Thorgesen's QB days are done

Twenty-five times the name Boone Thorgesen appears in the IHSA's online football records. His 2006 senior season stats as the Kaneland quarterback read like a cross between a fairy tale and an April fool's joke. That season, Thorgesen accounted for an other-worldly 4,767 total yards (second in state history), with 3,719 coming through the air (seventh). He tossed 43 touchdowns (seventh) and ran for 10 more, leading Kaneland to the Class 5A state semifinals. The IHSA's all-time defensive stats, of course, don't mention his name. “I always played both ways growing up Š but then junior and season year it was pretty much just quarterback,” Thorgesen said. “I'd play corner once in a while, just in some key spots, sometimes on fourth down, but that's about it.” At Northern Illinois, things have changed dramatically. As training camp wrapped up last summer during his red-shirt freshman season, Thorgesen sat down with the NIU coaching staff, led at the time by Joe Novak, to discuss his football future. Quarterback wouldn't be part of it. “They said they wanted me to know that they really liked me as a football player and wanted to get me on the field as fast as possible. They thought safety and special teams was the best fit,” Thorgesen said. “That's what I'm focused on now.” Not that saying goodbye to his boyhood position was an easy thing. “I've always thought of myself as a quarterback - it's something I've always thought I could do. But this is what's best for my football career,” said Thorgesen, who's on campus at NIU this summer preparing for August training camp. “I want to play and be productive for the team. Safety is where I can do that. ... It's hard to hang up being a quarterback, but I think this is the right thing for me.” New NIU head coach Jerry Kill said he's seen other players successfully make similar transitions and that Thorgesen has the drive to be another. “We haven't been here long enough to fully evaluate him, but I can tell you this, he's a very hard-working young man who plays the game very hard and with tremendous passion,” Kill said. “ Š We've moved a lot of kids around in my 25 years of coaching. It's nothing unusual.” Since getting to NIU, Thorgesen said he's added about 15 pounds to his 6-foot frame, checking in at 194 these days, and figures in addition to the athletic skill set he offers, his years under center should serve him well in the defensive backfield. “You always have to analyze a defense as a quarterback,” Thorgesen said. “ Š You have to pay attention to all those little things going on out there. At the Division I level, with how fast everything is, all of that counts.” So after a celebrated prep football career on the offensive side of the ball, Thorgesen is, in many ways, starting over, trying to carve out a college career in the defensive backfield, starting at the bottom of the Huskie food chain. “It's a time process. You come in and work hard. You might not play right away Š but if you play for two years at the Division I level, that's pretty good,” said Thorgesen, who hopes to make the traveling roster this fall. “I am definitely content with where I'm at and feel like I made the right choice switching to safety. Now I'm hoping to play.”