Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Dual-threat quarterback
6/11/2017 10:00:00 AM | Football
Scholar-athlete Brent Stockstill (’16) is the complete package for MT
Although Brent Stockstill has just two seasons under his belt as starting quarterback of the Blue Raiders, the redshirt sophomore's awards and achievements on the field are nothing short of staggering.
He's already the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes (57), 300-yard passing games (13), and passing yards per game (297.7), and will no doubt break most every other school passing record next season. A Freshman All-American, he is currently 20th nationally among active players in career passing yards, and fifth in passing yards per game.
But to focus solely on Stockstill's accolades and accomplishments on the field would be to miss a big part of his story. With an academic work ethic that equals his fierce competitive streak on the football field, Stockstill has already graduated with a bachelor's degree in three years and has even started work in a master's program.
True Blue Student-Athlete
Given the remarkable nature of his accomplishments on the football field, it would be easy to imagine Stockstill spending all of his time sitting in a film room or tossing balls on the practice field. But he knows when it's time to put football to the side and focus on excelling in the other field of play for student-athletes: the classroom.
"I'm extremely proud to complete it that quick," Stockstill said of his undergraduate degree attainment. "It's pretty cool that I still have two years of football left to go ahead, and work on a master's. I really couldn't ask for much more."
Given how quickly Stockstill earned his degree, one would assume he followed a hurdle-less path to graduation. But the road hasn't always been a straight and easy one for the quarterback. He was originally signed with the University of Cincinnati out of Murfreesboro's Siegel High School in 2013, but chose before the fall semester started to transfer to Middle Tennessee.
Cincinnati granted his release from his scholarship, and Stockstill took a grayshirt for his first season on the MT campus. That meant he had to pay his own way through the first semester before a scholarship opened up in January of 2014.
Stockstill then took a redshirt one game into the 2014 season, again delaying the start to his collegiate career on the field. He was eventually named the starter out of camp in 2015 as a redshirt freshman.
While he was waiting to get on the field, Stockstill's focus in the classroom was searing to say the least. In just three and a half years, he completed his bachelor's degree in leisure, sport, and tourism studies, graduating in December of 2016. Thanks to the department's Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Program, he also started on a master's degree in sport management in the spring with 12 credits already under his belt. (In order for students to be accepted into the ABM Program and Leisure and Sport Management Master's Program, they have to maintain at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA in their undergraduate courses.)
"When I was starting out, I didn't know that's how it was going to work, but as I got through my first and second year, I saw where if I could do what I was supposed to do on the path I was on, I could complete my master's even before my senior year of football," Stockstill said. "That's pretty exciting."
According to Stockstill, even with some of the distractions that go hand-in-hand with being a college quarterback, and with football preparations taking up a lot of his time, reaching his academic goals wasn't as difficult as he believes it might have been at another university. He credits both the "great academic guidance" he's gotten at MTSU and the work ethic instilled in him by his parents both on and off the field for his performance in the classroom.
"You have the people here to put you in the right place, you just have to do the work," he said. "It's hard to be a student-athlete. You have to be very mature, and balance both the ball and the work. When you have the people around you constantly pushing you and trying to keep you on track, all you have to do is focus on doing the work."
First and Ten
Stockstill doesn't plan on slowing down academically. He's on track to graduate in just one year with a master's degree, an academic achievement he hopes will help him transition to a coaching role after his playing days are over.
"Having that master's in hand is going to be huge for me," he said. "I think having both my quarterback play and my degree is going to be a huge help in the future when I get into the coaching profession."
With so much academic success (and football records) already under his belt, what does Stockstill say could be the cherry on top of his already storied career at Middle Tennessee?
"To be able to do everything here in Murfreesboro is special," he said. "Now we just have to go get the fans a championship."
He's already the school's all-time leader in touchdown passes (57), 300-yard passing games (13), and passing yards per game (297.7), and will no doubt break most every other school passing record next season. A Freshman All-American, he is currently 20th nationally among active players in career passing yards, and fifth in passing yards per game.
But to focus solely on Stockstill's accolades and accomplishments on the field would be to miss a big part of his story. With an academic work ethic that equals his fierce competitive streak on the football field, Stockstill has already graduated with a bachelor's degree in three years and has even started work in a master's program.
True Blue Student-Athlete
Given the remarkable nature of his accomplishments on the football field, it would be easy to imagine Stockstill spending all of his time sitting in a film room or tossing balls on the practice field. But he knows when it's time to put football to the side and focus on excelling in the other field of play for student-athletes: the classroom.
"I'm extremely proud to complete it that quick," Stockstill said of his undergraduate degree attainment. "It's pretty cool that I still have two years of football left to go ahead, and work on a master's. I really couldn't ask for much more."
Given how quickly Stockstill earned his degree, one would assume he followed a hurdle-less path to graduation. But the road hasn't always been a straight and easy one for the quarterback. He was originally signed with the University of Cincinnati out of Murfreesboro's Siegel High School in 2013, but chose before the fall semester started to transfer to Middle Tennessee.
Cincinnati granted his release from his scholarship, and Stockstill took a grayshirt for his first season on the MT campus. That meant he had to pay his own way through the first semester before a scholarship opened up in January of 2014.
Stockstill then took a redshirt one game into the 2014 season, again delaying the start to his collegiate career on the field. He was eventually named the starter out of camp in 2015 as a redshirt freshman.
While he was waiting to get on the field, Stockstill's focus in the classroom was searing to say the least. In just three and a half years, he completed his bachelor's degree in leisure, sport, and tourism studies, graduating in December of 2016. Thanks to the department's Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Program, he also started on a master's degree in sport management in the spring with 12 credits already under his belt. (In order for students to be accepted into the ABM Program and Leisure and Sport Management Master's Program, they have to maintain at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA in their undergraduate courses.)
"When I was starting out, I didn't know that's how it was going to work, but as I got through my first and second year, I saw where if I could do what I was supposed to do on the path I was on, I could complete my master's even before my senior year of football," Stockstill said. "That's pretty exciting."
According to Stockstill, even with some of the distractions that go hand-in-hand with being a college quarterback, and with football preparations taking up a lot of his time, reaching his academic goals wasn't as difficult as he believes it might have been at another university. He credits both the "great academic guidance" he's gotten at MTSU and the work ethic instilled in him by his parents both on and off the field for his performance in the classroom.
"You have the people here to put you in the right place, you just have to do the work," he said. "It's hard to be a student-athlete. You have to be very mature, and balance both the ball and the work. When you have the people around you constantly pushing you and trying to keep you on track, all you have to do is focus on doing the work."
First and Ten
Stockstill doesn't plan on slowing down academically. He's on track to graduate in just one year with a master's degree, an academic achievement he hopes will help him transition to a coaching role after his playing days are over.
"Having that master's in hand is going to be huge for me," he said. "I think having both my quarterback play and my degree is going to be a huge help in the future when I get into the coaching profession."
With so much academic success (and football records) already under his belt, what does Stockstill say could be the cherry on top of his already storied career at Middle Tennessee?
"To be able to do everything here in Murfreesboro is special," he said. "Now we just have to go get the fans a championship."
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