Getsy’s football career resurrected in Akron

A little over a month before Super Bowl XL, there was another bowl game being played in… A little over a month before Super Bowl XL, there was another bowl game being played in Detroit.

As a matter of fact, a player from Pittsburgh was making history in the very same arena where the Steelers would eventually become world champions.

Akron Zips quarterback Luke Getsy completed 34 of 59 passes for 455 yards and four touchdowns to set the all-time mark for most passing yards and tie Chad Pennington’s record for the most touchdowns in the Motor City Bowl.

The real killer: Getsy used to play for Pitt.

Before transferring to Akron after his sophomore year in 2004, Getsy lined up under center in a Panther uniform under the helm of then-head coach Walt Harris. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound gunslinger saw a warm and promising future at Pitt when he signed a National Letter of Intent in 2002.

“I felt like it was the right place and I was comfortable with the players and the coaching staff,” the Munhall, Pa., native said. “The facilities were great but the players were what I felt most comfortable with-you could tell they were always out for each other.”

After becoming the first four-year starter at nearby Steel Valley High School, Getsy sat out his freshman year behind Rod Rutherford and fellow newcomer Tyler Palko.

The next year, however, Getsy earned his first collegiate start in the Panthers’ initial game against Kent State while Palko redshirted and Rutherford was benched because of off-the-field troubles.

But Getsy’s lack of game-time experience made itself very apparent in his first start, as the sophomore threw for only 32 yards on 3-of-11 passing, persuading Harris to restore Rutherford in the lineup. Getsy saw limited action the rest of the year.

The starting quarterback job reopened in the off-season, however, when Rutherford completed his final season, and many believed Getsy to have a slight edge over Palko who was coming off his redshirt year.

Nonetheless, Harris gave Palko the nod and the rest, as they say, is history. Soon after, Getsy began contemplating transferring.

“It came down to where I saw myself being comfortable,” Getsy said. “I saw things were on the rise at Akron and felt like it was the best place for me.”

Perhaps part of what made Akron feel right to Getsy was that the Zips’ head coach, J.D. Brookhart, was formerly Pitt’s offensive coordinator.

“I didn’t talk to Coach Brookhart before [transferring],” Getsy said. “But now playing for him, he’s a real comfortable guy to be around.”

And as Getsy would have anyone believe, the decision was not based on any relationship problems with his former coach in Harris.

“We had a pretty good relationship for the most part,” Getsy said of himself and Harris. “I’d say the biggest problem was the lack of communication, but it was fun playing for him and fun learning things from him.”

Perhaps the underlying reason for Getsy’s transfer became unearthed about a year later when Pitt’s then-backup quarterback Joe Flacco decided to leave Pitt for the University of Delaware.

Two years. Two quarterbacks gone.

“I think we’re both competitors and want to play,” Getsy said of Flacco and himself. “[Pitt] knew they were committed to Tyler and we both knew that we could find better places to go.”

Getsy did learn a lot from Harris, though, and the latter did not fail to take notice when the quarterback was near his exit.

“We’ve been training him for three years,” Harris told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2004. “For sure, we didn’t want to lose Luke Getsy. He’s a remarkable young man.”

Everyone involved with Akron football now knows that as well. After sitting out a year because of NCAA transfer regulations, Getsy led the Zips to their first Mid American Conference championship in school history while throwing for a total of 3,455 yards and 23 touchdowns. Brookhart runs the same offense at Akron that Getsy learned in his time at Pitt, so the quarterback’s immediate success isn’t all that complicated to figure out.

“Three to four years in this offense really helped, and all the guys here accepted me, so I was able to become their leader and run the show each Saturday,” Getsy said.

But while Getsy was lighting things up last season, one couldn’t help but notice the struggles Pitt was having after a Big East Championship year.

“I have a lot of friends on the [Pitt] team and I know they had some tough times this year and I talked to a lot of them about it,” Getsy said. “They supported me all the way and I have no regrets going there and no regrets leaving.”

Believe it or not, Getsy’s time to leave Akron is almost upon him as well. He will be a senior this fall, and perhaps join the ranks of MAC quarterbacks like Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger and Akron’s own Charlie Frye in the NFL.

“First thing’s first and that’s this season,” Getsy said. “But yeah, I want to keep playing ball [after college].”