UNM football: UConn transfer QB Cole Welliver ready to compete for starting job

In most official visits, a recruit and a coach will sit down and watch film. Some sessions are more thorough, making said time the focal point of the visit. Others aren’t. It all depends on the coach, program and player.

In UConn transfer quarterback Cole Welliver’s case, he spent about 10 minutes of his official visit to New Mexico watching tape with a coach.

That was all he needed.

“I just liked everything — how they ran the offense, called the offense and attacked defenses,” he told the Journal on Thursday.

Now Welliver will have a shot to execute that offense this fall. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound former UConn quarterback committed to UNM via a post on social media Wednesday, marking the Lobos’ fifth transfer signing this spring.

Adding another signal caller was expected after UNM closed spring practice in April with just two healthy quarterbacks, James Laubstein and Gabriel Motschenbacher. Idaho transfer Jack Layne — the Lobos’ first-stringer at the start of spring — logged only one full practice after suffering an elbow injury. Quarterbacks Isaiah Chavez and Emery Floyd opted to leave the program in April.

“I think with (Layne) missing so much time, I think that gave (Laubstein) an opportunity to get a lot of reps,” Eck said on April 18. “So, I think we’ll have a little competition that way, and then we’ll see (if) there’s a good fit that we can add, and if that guy’s ready to compete for the job.”

A former three-star prospect out of Liberty Christian (Texas) School, Welliver appeared in just one game last season, a 63-17 win over Merrimack. But the Flower Mound, Texas, native closed the season as the Huskies’ third-string quarterback and with Joe Fagnano and Nick Evers returning, he entered the portal in mid-April to find a new opportunity.

“UConn has a great program there and a great football team, filled with great coaches,” Welliver said. “But I (felt) like there were better options out there for me.”

When he entered the portal, a familiar face reached out: UNM director of football operations David Harris, who previously spent eight years at UConn, overlapping with Welliver last season.

It wasn’t long before he realized UNM might be a fit. As a senior at Liberty Christian, Welliver threw for 3,082 yards, 50 touchdowns and three interceptions in an offense implemented by Warriors head coach and former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten.

“Our offense was built around the Cowboys offense,” he said. “We were running Cowboy plays, really, the whole time. He gave me the keys to the offense and yeah, we did pretty good that year. We were shredding defenses as well.”

And when UNM’s pro-style offense was shown to him, it only made sense that it would appeal to a player who likes to strike in the passing game.

“It was everything I liked when I was watching it,” he said.

With Welliver and three-star prospect Toa Faavae coming in over the summer, UNM will have five quarterbacks to work with entering fall camp. Eck said he expects the starting job to be up for grabs when fall camp rolls around in August.

Does Welliver expect to compete for it?

“For sure,” he said. “That’s my goal anywhere.”