Glennon’s wait is over, starting Tuesday

He’s got it all – exceptional height, above-average arm strength, solid decision-making abilities and a winner’s mentality. Mike Glennon had all that down when he came to NC State two years ago. Patience might not have been high on the list. It is now.

The highly-recruited, highly-decorated quarterback from Westfield High School in Chantilly, VA was supposed to be the next “it” quarterback at NC State. He was supposed to be Philip Rivers-like and start right away for a team searching for a leader. A leader did emerge during Glennon’s first year on campus, but it wasn’t him.

Fast forward two years, and Glennon is still waiting for his opportunity. Starting tomorrow, he’ll get it.

Because of Russell Wilson’s decision to focus on baseball this spring and the fact that there is not another scholarship quarterback listed on the roster, Glennon will get all the reps with the first team during the next month. Glennon said he’s excited for the chance to prove himself.

“Russell playing baseball right now gives me an opportunity so I just have to step up and make the most of it,” Glennon said. “I know what to expect mentally and physically going against our ones so it gives me the approach that I need to take. I need to be ready. The guys are looking at me as the starting quarterback right now, so I just have to take more of a leadership role and be ready to go.”

While spring practice doesn’t officially start until Tuesday afternoon, the team has been hard at work in the weight room since coming back for the spring semester the first week of January. For Glennon, the time leading up to spring practice has been a time to work and become more vocal with the rest of the team.

“People are getting after it. Everyone is working hard and getting ready for spring,” he said. “I’ve been out there throwing with receivers getting timing down, just getting back and running, lifting doing all those things and watching film breaking down our offense versus other defenses. I haven’t focused on one thing in general, basically one thing as a whole. I’ve just been working. “

While Glennon said the last couple of years have been tough simply because he wants to be on the field competing, he said he understands that not every great quarterback starts from day one. Glennon said the thought of transferring never crossed his mind. He said he’s used the two years of waiting and watching to learn, not only from Russell Wilson but from offensive coordinator Dana Bible as well.

“Obviously I would have liked to have played by now but I know what to expect and you just have to be patient,” he said. “Not many people play as a true freshman or even a redshirt freshman, and there have been plenty of guys go on to a successful career in the NFL who didn’t start right away. You don’t have to start right away to become a great quarterback, but obviously I would like to play. I’m a competitive guy.”

Glennon said he’s continued to progress as a quarterback despite only playing limited snaps in seven games last season. He attributes a lot of that progress to Bible, who Glennon called the ‘most respected’ coach on the staff.

“He has more respect from our players than any other coach. Everything he says has a reason behind it. He doesn’t just yell to yell,” he said. “He’s really made it much easier taking that step from high school to college, and he tells me he runs an NFL offense so really it’s from high school to the NFL. He’s great at what he does.”

As for what happens after spring practice heading into the fall and the 2010 season, it looks like Glennon will once again get to use the patience he’s developed the last two years. Wilson’s decision of whether or not to return to the football team will directly impact Glennon’s path with the Wolfpack. But even if Wilson does return, head coach Tom O’Brien has said time and again that the best players in practice will play in the games regardless of who started the year before or the week before.

“They always say that the best players going to play,” Glennon said. “They told me something similar with Matt Ryan happened. I think he didn’t start the beginning of his sophomore year, and the other guy got hurt. He stepped in and never looked back.”

It’s hard to know if 2010 will be the season when Glennon breaks out and never looks back, but Tuesday will be the first step to finding out.