Mac Engel: Broncos' backup QB was once a Texas high school star going to Texas Tech

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jan 24, 2026

Published in Football

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Denver Broncos fans sweating that their starting quarterback for the AFC title game is technically their QB2 need to remember that at one time Jarrett Stidham was the highest-rated passer of his high school class — ahead of Kyler Murray, Sam Darnold, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.

As much as Stidham’s start for Denver in the AFC championship game is historical, and not what the Broncos want, this is the shock that was predicted for him when he was at Stephenville (Texas) High School. According to the rankings by 247 of the high school quarterbacks for the incoming class in 2015, Stidham was No. 1.

On Sunday, he will make his first NFL start since the final week of the 2023 regular season when Denver hosts New England in the AFC championship game. Stidham was elevated to QB1 when starter Bo Nix sustained a fractured ankle in the final moments of Denver’s win over Buffalo in the divisional round last week.

Nix’s injury has created an opportunity for Stidham that few quarterbacks ever receive.

“I am sure he is anxious and excited at the same time,” his high school coach, former TCU defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie, said in a phone interview. “For this to be his first start of the season, what a moment. Imagine if he won and led them to the Super Bowl? That could be a movie.”

Gillespie will never forget how good Stidham was, but it’s easier to see how others do. In our rush to judge everyone, we miss that development can take years, and a lot of dumb luck. Darnold, who has led the Seattle Seahawks to the NFC title game against the Los Angeles Rams, is a former No. 3 overall pick who is playing for his fifth NFL franchise.

Stidham was the Stephenville star going to Lubbock

While discussing his time as the man who beat out Baker Mayfield and kept Patrick Mahomes on the bench, former Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb threw in another name to a room of passers that may have no equal in the modern era of college football.

“We were supposed to have Jarrett Stidham, too,” Webb told the Star-Telegram in an interview in 2024. “He was going to go to Texas Tech.”

Coincidentally, Webb is now Stidham’s quarterbacks coach in Denver.

In March of ‘14, Stidham announced he would play for then-coach Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech. Late that year, Stidham changed his mind, and instead eventually signed to play for Art Briles at Baylor.

Jarrett Stidham was the second-most talented quarterback to play for Briles at Baylor, behind Robert Griffin III.

“The thing about Jarrett that people don’t maybe appreciate is that he is an exceptional athlete,” said Gillespie, who is now the head coach at Waco Midway.

Since Stidham was the same age as Gillespie’s oldest son, and the two were friends, Jarrett frequented the Gillespie residence throughout middle school and high school.

“He raided the fridge all the time,” Gillespie said.

As both the head football coach and athletic director, Gillespie had no doubt about Stidham’s ability to play quarterback. He had concerns about his intentions.

“He was born in Kentucky, and his parents loved basketball. He loved basketball, and I wasn’t sure if that’s what he wanted to do,” Gillespie said. “He was the best basketball player we had. If he had decided that was his focus, I am sure he could have played in college.

“I think it was his freshman year, I kinda instigated it a little one day because I wanted to know what he wanted to do, and he told me that his main focus was football.”

From Baylor to Auburn to the NFL

After a great high school career, in his first and only year in Waco, Stidham passed for 12 touchdowns with 1,265 yards as he shared time with Seth Russell, who suffered an injury that pushed Stidham into the starting role.

In his third career start, Stidham suffered an ankle injury that effectively ended his Baylor career. Briles was fired after the season, and Stidham transferred to Auburn. After sitting out a year, Stidham played for two seasons at Auburn, and the team finished a combined 18-9, including a win over No. 1 Alabama in the 2017 Iron Bowl.

A fourth-round pick of the New England Patriots in 2019, he was Tom Brady’s backup for what would be his final year with the franchise. Stidham spent two more years in New England before playing for the Raiders in 2022, and he’s been in Denver since the start of 2023.

It was around that time he built a house near Aledo, and he worked out with Gillespie at TCU when he was an assistant there.

“I take pride in all of my guys who make it,” Gillespie said. “He’s a really good person, and I am thrilled he’s getting an opportunity.”

As of today, Jarrett Stidham has been in the NFL for six seasons, played 20 games, and on Sunday he will make his first career postseason start with the winner going to the Super Bowl.

Could be a movie.