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Skyler Mornhinweg finds a good home at Columbia

It was a St. Joseph's Prep connection that got the ball rolling, leading Skyler Mornhinweg to Columbia University after he had decided to transfer from Florida. In truth, Mornhinweg could have cold-called Columbia's office and the school's new head coach would have quickly picked up the phone.

Former Florida quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg.
Former Florida quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg.Read more

It was a St. Joseph's Prep connection that got the ball rolling, leading Skyler Mornhinweg to Columbia University after he had decided to transfer from Florida. In truth, Mornhinweg could have cold-called Columbia's office and the school's new head coach would have quickly picked up the phone.

"It seemed like a natural fit," said Columbia coach Al Bagnoli, who remembered Mornhinweg well since Bagnoli coached Penn while Skyler was at the Prep.

Here's a subplot of this weekend's Bagnoli Bowl, Penn's longtime coach now the opposition, hosting the Quakers Saturday in New York.

The rebuilding job up there is a big one but it doesn't hurt to start with a QB who was on an SEC depth chart, if not necessarily on the field. Mornhinweg had started the last three games of Florida's 2013 season but when the son of former Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg didn't get on the field in 2014 except for a bit of Southeastern Conference mop-up duty, it was time to look around.

And if you're looking at your long-term future, an Ivy League degree isn't too shabby. Talking on the phone this week with Mornhinweg, I asked him if he knows what he'd like to be doing 20 years from now.

"I do," Mornhinweg said. "Right now, my thought is, graduate - I'm an English major - go to law school, and then I either want to start coaching, or start out in a front office. Eventually become a GM or president. That's my goal. It might take more than 20 years."

So Skyler doesn't want to be his father, an NFL lifer, including once the head coach of the Detroit Lions, a guy with an X and O computer for a brain. (Marty Mornhinweg now is quarterbacks coach of the Ravens). Skyler wants to be Howie Roseman, at least the Roseman who had the Eagles GM job before he was deposed by Chip Kelly.

"Howie Roseman, I talked to him a lot; he actually went to Florida," Skyler Mornhinweg said. "Just in talking to him, I know he went to law school. I kind of realized this was something I could do. He's the one who suggested law school. And my father actually always pushed law school."

If St. Joe's Prep guys eventually take over the NFL, you heard it here first. Skyler pointed out that his old Prep teammate, Greg Castillo (son of Juan), is now at Tulane Law School after playing at Iowa.

First things first. Columbia seems to be the right fit since Skyler, who has one more season of eligibility after this one, was able to win the starting job in the preseason.

"It was a very good competition," Bagnoli said. "To his credit, he was up here pretty much the entire summer. He missed spring ball, obviously. He worked at a law firm and he had a very, very productive summer, not only in terms of learning what we do, how we call things, but integrating himself with the other players. That becomes critical when you're an outside guy coming in. Becoming one of the guys, fitting in - sometimes that doesn't always happen."

Columbia, winless the last two seasons, at least took care of that streak last week. After losses to Fordham, Georgetown and Princeton, the Lions beat Wagner, 26-3. In addition to completing 12 of 24 passes for 143 yards, Mornhinweg was Columbia's leading rusher, with 74 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

"I told him when we were recruiting him, in this system, we want to have a quarterback who is at least a running threat," Bagnoli said. "He was like, 'Oh, I can run. I just couldn't run in the SEC.' "

Bagnoli liked that answer. It showed him both a sense of humor and perspective.

"The thing I like best about him, I think he has unbelievable demeanor," Bagnoli said. "Not much rattles the kid. He can overcome a bad play. He's got tremendous confidence in himself. That kind of permeates the rest of the team. He has great vision, he sees and anticipates, and gets ball out of his hands quick."

Mornhinweg was a local star, and actually committed to Stanford even before his sophomore year at the Prep, before he was the starting QB there, although he had started as a high school freshman at safety. When Jim Harbaugh left Stanford for the 49ers, Mornhinweg decommitted and eventually pledged to Penn State and Joe Paterno, but that was before the Sandusky scandal. When Paterno was no longer going to be his coach, Mornhinweg switched to Florida.

All that could sound like a guy constantly shopping. In fact, it always had logic, including this latest move. Mornhinweg didn't overvalue his own abilities. It was outsiders who saw what he could do and made the offers. In the end, it all worked out, and he said he values his time at Florida.

Mornhinweg explained how he called Columbia assistant Joe D'Orazio, a former Prep and Penn star. Mornhinweg had played with his brother at the Prep. Bagnoli had talked to Mornhinweg a couple of times, he said, during his high school years and knew his father. He was instantly interested.

"I definitely wanted to go somewhere and play," Mornhinweg said. There were no guarantees but at least the job was open.

As for Mornhinweg's future plan, it makes just as much sense. After rising up the ranks, Roseman took endless flak because he didn't have a football background before he showed up as an Eagles intern out of law school. That won't be the case for Mornhinweg. He's not just been around the game all his life, he's been immersed in it. Nobody will sell this guy short.

The Penn Quakers might be wise to treat him the same way on Saturday afternoon.

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus