Long looks past Lindley's All-Star numbers

San Diego State football recruits Ryan Lindley and Tommie Draheim first teamed up as a quarterback-center tandem on the freshman team at El Capitan High, and they’ve been partners ever since then.

With Lindley putting up prodigious passing totals as a senior, Aztecs head coach Chuck Long was well aware of the El Cap quarterback’s 3,521 yards and 35 touchdown tosses. Who in San Diego football wasn’t?

And Long, like other college recruiters, recognized Lindley stood tall with prototypical quarterback size as a 6-foot-4, 205-pounder.

But in Long’s mind, an abstract quality stood out more than the numbers when he landed Lindley as a prized recruit: leadership.

“He’s one of these guys,” said Long, as he broke into a pantomime, sweeping his arm over his shoulder in an exaggerated motion: “Follow me, guys!”

Since Draheim enjoyed an inside-the-huddle view the past four years, who better to ask if Long is correct?

“Definitely,” Draheim said. “He’s very enthusiastic and has a great love for the game. He gave guys confidence. If someone messed up, he would tell them, ‘We’ll get ’em next time.’ He was always fighting and never let up. It was a great feeling to know he was back there making decisions.”

The Aztecs don’t open fall camp for another month, but Lindley and Draheim are in pads early as they prepare to play in the 17th annual Alex Spanos All-Star Football Classic. San Diego’s North vs. South game matches graduated seniors at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 13 at Mesa College.

Lindley and Draheim (6-4, 260) were both first-team All-CIF picks, and Lindley swept the Offensive Player of the Year awards on the All-CIF teams chosen by both the Hall of Champions and Union-Tribune. He also earned the Russ Saunders Award from the Hall of Champions that goes to the CIF San Diego Section’s top high school football senior.

Draheim played center in high school, but the Aztecs envision him being able to play center, guard or tackle in college. He wasn’t the only recruit Lindley worked on to follow him to SDSU.

“After I committed to State, I would go to games and talk to guys who hadn’t committed yet,” he said. “I joked with Tommie that I wouldn’t talk to him again if he didn’t go to State. When he told me in our English class he had committed, I started freaking out.”

Lindley also joined forces with Vincent Brown, another early commitment as a wide receiver from Rancho Cucagmonga, on a weekend when the Aztecs had a large group of recruits in town for a game.

“We worked on guys, and about a week later three or four of those guys committed,” Lindley said. “Another guy, (Oakland Wilson defensive back) DeAndre West, had committed to Nebraska before he changed his mind. But Vincent worked him more than I did, so he deserves the credit.”

Lindley said his own decision to attend SDSU was based on a desire to play for his hometown university and to be part of a rebirth of SDSU football. Lindley and Draheim enjoyed a similar success story under the rebuilding plan of El Cap coach Ron Burner, who arrived when they were freshmen and installed a passing offense.

“I went on an unofficial visit during the season to watch how everything goes,” Lindley said. “It was sort of like a day in the life an Aztec. I watched everything, and that sealed the deal for me.”

Another influence on Lindley was former SDSU quarterback Lon Sheriff, the West Hills High alumnus that played for the Aztecs from 1999 to 2002. Burner convinced Sheriff to serve as his offensive coordinator once he realized the talent he had on his hands in Lindley.

“He was a like a big brother or a friend,” Lindley said. “He would take me aside, we would go through things and he would show me what I did wrong. He broke things down for me step by step how to do it right.”

Sheriff also encouraged Lindley and Draheim to play in the all-star game, which bucks the recent trend of scholarship-bound athletes sitting out the game for precautionary reasons.

As for his playing status in 2007 at SDSU, Lindley said he expected to redshirt his first year with veterans Kevin O’Connell and Kevin Craft in front of him. But that was before Craft departed to play at Mt. San Antonio College.

“It was probably 100 percent I would redshirt before he left, but it doesn’t really change anything for me,” he said. “I’m still going into camp to compete and learn the offense. However camp goes will determine what happens.”

El Capitan hasn’t been known as a one of San Diego’s traditional football powers. But last season the Vaqueros won the Grossmont North League title with an unbeaten record and were ranked No. 1 in San Diego entering the CIF Division III playoffs before losing to eventual champion St. Augustine.

“We were the first team to have that kind of success at El Cap,” Lindley said. “We’re looking to do the same thing at State.”

Tom Shanahan can be contacted at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.