It was a persistent, creeping notion.
Cole Spencer even found himself considering the thought this winter while wrapping up his junior season as a member of the nationally ranked University of Pennsylvania Ivy League wrestling team.
After all, the 2021 Pine-Richland graduate was a two-sport standout at the WPIAL Class 6A juggernaut. A three-year starter in football, he led the Rams to district and PIAA championships in football as a senior while also capturing two WPIAL wrestling titles and finishing as high as third in the state in 2021.
“I really have one more year of athletics and actual organized sports with real coaches,” Spencer said. “In two years, if I look back and I never took the opportunity to play Division I football, I would always regret it.”
Over his time at Penn, Spencer said he often recalls joking with friends on the Quakers football team about returning to the gridiron. This year, he and Penn starting tight end Bryce Myers decided to get a little more serious about the idea.
“I actually took Bryce out, we went on the field … and I was like, ‘All right, let’s throw the ball around a little bit. Let’s see if I can still actually throw the ball, it’s been a while,’” Spencer said. “He kind of was just saying, once we were on the field, he’s like, ‘Dude, I think you’re pretty good.’ He goes, ‘You could definitely play.’
“He gave me the ‘yes’ and I was like, ‘All right, that’s all I needed to hear,’” Spencer added. “Once that happened, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I definitely wanted to do.’”
Spencer has returned to the football field and excelled in practices this spring. He is currently the backup on Penn’s four-player quarterback depth chart.
“I’ve been coaching since ’09 and never seen anything like it, especially at the Division I level,” said Greg Chimera, Penn’s first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “To take 3½ years off of playing quarterback and come back is crazy. It’s unique. It’s really impressive.
“The fact that he was a functional quarterback and did some really good things this spring — all while learning a new offense, I guess, first time for him — I just couldn’t be more impressed with the type of person he is and the type of competitor he is.”
Spencer said he intends to play football and wrestle this fall and winter. He took a redshirt year as a freshman wrestler and has two years of eligibility remaining.
“I actually just had an exit meeting with my wrestling coaches [Wednesday],” he said. “The plan is still to wrestle after the football season. I’m going to try and get into the room, maybe once a week during football. I know that will be tough, but just to kind of stay in that type of shape. Once football season is over, I’m going to come back and hit it full force with the wrestling team again.”
Although competing as a two-sport athlete at the Division I level will be a challenge, Spencer said he believes he has the requisite experience to perform well in both arenas.
Spencer first burst onto the scene as a standout WPIAL quarterback when he started as a sophomore under then Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz and threw for 1,459 yards before racking up 2,994 yards and 36 touchdowns as a junior to lead the Rams to the WPIAL Class 6A championship game.
The quarterback followed that performance by throwing for a WPIAL-best 2,626 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior. He also led the Rams to an undefeated record, along with WPIAL and PIAA Class 6A championships, in 2020.
All the while, Spencer was becoming one of the state’s top wrestling prospects. He won WPIAL Class 3A championships as a junior and senior. He finished in eighth place at the PIAA championships as a sophomore, fourth as a junior and third a senior.
Spencer finished his career at Pine-Richland with a 32-5 record on the football field and a mark of 130-18 on the wrestling mat.
“I’ve heard from super high-level guys saying how much better they are at football because of wrestling, but quarterback, really, it doesn’t make much sense,” Spencer said. “Taking a double leg doesn’t really help you throw a football, but I think a lot of it is the mentality.”
Spencer said leadership is certainly a key component to excelling in both disciplines.
“The quarterback is obviously a leader of the offense,” he said. “You have a bunch of other teammates out there on the field. Wrestling is more it’s just you and another guy. You don’t get enough of that in football where it’s always a team and you’re working as a team. You could have 10 guys do something amazing and one guy screws it up and the play is busted.
“I like having the mentality of wrestling where it’s a lot on you,” he added. “It’s your job. Hopefully I can transition that to the football team where you get 11 guys doing that, focusing on their job. You do the best you can there and things are going to work out well.”
So far so good for Spencer through most of his first spring practices as a college quarterback.
“He’s a sports junkie,” Chimera said. “He loves watching film. He loves getting feedback, wants to get better. You can just tell he wants to compete and win. Even though some things that are ‘rusty’ quarterback wise, he still finds ways to get things done whether that’s running, whether that’s finding unique things in the defense. He’s just the type of kid that you want on your side.”
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Spencer is currently second on the depth chart behind Aidan Sayin, who is entering his senior season and fourth year as the Quakers starter.
Penn’s quarterback room also includes sophomore Cadin Olsen, a former Armstrong standout, and junior Liam O’Brien.
Chimera said a lot could change with the Penn depth chart by the time the season kicks off in the fall, but he is excited about Spencer’s prospects with a full spring and summer to prepare for competition.
“He has a good arm,” Chimera said. “He can make every throw in the offense, opposite field throws, comebacks and outs from the opposite hash, which not every quarterback can do. He has great feel for the pocket. I think some of that isn’t rusty for him. He has a good feel of when the pocket is breaking down and how to get out of there. Then he’s elusive in the open field. I wouldn’t say he’s a burner but he’s made a lot of plays in the open field this spring.”
Spencer is set to graduate from Penn’s prestigious Wharton School of Business next spring and has already earned an internship with Welltower Inc., a real estate and private equity firm based in New York City.
Although Spencer said graduating and beginning his career in business is his ultimate priority, he is excited to make the most of his remaining time as a collegiate athlete.
“For this year, Aidan, our starter, he’s a beast,” Spencer said. “He’s a veteran. I think he started game five his freshman year and has been the starter since then. He’s really, really good. Even coach Chimera told me, ‘He’s the man. He’s going to be our guy in the fall.
“Even so, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a great summer here and come back 10 times better than what I was showing in the spring. I definitely want to be at least that solid No. 2 where coach Chimera doesn’t feel like there’s that big drop off.”
Add that to the challenge of improving upon his 20-14 career record as a wrestler at Penn and Spencer said he is looking forward to his final athletic seasons in Philadelphia next year.
“Throughout the fall, when we’ve got games, when we are in the peak of our football season, that’s definitely going to be the main priority,” he said. “Then after that last game, football for me, unless I would go and take another year, is completely over. I’ll take that last semester and completely dial in on wrestling.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.