Football has been a part of Jarrett Lee’s life ever since his father can remember.
Lee’s father, Stephen, is the wide receivers coach at Brenham High School in Texas where he played his junior and senior years of high school. His father also coached at Howard Payne and Western New Mexico universities and said his son was around the sport a great deal.
“He always enjoyed being out there, whether it was just being a ball boy on the sidelines or at practice running around and throwing the ball with the players or other coaches’ kids,” Stephen Lee said. “I can’t remember him not doing it.”
Now as a redshirt freshman, Jarrett Lee is battling with sophomore Andrew Hatch for the starting quarterback job at LSU.
“This competition’s going to do nothing but benefit all of us,” Jarrett Lee said. “We’re working hard, and we’re doing our thing. We’re out there grinding. We’re working hard absorbing all the information we can.”
But at the same time, he is fighting a battle with injuries this preseason.
Lee missed the team’s final scrimmage last Tuesday with back spasms. He is also plagued by a soft-tissue leg injury he suffered during practice Aug. 11. He returned to practice two days later and participated in the Aug. 16 scrimmage but has been inactive since Tuesday.
Miles said Lee sat out Tuesday as a precaution, but he said Lee is missing valuable time.
“You like to give him all the snaps you can give him,” Miles said. “What we have to do is make him comfortable in some of the situations that we know we’re going to be in with him. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Glen West, Lee’s high school coach from 2005-2007, said as Jarrett Lee battles the injury bug, his father’s football experience is a great help.
“Through the trials that happen in football, he’s got a father who’s very grounded and helps him along the way and tells him that’s just part of life,” West said.
West said he has seen Jarrett Lee’s incredible concentration on the field even in the midst of adversity.
“He is unflappable. He has a sense not to let the rush that comes around him or the people trying to get to him bother him,” West said. “He just stays focused on the receiver and what his objective is.
He’s as good as I’ve ever seen at that.”
LSU offensive coordinator Gary Crowton also pointed out Jarrett Lee’s strengths that give him the potential to succeed as a Tiger.
“Jarrett has a very quick release and throws above the rush and the pass,” Crowton said. “He’s worked hard in his footwork, and he’s worked hard in recognizing things. He throws a soft ball, enabling the receivers to get yardage after the catch. And he doesn’t get rattled. That’s pretty impressive.”
West said Jarrett Lee proved his focus under pressure his junior season at Brenham High School in the regional final game against No. 1 La Marque High School. Lee was the quarterback, and Brenham High School was down, 31-20, with five minutes remaining.
“We ended up winning that game by 10,” West said. “I remember how he was going into that – not bothered at all. In fact, he was the same guy he was when we were ahead earlier in the game. He looked at me and said, ‘OK, Coach, we got to catch up. Let’s do it.’ And we did.”
He became the only quarterback in Brenham High School history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a single season in his junior year when he threw for 3,425 yards and 40 touchdowns.
More than 60 colleges recruited Jarrett Lee coming out of high school, Stephen Lee said. He was ranked among the top three recruits in Texas and the top 15 in the nation.
Ultimately, it was the coaching staff and prominent football program that swayed Jarrett Lee to LSU.
“He’s playing for a group of guys over there that are phenomenal,” Stephen Lee said. “There are good men over there that he’s being coached by, who are teaching him life lessons too. We’re really happy with where he is and what he’s doing and his opportunity this early to play for the defending national champions.”
West said he is not surprised Jarrett Lee has fit in well at LSU.
“There was a lot of fanfare when he moved [to Brenham] because he was well-documented as a potentially great quarterback, but he didn’t know a soul,” West said. “His personality was such that he was able to come in here and quickly make friends with everybody. He doesn’t really want a lot of attention on himself. He’s a guy’s guy.”
In the race for starting quarterback, Jarrett Lee and Hatch said they are friendly both on and off the field in the midst of the competition.
“Jarrett’s a great guy. We’ve gotten along always, gone golfing together a few times,” Hatch said. “He’s a very talented quarterback – he throws a really good ball. We can learn from some of the things that we each do, help each other out on a few things and really compete to be the best we can be to help the team in any way we can.”
Jarrett Lee agreed he and Hatch enjoy a healthy camaraderie as teammates.
“Hatch and I hang out a lot; we play a lot of golf with each other,” Jarrett Lee said. “We have the same kind of personality. We laugh at the same things and listen to the same music. Nothing’s different about either one of us. It’s fun to hang around and be with him.”
As the season draws near and Hatch and Jarrett Lee continue to battle for playing time, Jarrett Lee is leaning on the bond he has developed with his father.
“We talk about how doing things everyday is what’s going to make you better, learning to practice, learning to do those things, and everything else will take care of itself,” Stephen Lee said. “We talk about spiritual things as well. Hopefully I’ve taught him just to be a good person – to be a good man.”
—-Contact Rachel Whittaker