My Football Journey: Cyhl Quarles
11/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 25, 2011
This article was originally published in the Nov. 19 edition of Kickoff, the official gameday magazine of Wake Forest football.
Q: When did you start playing football?
A: I was eight years old, and I played for the Patriots in Georgia. It was real fun. It was a Little League football team. I love those guys. It was right up the street from my house. I remember going to practice every day in my shoulder pads. The next year when I was nine--nine until I went to high school--my dad was my football coach. My dad and all my uncles...Coach Stacy, Coach Bruce, all those guys. It was real fun.
Q: When did you first realize you could play at the major college level?
A: I really didn't think about in that way. My brother got a scholarship to UConn out of high school so that was motivation for me. My high school wasn't really that good in football. I mean we didn't win that many games at all. So just playing football in high school was a downer. But I love the game and I've been playing since I was eight so I was like "OK, I want to get to this next level." And God blessed me with a scholarship from Wake Forest, and Coach Grobe believed in me so I'm here now.
Q: How did you end up at Wake Forest?
A: I went to a top prospect camp. I got an email to my head coach, Coach Reggie Perry. I was going into my 12th-grade season. He told me some guy named Jeff Mullen is trying to recruit you. He's actually at UNC Charlotte now. So I was like cool I'll go up there. So I came up here and I ran the 40 and did the drills and stuff and Coach Grobe offered me a scholarship right after that. So it's a blessing.
Q: It sounds like the recruiting process was quite easy when Coach Grobe offered you a scholarship. Was there anything else to it?
A: Once he gave me the scholarship I started looking into it more. I talked to my mom. She said it was a good academic school and it's in the ACC so you will play against the best competition like Miami and Georgia Tech and all those guys. I wanted to play for Georgia Tech when I was little but they didn't give me a scholarship so I said, "Yeah, I'm going to Wake so I can play against them." It's revenge.
Q: What is the best memory of your high school career?
A: We almost won our homecoming game my senior year. That was an amazing moment. You really got to see everybody on your team that really loved each other. We were just crying and happy because we were about to win. We ended up losing in the last few seconds. That's a good-bad moment.
Q: What area of your game do you need to improve on?
A: I really want to improve on tackling and catching the ball. You know most defensive backs are just wide receivers that can't catch. I've struggled in previous years with catching and tackling so that's one thing. You can always improve on everything but those are two things that I want to focus on.
Q: Is there an area of your game that just comes natural to you?
A: Just being a presence on the field. Being a leader, trying to get everybody pumped up. That's one thing I try to implement.
Q: What person has had the most influence on your football career?
A: My dad. Him being my Little League coach had a big impact. Going into high school, my weight training coach, Coach Tommy Stucky. He's actually the strength and conditioning coach at Lovett High School. He had a real big impact. And Coach Pugh, he's at Georgia State now. Those guys really helped a lot, along with my uncles--Coach Stacy, Coach Bruce and Coach Luther.
Q: What do you plan to do after your football career is over?
A: If God blesses me with the opportunity to go to the NFL--that everybody's dream when they're at this level--that's what I want to do. If not, I want to do pharmaceutical sales with my mom. She does that and she has fun so I might like that.