Former La Costa Canyon quarterback Quinn Roth graduated from high school this spring with a resume that would appear to check many boxes for Division I programs: a 6-foot-4 frame, first-team All-CIF honors and 64 career touchdown passes — including 30 as a senior — during a 9-2 season that carried the Mavericks to the CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals.
What doesn’t show up in the numbers is the question that followed him through recruiting: whether a lean frame could hold up at the next level.
“I know it’s not a skill issue,” Roth, who opened summer practice at the College of San Mateo in early June, recently told The Coast News. “It’s not anything coaches did or didn’t do — it’s just the way things went. I know I was undersized. That was always the thing that came up.
“A lot of it is on me — gaining weight is on me — so there’s no pointing fingers. I think the way college recruiting is now, they want bigger, older guys. So the junior college route just makes sense for me.”
Roth said he played his senior season at La Costa Canyon at around 165 pounds, a weight that has been part of his story for years.
“I’ve always had a fast metabolism and been pretty skinny since I was younger,” Roth said. “I’m not the type to just sit inside after football. Back home, I’d be at the beach, surfing, doing a lot of things that burn calories.”
Now, adding size has become part of the next step.
“It’s really about trying to eat a ton,” Roth said. “Protein shakes help, but I’m also not the biggest eater, so it’s hard to sit down and eat huge meals. It’s more about eating throughout the day and then having a shake before bed.”
The goal is to eventually reach a weight where the biggest question surrounding him is no longer part of the evaluation.
“I can have a year or two to develop,” Roth said. “Hopefully get over 200 pounds, and then there’s no question from there. The only thing they were really questioning was whether my frame would hold up and if I could take hits at the next level.”
For Roth, the answer was not waiting for recruiters to change their minds. It was finding a place where he could develop.
That led him to the College of San Mateo, one of California’s top junior college football programs. The Bulldogs have won three of the past four state titles, and Roth said the program’s development track and winning culture made it the right fit.
Roth said he had opportunities to walk on at four-year schools and had Division I interest, but he believed San Mateo offered the clearest path toward his long-term goal.
“I just wanted to go somewhere where I knew it was a winning culture,” Roth said. “I’m going to have to earn a spot. I have a great chance out here because every year they put so many guys out that transfer to Division I schools.”
The transition has already required Roth to adapt.
He arrived at San Mateo and immediately began learning a new offense. But after spending his high school career in La Costa Canyon’s complex system, Roth believes he was prepared for the challenge.
“I feel like I’ve been learning pretty quickly,” Roth said. “My high school playbook was probably one of the hardest high school playbooks in the country. Just having a pretty good football understanding already going into it kind of helps the transition go more smoothly.”
At La Costa Canyon, Roth operated an offense with a wide variety of concepts, including dropbacks, play-action passes, screens and pre-snap adjustments.
“The play calls were really wordy, they were super long,” Roth said. “We had a ton of scheme. Our playbook was constantly changing, so we never really capped it off.”
That preparation is something Roth believes will continue to help him as he competes for playing time at San Mateo.
His path is not guaranteed. Roth said he is currently competing for the starting job and understands his timeline could change depending on how the season unfolds.
If he earns playing time this season, Roth hopes to put himself in a position to transfer after one year. If not, he is prepared to continue developing, add weight and preserve his eligibility.
Either way, Roth believes he made the decision that gives him the best chance to reach his goal.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere for the logo or for the social media clout,” Roth said. “I just wanted to go somewhere where I knew I was going to get developed.”
