Steven Charles Threet (born January 2, 1989) is a former American football quarterback who played for both Michigan and Arizona State. He was the starting quarterback for the Arizona State Sun Devils. During the 2010 season Threet completed 208 of 336 passes for 2,553 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He passed for a career-high 391 yards and three touchdowns against Northern Arizona in September 2010.
He threw for 4,824 yards and 49 touchdowns as a high school player in Adrian, Michigan, and was ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 9 quarterback prospect in the nation in the Class of 2006. Threet committed to Georgia Tech and enrolled early there in January 2007.
After the coaches who had recruited him left the program, Threet announced in July 2007 that he was transferring to the University of Michigan under head coach Lloyd Carr. Carr was replaced before the 2008 season by Rich Rodriguez. After sitting out the 2007 season under NCAA transfer rules, the redshirt freshman Threet would go on to start at quarterback in eight of Michigan's 12 games.
Later that same year, Threet transferred to Arizona State University, citing the incompatibility of his playing style as a traditional pro style dropback passer with the spread offense of Rodriguez. After sitting out the 2009 season, Threet had two years of eligibility remaining with Arizona State. On August 30, 2010, Arizona State head coach, Dennis Erickson, announced that Threet would be the starting quarterback for the coming season.
Early years
Threet was born in Adrian, Michigan, and graduated from Adrian High School. During his senior year in high school, he accumulated 1,896 passing yards and threw 20 touchdown passes. He also had had 1,528 passing yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior. In all, he threw for 4,824 yards and 49 touchdowns in three seasons at Adrian High School.
As a high school senior, Threet was four-star prospect and the No. 9 quarterback prospect nationally according to Rivals.com. He was also named to The Detroit News Division II All-State first team. In August 2006, Detroit Free Press sports writer Chris Silva wrote that Threet "has the brains of a Steven Q. Urkel and an arm of a young Peyton Manning. He can audible at the line of scrimmage, like NFL star Peyton Manning, and absorb a playbook faster than Urkel could memorize physics formulas. Threet had Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Princeton clamoring over his smarts and skills."
Threet had offers from several major schools, including Wisconsin, Stanford, Illinois, North Carolina State, Indiana, Cincinnati and Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech
Threet committed to Georgia Tech in July 2006 and enrolled early in January 2007. His high school coach recalled, "He fell in love with the recruiters and the position coaches at Georgia Tech." Soon after Threet arrived at Georgia Tech, both of the coaches who had recruited him took jobs elsewhere. During spring practice in April 2007, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that "Threet appeared to take the lead over Calvin Booker for the No. 2 quarterback spot," completing 7 of 11 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown while working with the No. 1 offense.
University of Michigan
In July 2007 Threet announced he would transfer to the University of Michigan. While Lloyd Carr was still head coach at Michigan, he had also recruited five-star quarterback Ryan Mallett. Threet called his former high school coach and left a message saying, "Coach, I'm going to go back to Michigan, and I'm going to beat [Ryan] Mallett out for that starting job." In a July 2007 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Threet explained his decision: "The biggest thing is that the two coaches that recruited me took jobs at other schools, and that happened after I got there. People have been asking if it was homesickness, or classes were too hard, or if it was all the competition at Tech. It was not any of those at all. I had a 3.76 grade-point my first semester, and the competition (at Michigan) is as good or better."