Meet Jamarian Ficklin, an avid film junkie becoming the next great QB in Oklahoma

Justin Ficklin held his new child son in his palm.

He gazed down towards the youngster – named Jamarian – and just one factor got here to thoughts.

“He looks like an itty-bitty bird,” the father mentioned.

That title would stick. It would have its iterations over the years. First, simply “bird” then “J-Byrd” and eventually “Byrd” however rising up, it simply caught.

His son’s legs had been lengthy and thin as a baby. He was barely undersized. As Ficklin remembers, he simply regarded like a chook.

He was quick like one too.

That chook has grown up now. Most folks know him simply as Jamarian Ficklin, the beginning sophomore quarterback for Muskogee High School’s undefeated soccer group that performs Friday evening in an necessary Class 6AII-1 matchup at Booker T. Washington. After getting the nod to be the Roughers’ starter final season as a freshman – an achievement no person in the city of 37,000 can keep in mind taking place in the previous – Ficklin’s been heralded as one in all the finest quarterback prospects in the state.

“With him being a quarterback, we kind of bounce things off each other and we sit in the house and watch his next opponent,” Justin mentioned. “We’ll sit there and look at things, and I’ll look at things from a defensive perspective and kind of just tell him, ‘This is what I do, this is what I’d do if I’m the defensive coach.’ It gives him things to kind of, you know, look forward to.”

Justin, a former school linebacker who performed at East Central Community College in Mississippi and Bacone College in Muskogee, loves to research defenses.

Jamarian enjoys the offensive aspect. He even takes it a step additional, learning previous NFL gamers like Michael Vick in his spare time.

“Lefties and mobile quarterbacks,” mentioned Jamarian, who can also be a southpaw. “The flick of the wrist, a nice deep ball, all of it.”

Their custom dates again to Jamarian’s youth soccer days, and apart from touring collectively for video games, it has turn into the pair’s main supply for bonding time.

“It has become one of our things,” Justin mentioned.

Those analytic conversations even carry over into the video games. Justin laughed when speaking about it, however he at all times makes certain to ship a halftime textual content message to Jamarian about what he sees on the area.

Whether Ficklin missed a learn, didn’t tuck the ball when he ought to have or there’s a defensive hole Ficklin doesn’t see, Justin makes certain he is aware of about it.

“By halftime I’ve probably wrote out a long text message,” he mentioned with amusing. “He’s the type of quarterback; he will not use his legs unless he just has to. He feels like there’s no throw on the field he can’t make, so it gets frustrating for me.”

Jamarian had at all times liked taking part in baseball.

He was a middle fielder, able to masking main floor together with his pace. One of Justin’s favourite recollections of his son was from baseball – the place on a deep hit that regarded prefer it may land over Jamarian’s head, he sprawled out for a catch.

But, this spring, Jamarian stopped taking part in. The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder needed to prioritize bettering his pace in the offseason. So, as a substitute of taking part in baseball, Jamarian opted for observe.

It was all quick distance, with Jamarian competing in the 200-meter race and the 4×4 relay.

Speed had by no means been an situation for Jamarian rising up. In youth soccer, he was at all times one in all the quickest gamers on the group, taking snaps at working again.

In these early years, Justin thought his son had the intangibles of a large receiver, till he noticed him throw a ball.

But, after his freshman season, Jamarian seen he was being timid together with his dashing talents. He wasn’t trusting himself to run. So, he centered on becoming quicker. This season, he’s already eclipsed his dashing totals from his freshman 12 months, tallying 186 yards this season in comparison with 150.

“I started to gain a lot more trust and confidence to do what I wanted to do,” Jamarian mentioned.

Jamarian additionally added weight this offseason, leaping from 170 kilos to 185 throughout the winter and spring months.

Recruitment was additionally a significant component in Jamarian’s offseason. Whether attending camps, studying about the course of from Muskogee’s recruitment coordinator or speaking with coaches, Jamarian prioritized that.

It landed him his first school provide from Florida A&M.

“It really opened my eyes like, ‘There are people actually watching me,’” Jamarian mentioned. “When I got that offer, I got really happy, I started jumping around.”

Justin may solely describe the feeling as pleasure for his son.

“We both were just sitting there with our out mouths dropped,” he mentioned.

Jamarian additionally possesses an provide from Grambling State however is receiving curiosity from different Division I applications.

Jamarian confirmed no emotion when the news was delivered to him.

But on the inside, he was anxious. “He was nervous to show how nervous he really was,” Justin mentioned.

As solely a freshman, Muskogee coach Travis Hill knowledgeable Jamarian he was the group’s beginning quarterback. After going via preseason follow, Hill determined to take the threat.

“We went through a long process,” Hill mentioned. “We felt like we could protect him a little bit as a freshman in certain ways.”

The Roughers hadn’t began a freshman quarterback since 2012, when Quintahj Cherry began due to damage. But, nobody can keep in mind the final time a freshman was named the starter at the starting of the season.

“I was intimidated a little bit through the first three games, but I knew I had to tell myself to slow the game down so I could understand what I’m doing,” Jamarian mentioned.

In simply his second begin, a 21-13 loss towards Bentonville West, Jamarian mentioned he began to settle into the circumstances.

“That’s when I started to understand that I’m an actual ball player,” he mentioned. “I can do whatever I needed to on the field because I knew nobody can stop me when I wanted to be that person.”

And be that individual Jamarian was. By the fifth sport, a 49-14 win towards Bartlesville, 300-yard video games had been becoming a development for Jamarian.

While the Roughers completed the season 2-8, Jamarian was a vibrant spot, throwing for two,354 yards and 20 touchdowns simply 10 video games into his profession.

In 2022, Muskogee possesses an untainted 7-0 document. Jamarian has eclipsed his touchdowns from final 12 months already – 29 in comparison with 20 – and is on tempo to do the similar together with his yards.

And, Hill says that is simply the begin.

“He’s going to be a man amongst boys this time next year,” Hill mentioned.