2011 Ohio QB on the rise

Cincinnati (Ohio) Badin junior quarterback Patrick Coyne currently holds two offers and he expects to pick up plenty more before the end of the recruiting process.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound quarterback led Badin to an appearance in the state playoffs before they fell in the first round.

On the year Coyne passed for 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns while rushing for 882 yards, not counting yardage lost to sacks, and 11 scores. A transfer from La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Coyne was a good fit in Badin's offense this year.

"We had a very good season and proved a lot of people wrong," Coyne said. "We had a few injuries on the line and in key spots. One of our seniors was hurt in the second week and he missed three games. We proved a lot of people wrong and we'll prove them wrong next year.

"I have all my receivers back next year. I have my running back coming back, three linemen and a good amount on defense."

Badin's new coach tried to implement a new offense during the first portion of this past year, but decided to go with what his personnel was best suited for later in the year.

"At the beginning of the year I was definitely running more than I threw," he said. "The first game I threw it 10 times, and the second game I threw it like 14 times. Over the last six games I threw for 1,000 yards, if that tells you how much we were throwing it.

"We had a new coaching staff this year, and I'm a transfer. He came from a Wing T offense ... a real run-oriented guy. Over the year he just gained confidence in us and realized we're more of a spread team. We got a feel for each other as the year went on."

Cincinnati and Toledo have extended offers to Coyne. The offer from the Bearcats came in before Brian Kelly took the head coaching job at Notre Dame.

"Their new coach is a spread coach," Coyne said. "My offer was from coach Kelly while he was there, and now that he's left I haven't talked to their staff or anything. I would love to play for my hometown team. Their offense fits me perfectly. I play more like (Zach) Collaros than (Tony) Pike. Collaros is going to be there and I actually probably model my game more after him than anyone in the country."

Coyne has been contacted by 33 Division I schools and most of them have said they will be evaluating him more over the course of the next few months.

His father was a collegiate athlete and received an offer from West Virginia before a broken foot prevented him from playing football there. He grew up in a family of West Virginia fans, but acknowledged that he is not the greatest fit for the Mountaineers' offense.

"I'll always be a West Virginia fan, but I think they look for the guys that run the 4.4 and are more option-type guys," he said.