDs and leading the team to an 11-5 record.

After leaving the Browns, he played two seasons in the USFL before retiring in 1985 and returning to San Diego County where he and his wife, Jeri—also an SDSU grad —raised their three children and he worked in his home-design business.

"I was 15 years out of football," he says. "I was enjoying life. I was running a business."

Then football drew him back in.

He thought he would have more of a "peripheral role" when he started coaching at Santa Fe Christian Academy, but says, "The next thing I knew I was head coach, and there was nothing peripheral about that."

For eight seasons—2001 to 2009—Sipe coached Santa Fe Christian to a 75-21-1 record and four section championships. It was a time he cherishes.

"I loved it,' he says.

But then—just as in 1966—he was recruited by SDSU.

Return to Montezuma Mesa

After Chuck Long was fired as head coach after going 2-10 in 2008, SDSU began its search to find—yet again—a leader who could replicate the success that Coryell and the Aztecs enjoyed so long ago.

As part of the process, SDSU put together a group–including former standouts such as Sipe—to review candidates.

Once Sipe met Hoke, he knew the Aztecs had their man. And Hoke, in turn, brought Sipe back to SDSU to coach the quarterbacks.

"It's not a surprise to me," Sipe says of the SDSU turnaround under Hoke, who previously led Ball State to success. "I had the privilege of being part of a committee put together by President (Stephen) Weber to hire the next coach, and that committee was part of the interview process. I got to know Coach Hoke, so I'm not surprised what he's done.

"I've never felt so confident in a hire in all my life."

Sipe says it was hard to observe SDSU's struggles in recent years. There were few wins and, seemingly, fewer fans.

"It was difficult [to watch] without a doubt," he says. "I was never close enough to the program to really know why. … The program was at a crossroads."

When Hoke announced he had hired Sipe as his quarterbacks coach, he cited Sipe's character, his success as a player and high school coach and his knowledge of "the intangibles that quarterbacks need to have."

For his part, Sipe says, "It's unique to come back to SDSU, considering my history."

In two seasons working under Hoke and offensive coordinator Al Borges, Sipe has helped junior quarterback Ryan Lindley progress. This season, Lindley was the Mountain West Conference's top-ranked QB. Nationally, SDSU ranks No. 11 in passing offense.

"I'm a real lucky guy to be coaching Ryan Lindley," Sipe says. "He's a real student of the game. I had a lot of catching up to do when it came to the X's and O's of college football.

"He's such a committed, devoted young man. He takes his role seriously. I've tried to help him with the intangibles of playing quarterback, which is such a unique position. …  He came out of spread offenses and has had to learn the pro offense. That's been a big transition for him, but it's been fun to see him develop. It's been fun this last two years."

BCS ambitions for Aztecs

Now, with Thursday's bowl game approaching, Sipe looks to the future and hopes this is just the beginning of SDSU football's return to prominence.

He's confident the "ugly times" are over.

He believes all it takes in college sports is "for one or two things to change the trajectory of a program." A key win, a key recruit, a key hire.

"I don't know why we can't become a BCS-contending team," Sipe says. "There are obstacles in being in the same market as an NFL city. There's a low tolerance for losing. You've got to prove you can compete, win fans over and keep them coming back."

The challenges are many. But at least SDSU has on its side an assistant coach with a pedigree as a one-time NFL MVP and Aztecs Hall of Famer.

Not that the kids he recruits ever saw him play. But at least their fathers know.

"No," he says, laughing, "they don't know who I am. Fortunately, I don't have to [tell them]. Their dads tell them. I probably spend more time talking with the dads than the players. The kids don't have a clue.

"But they are very respectful of anybody's who's had a chance to play in 'The League.' That's what they call it now."

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

Where: Qualcomm Stadium

When: 5 p.m. Thursday on ESPN

Teams: Navy (9-3) vs. SDSU (8-4)

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