Recruiting/Player Profile: Kristoff Kowalkowski/Totino-Grace (2021)

Nate Wahl November 14, 2019 @ 02:35 PM

With this Northstar Football News recruiting profile, we head back to the metro to chat with Kristoff Kowalkowski who has been the starting quarterback at Totino-Grace since he was a freshman. We'll chat with Kowalkowski about his season, his recruiting interest and offers, and what he learned this season as QB1 of the Eagles. Kristoff Kowalkowski, Class of 2021 (Junior) Position: Quarterback High School Program: Totino-Grace Get to Know Kristoff Kowalkowski As I said at the beginning, this was Kowalkowski's 3rd year as a varsity starter for the Eagles. His accolades started as a 5th and 6th grader, as Kowalkowski was the winner of the NFA Duel Competition in Canton, OH which is an invite-only skills competition for quarterbacks. His high school career as a freshman started off with an invite to the FBU Freshman All-American Game in which Kristoff was playing with/against 30 players at the age of 14-15 that had D-1 offers already. His biggest strengths include his accuracy, reading defenses, experience (will be a 4th-year starter), and his physical toughness which is a key attribute in my opinion for a quarterback. Best Parts About Quarterback Kowalkowski I felt could have talked for hours about his favorite things about the quarterback position. To start out, he loves the game and loves the competition it brings for him. Kristoff enjoys being the "leader" of the football team and the camaraderie of his teammates. As far as on the field, reading defenses and making plays are his favorite things at the position. Kowalkowski described football as a team sport, and that your "only as good as your teammates" which is a great way to look at football as a team game vs. your individual talent. This offseason, Kowalkowski will continue to build the "brotherhood" with his Eagles teammates to get acquainted for the 2020 football season. College Interest Kowalkowski got his first FBS offer last spring from Lane Kiffin and Florida Atlantic Owls but isn't set on that one offer. He said recently he took a visit to NDSU and is also being recruiting by Ivy League programs and others in D-1. Improvement from the Off-Season by Kowalkowski Kristoff said he worked out daily this off-season with an emphasis on speed and agility and says he hopes to benefit on last season's offseason workout success, as he also plays basketball for the Totino-Grace basketball team. Kristoff's Mentor Kowalkowski said his biggest mentor is his father, despite having many mentors from all over the country. Kowalkowski's dad, who played college football and is now currently a sports physician, has really given Kristoff the "experience and has offered him many opportunities" in his young 16-year-old life as a football player. Biggest Things Kristoff Learned About Himself This Season The biggest thing Kristoff looked at this season is the craziness of his football career for the Eagles. "As a 14-year-old varsity starter, I was going up against full-grown 18-19-year-olds out on the field," Kowalkowski said about his time with Totino-Grace. He said as a current 16-year-old, his skills will continue to improve and he'll be able to continue to "build the brotherhood" with his Eagles teammates going into the biggest year of his high school football career.