Bryn Renner was ready to take over at quarterback for North Carolina in 2010. Mike Glennon was slated to do the same at N.C. State in 2012.
But it’s 2011, and both players from Northern Virginia high schools are ready — one late, the other early — to make their debut as a starter under vastly different circumstances.
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After a spectacular spring game in 2010, Renner, a West Springfield graduate, seemed ready to oust incumbent T.J. Yates, a quarterback UNC fans considered a stop-gap. But in his senior year, Yates played better than anyone expected, and Renner remained on the bench.
At N.C. State, the quarterback pecking order was never in question. Glennon, a Westfield graduate, was the backup as long as dynamic Russell Wilson remained with the Wolfpack.
But when Wilson skipped spring workouts to continue his professional baseball career, coach Tom O’Brien released him with a year of eligibility remaining. Wilson has since walked away from baseball and transferred to Wisconsin to play football, where he will be eligible this fall.
Oddly enough, while baseball accelerated Glennon’s promotion, it might have slowed Renner’s. In the spring of 2010, Renner’s time was split between the football and baseball teams at UNC before he gave up his diamond dreams late that April.
Glennon and Renner step into transitional situations of a different sort this year.
While O’Brien’s scuttling of Wilson was a vote of confidence for Glennon, it does ramp up the pressure for the 6-foot-6 redshirt junior, especially with N.C. State coming off a 9-4 season in which Wilson was named All-ACC.
“That’s what I came here for. I came here to be the starting quarterback,” Glennon told reporters Wednesday. “Now my time has come.”
Renner’s transition is not only to a starting role but to a new coach. Butch Davis was dismissed last week, replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Everett Withers.
Easing the transition for sophomore Renner is a loaded offensive line and a stable of speedy backs and receivers. One thing Davis left in North Carolina was plenty of talent.
“I’m a small piece of the puzzle,” Renner said. “I just have to stay out of the way.”
