Transfer Portal Bio Blast: Zach Calzada

The winter transfer portal window officially opened last week. We’ve seen some heavy player movement and are expecting some more. Teams are working rapidly to get targets on campus for visits over the next few weeks to close these fast-paced recruitments.

Kentucky got a big visitor to campus on Monday when Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy landed in the Bluegrass. Another quarterback will arrive in Lexington on Tuesday following Murphy’s visit. Incarnate Word quarterback Zach Calzada entered the transfer portal on Monday and quickly scheduled a visit with Kentucky. Michigan is also potentially lurking in this recruitment.

A busy recruiting week continues at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. Signing a quarterback from the free agent market again is right around the corner. After digging into Maalik Murphy, it’s time to learn some more about Zach Calzada. The transfer will be a seventh-year senior looking to play for a third power conference school in 2025.

QB2 asked to start at Texas A&M

Zach Calzada was a top-500 prospect in the 2019 high school cycle. The high three-star recruit was named an Under Armour All-American and was in the same recruiting class as Spencer Rattler, Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, Graham Mertz, Sam Howell, Max Duggan, and Dillon Gabriel. The Sugar Hill (Ga.) Lanier product worked out at a Texas A&M camp in June before his senior season and committed to the Aggies after that workout.

Calzada would play in three games as a true freshman in 2019 and preserve a redshirt, but would not see any game action in 2020 as a redshirt freshman. The quarterback lost a position battle to former top-150 recruit Haynes King in 2022, but quickly replaced King in the starting lineup due to injury. As a redshirt sophomore, Calzada started 11 games for play-calling head coach Jimbo Fisher and finished the season with 2,185 passing yards on 6.7 yards per attempt with a 56.1 percent completion rate. The third-year player accounted for 18 total touchdowns and helped lead the Aggies to an 8-4 finish. That season is remembered in College Station for the win over No. 1 Alabama.

What an answer. #GigEm pic.twitter.com/5g3wGdvRqI

— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) October 10, 2021

Calzada helped A&M beat Bryce Young in a shootout with the Texas A&M quarterback throwing for 285 yards on 9.1 yards per attempt with three touchdowns. The Aggies would go on to beat Missouri, South Carolina, and Auburn but dropped consecutive conference games in November to Ole Miss and LSU to take them out of the SEC title and College Football Playoff race.

The quarterback would enter the transfer portal two weeks after the end of the regular season.

Short stint at Auburn

Less than a month after entering the transfer portal, Zach Calzada found his next home in the Southeastern Conference. The Peach State native transferred close to home and committed to head coach Bryan Harsin at Auburn. With Bo Nix bolting for Oregon, the path was there for Calzada to be QB1 on the Plains.

Unfortunately, offensive coordinator Austin Davis shortly bolted after taking the job and a shoulder injury suffered in the spring kept Calzada out of the lineup. The transfer did not play one game for the Tigers and entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season.

Stardom at Incarnate Word

Incarnate Word head coach Clint Killough was on staff in San Antonio when Cam Ward and Lindsey Scott Jr. each threw for over 4,000 yards in consecutive seasons for the Cardinals. Head coach Eric Morris brought Ward to Washington State and is now the head coach at North Texas. G.J. Kinne brought Scott to Incarnate Word and is now the head coach at Texas State. Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich followed Kinne to Texas State and is now the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. Killough was the wide receivers coach through it all as Incarnate Word has become a launching point for quarterbacks and coaches.

When the 30-year-old was promoted to head coach, the program brought in Zach Calzada to be the next QB1 for the now perennial playoff contender. After missing the playoffs with an 8-2 record in 2023, the Cardinals bounced back in a big way in 2024.

Your SLC Player of the Year, Zach Calzada ‼️ #TheWord | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/anYtq5XQ39

— UIW Football (@UIWFootball) November 26, 2024

Zach Calzada was the engine. The veteran quarterback earned Southland Player of the Year honors as the quarterback threw for 3,744 yards on 7.1 yards per attempt in this traditional Air Raid scheme that called for a high volume of short passes. Calzada accumulated 40 total touchdowns and chipped in 471 non-sack rushing yards. Incarnate Word finished the season 11-3 with a loss to No. 2 South Dakota State in the FCS quarterfinals.

Calzada became a star in the FCS.

Luckett’s scouting notebook

Zach Calzada will turn 25 years when Kentucky hosts Florida on Nov. 8. The multi-time transfer is eligible to play a seventh year of football due to a medical redshirt. Calzada has played over 2,200 snaps during his collegiate career with 32 starts (23-9 team record), 8,660 passing yards, and 84 total touchdowns. Calzada has played in a pro-style offense under Jimbo Fisher and a spread Air Raid under Clint Killough and offensive coordinator Conner McQueen.

This is my scouting write-up on Calzada after watching some of his 2024 tape at Incarnate Word.

Zach Calzada thrived in his second year in Incarnate Word’s Air Raid system. Operating primarily out of the shotgun with some pistol snaps mixed in, Calzada threw a high volume of screens and short passes out of spread sets but also accurately hit small window throws on go routes and connected on deep posts. Has a tendency to drop deep in the pocket and does make too many throws off his backfoot. Plays an unorthodox brand of football and looks to keeps plays alive by scrambling. Some Ben Roethlisberger-like play extension where reps just seem to go on forever even if he hasn’t left the pocket. Some of the most exciting reps on tape are of him extending plays and playing backyard football as pass rushers pursue. Was a surprisingly effective rusher and a key weapon in short-yardage situations. Not afraid to put his body on the line. Owns a windup motion but did a good job of getting the ball quickly.

Zach Calzada showed improved accuracy during his time at Incarnate Word and the ability to create out of structure. Produced solid results driving the ball down the field and kept the offense consistently ahead of the chains in the short passing game.

A veteran filled with moxy who carried the Incarnate Word offense in all facets in 2024. Zach Calzada is a gritty quarterback who just finds a way to make plays but the reps are not always pretty. There will be mistakes but there is a clear playmaking factor he brings to the field.

CALZADA UP TO ROY ALEXANDER 🤯@SportsCenter how many top plays can we submit?? Asking for a friend 🤔#TheWord | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/JXqQD5SodG

— UIW Football (@UIWFootball) September 22, 2024