Photo by: Ellison Neumann
Still Competing: The Gus Ragland Story
4/20/2023 11:08:00 AM | Football
10 years after choosing to join Miami Football, Gus Ragland made the same decision again.
And it was even simpler this time around.
Ragland, who completed better than 60% of his passes as a RedHawk from 2015-18 and ranks in the top five in five different career statistical categories, returned to Oxford in February as the new quarterbacks coach at his alma mater.
"Coming back here was the easiest decision I've ever made," Ragland said. "I've always wanted to come back here. I've always loved Miami. I've always had a great relationship with Coach Martin.
"I've always really valued him as a coach, and that goes for all the coaches on staff that I got to play for as a player. Coach Brechin, Coach Welsh, Coach Brown, Coach Bowen: all those guys are here. I knew those guys were great coaches when I was a player, and so being able to come back and learn from them from the flip side of things, from the coaching standpoint, was really important to me…
"That's really what drew me back. Obviously, you know how special this place is…I had a great experience here and I've always wanted to be back here."
Ragland joined the Miami Football staff after spending the past four seasons at Notre Dame, first as an offensive analyst and then later as a graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach. During his time in South Bend, the Fighting Irish went 41-10 and made four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the College Football Playoff in January 2021.
"Being at Notre Dame was so impactful to me because I got to work with so many position groups and see the game from a big-picture standpoint," said Ragland. "That's my biggest advice to guys getting into the profession…it will open up doors for you down the road and also just help you learn more about the game."
Ragland majored in Engineering as a Miami student-athlete but was always interested in a career in football. "My senior year, Coach Koehler had given me opportunities to get in front of our quarterback room and talk and run the clicker," Ragland recalled. "He'd given me opportunities to script at practice, and I think that was the first [time] I was like, 'Okay, I kind of enjoy this. This is something that I could see myself doing!'"
The 2018 All-MAC signal-caller racked up plenty of impressive stats during his collegiate career, including a mind-boggling 53-to-1 red zone touchdown-to-turnover ratio, but is most remembered by RedHawk fans for the magical second half of the 2016 season.
Ragland returned from a torn ACL in only six months to make his first career start under center on Oct. 15, 2016. Although he wasn't even listed on the depth chart that week, Ragland sparked a previously 0-6 team to a come-from-behind 18-14 win over Kent State, tossing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Young with 1:34 to play. Ragland and the RedHawks went on to win six games in a row, earning a share of the MAC East championship and becoming the first team in college football history to improve from 0-6 to 6-6.
Since that pivotal day, the Red and White own a conference-best 34-16 record against MAC competition.
"I've never heard of anybody coming back from an ACL in six months," Martin said. "That was the turning point [for our program]…I'll forever be appreciative.
"I feel like I kind of paid him back by hiring him," Martin laughed. "I still don't feel like we're even, but it's a start!"
"The most dangerous guy is someone who doesn't have anything to lose," Ragland said. "I felt that whole year like I had nothing to lose, so I wasn't really nervous.
"This was the opportunity I'd been waiting on for three years. I finally got it, and I just tried to make the most out of it…next thing you know, you look up and you're in a bowl game.
"Everyone was surprised, but if you look back at those games, we were in a lot of really close games going into that seventh game of the year. If anything, I hope I brought some new energy and just kind of helped us get over the edge."
In hindsight, Ragland said his grueling rehab process that summer gave him the chance to improve as a player in ways he couldn't have otherwise and set the stage for the historic six-game stretch to close the regular season.
"I was able to get a lot stronger in the weight room. I was able to look at the game from a whole different perspective: A lot more in the film room, but also during practice, looking at things that maybe I wouldn't see from a big picture-standpoint if I was getting reps," Ragland explained.
"I had to become a pocket passer in those six months. I knew I wouldn't be the same [runner] coming back…
"If I don't get hurt, I don't think those things happen."
Fast forward to 2023, and Ragland uses that firsthand experience to share those same lessons with the current crop of RedHawk quarterbacks. "It's finding what you're not great at, finding what you need to work on," Ragland said.
"Keep getting better at the things that you're good at, but really find the things that you need to work on and just build off that to become a more complete player, or a more complete coach. You can apply it to anything that you're doing in life."
Ragland has enjoyed his first few months in charge of Miami's quarterback group, including getting to work with returners Brett Gabbert (6,259 passing yards and 45 touchdowns) and Aveon Smith (nine starts in 2022) as well as transfer addition Maddox Kopp.
"You have a ton of experience in that room," Ragland said. "We've got all these guys who can play, but then we have a group of guys that I just love spending time with every day, and all of them love to compete…
"If you're going to live and die by something, it'd better be, 'Hey, this guy's a competitor. This guy's tough. This guy's confident. We can work with the other skill sets. We can work with the guy passing; we can do drills for that.
"There aren't a ton of drills to help a kid become more competitive. So that's something I look for in recruiting, just like Coach Martin and his first staff did when they were putting that first class together in December of 2013."
Ragland was Martin's very first recruit nearly a decade ago, signing up to join the Miami program shortly after authoring an eight-touchdown performance in Cincinnati Moeller's 55-52 state championship victory.
Martin credits that initial class with helping turn around Miami Football as the RedHawks climbed toward an eventual league championship in 2019, the year after Ragland graduated.
"He was obviously the first of many building blocks…one of the most competitive high school kids you've ever seen on tape," Martin remembered. "I didn't know that he was going to be a three-plus-year starter for me at quarterback...but I knew he could compete. I knew he was an athlete. I knew he was going to make my team tougher. I knew he was a winner. I knew he was going to make my team more competitive. And I knew he was going to work and set a bar for me."
Now things have come full circle for Martin, Ragland and the program. And although Ragland will be wearing a headset instead of a helmet when the RedHawks take the field at Yager Stadium this fall, one thing won't change.
"I'm just [looking forward to] getting out there and competing," Ragland said. "I love being here, and I think we have a real shot at doing something special…
"It's been done here with Coach Martin. He knows what winning looks like and feels like…I just want to come in and try to add to that in any way I can.
"I'm just excited to be a part of it."
Find more Front Row Features at www.MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
Miami Football's annual Spring Showcase is Saturday, April 22 at 11:30 a.m. in the Dauch Indoor Sports Center. The event, which will feature a spring game with traditional scoring, is free and open to the public. Doors open at 10:30, and fans will have the opportunity to purchase 2023 season tickets, reserve a season parking pass, donate to the Miami Athletic Fund and get updated rosters at the 'One Stop Shop.'
And it was even simpler this time around.
Ragland, who completed better than 60% of his passes as a RedHawk from 2015-18 and ranks in the top five in five different career statistical categories, returned to Oxford in February as the new quarterbacks coach at his alma mater.
"Coming back here was the easiest decision I've ever made," Ragland said. "I've always wanted to come back here. I've always loved Miami. I've always had a great relationship with Coach Martin.
"I've always really valued him as a coach, and that goes for all the coaches on staff that I got to play for as a player. Coach Brechin, Coach Welsh, Coach Brown, Coach Bowen: all those guys are here. I knew those guys were great coaches when I was a player, and so being able to come back and learn from them from the flip side of things, from the coaching standpoint, was really important to me…
"That's really what drew me back. Obviously, you know how special this place is…I had a great experience here and I've always wanted to be back here."
Ragland joined the Miami Football staff after spending the past four seasons at Notre Dame, first as an offensive analyst and then later as a graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach. During his time in South Bend, the Fighting Irish went 41-10 and made four consecutive postseason appearances, including a trip to the College Football Playoff in January 2021.
"Being at Notre Dame was so impactful to me because I got to work with so many position groups and see the game from a big-picture standpoint," said Ragland. "That's my biggest advice to guys getting into the profession…it will open up doors for you down the road and also just help you learn more about the game."
Ragland majored in Engineering as a Miami student-athlete but was always interested in a career in football. "My senior year, Coach Koehler had given me opportunities to get in front of our quarterback room and talk and run the clicker," Ragland recalled. "He'd given me opportunities to script at practice, and I think that was the first [time] I was like, 'Okay, I kind of enjoy this. This is something that I could see myself doing!'"
The 2018 All-MAC signal-caller racked up plenty of impressive stats during his collegiate career, including a mind-boggling 53-to-1 red zone touchdown-to-turnover ratio, but is most remembered by RedHawk fans for the magical second half of the 2016 season.
Since that pivotal day, the Red and White own a conference-best 34-16 record against MAC competition.
"I've never heard of anybody coming back from an ACL in six months," Martin said. "That was the turning point [for our program]…I'll forever be appreciative.
"I feel like I kind of paid him back by hiring him," Martin laughed. "I still don't feel like we're even, but it's a start!"
"The most dangerous guy is someone who doesn't have anything to lose," Ragland said. "I felt that whole year like I had nothing to lose, so I wasn't really nervous.
"This was the opportunity I'd been waiting on for three years. I finally got it, and I just tried to make the most out of it…next thing you know, you look up and you're in a bowl game.
"Everyone was surprised, but if you look back at those games, we were in a lot of really close games going into that seventh game of the year. If anything, I hope I brought some new energy and just kind of helped us get over the edge."
In hindsight, Ragland said his grueling rehab process that summer gave him the chance to improve as a player in ways he couldn't have otherwise and set the stage for the historic six-game stretch to close the regular season.
"I was able to get a lot stronger in the weight room. I was able to look at the game from a whole different perspective: A lot more in the film room, but also during practice, looking at things that maybe I wouldn't see from a big picture-standpoint if I was getting reps," Ragland explained.
"I had to become a pocket passer in those six months. I knew I wouldn't be the same [runner] coming back…
"If I don't get hurt, I don't think those things happen."
Fast forward to 2023, and Ragland uses that firsthand experience to share those same lessons with the current crop of RedHawk quarterbacks. "It's finding what you're not great at, finding what you need to work on," Ragland said.
"Keep getting better at the things that you're good at, but really find the things that you need to work on and just build off that to become a more complete player, or a more complete coach. You can apply it to anything that you're doing in life."
Ragland has enjoyed his first few months in charge of Miami's quarterback group, including getting to work with returners Brett Gabbert (6,259 passing yards and 45 touchdowns) and Aveon Smith (nine starts in 2022) as well as transfer addition Maddox Kopp.
"You have a ton of experience in that room," Ragland said. "We've got all these guys who can play, but then we have a group of guys that I just love spending time with every day, and all of them love to compete…
"If you're going to live and die by something, it'd better be, 'Hey, this guy's a competitor. This guy's tough. This guy's confident. We can work with the other skill sets. We can work with the guy passing; we can do drills for that.
"There aren't a ton of drills to help a kid become more competitive. So that's something I look for in recruiting, just like Coach Martin and his first staff did when they were putting that first class together in December of 2013."
Ragland was Martin's very first recruit nearly a decade ago, signing up to join the Miami program shortly after authoring an eight-touchdown performance in Cincinnati Moeller's 55-52 state championship victory.Martin credits that initial class with helping turn around Miami Football as the RedHawks climbed toward an eventual league championship in 2019, the year after Ragland graduated.
"He was obviously the first of many building blocks…one of the most competitive high school kids you've ever seen on tape," Martin remembered. "I didn't know that he was going to be a three-plus-year starter for me at quarterback...but I knew he could compete. I knew he was an athlete. I knew he was going to make my team tougher. I knew he was a winner. I knew he was going to make my team more competitive. And I knew he was going to work and set a bar for me."
Now things have come full circle for Martin, Ragland and the program. And although Ragland will be wearing a headset instead of a helmet when the RedHawks take the field at Yager Stadium this fall, one thing won't change.
"I'm just [looking forward to] getting out there and competing," Ragland said. "I love being here, and I think we have a real shot at doing something special…
"It's been done here with Coach Martin. He knows what winning looks like and feels like…I just want to come in and try to add to that in any way I can.
"I'm just excited to be a part of it."
Find more Front Row Features at www.MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.
Miami Football's annual Spring Showcase is Saturday, April 22 at 11:30 a.m. in the Dauch Indoor Sports Center. The event, which will feature a spring game with traditional scoring, is free and open to the public. Doors open at 10:30, and fans will have the opportunity to purchase 2023 season tickets, reserve a season parking pass, donate to the Miami Athletic Fund and get updated rosters at the 'One Stop Shop.'
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