Be perfect: The mantra of William Riddle’s McCallie career
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Riddle name should be very popular in the Chattanooga area, especially on the campus of the McCallie School.
Robert Riddle took over the starting quarterback job for the Blue Tornado his junior season in 2015 and would emerge as a top signal caller in the state his senior year. Robert would play at Mercer before transferring to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga prior to this season.
Six years after the Robert Riddle era began for McCallie, the William Riddle era is concluding.
William, the younger brother of Robert by five years, is writing his own script, leading McCallie to a state championship win last year and potentially another one this year
Robert’s advice to William before taking over was two words: Be perfect.
“Obviously you can’t really achieve perfection,” William said. “If you’re always striving towards being perfect, you’re looking at that as a standard that you set yourself to.”
While William hasn’t been perfect this season, he has been about as close as you can get. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior threw for 2,489 yards with 34 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
“My offensive coordinator, Joel Bradford, has put me in a lot of situations to be successful,” William said. “He’s trusted me to make smart decisions with the ball and deliver.”
William’s fantastic season has not gone unnoticed as he was nominated as a semifinalist for the Division II-AAA Mr. Football award.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was so focused on the playoffs,” William said. “It caught me off guard when I looked on Twitter and had a mention on the tweet that I got nominated. I’m excited that I’m getting some recognition, it’s pretty awesome.”
The biggest strength to William’s game is his football acumen, similar to his idol, Tom Brady. When Brady is out there, it’s the equivalent to having a coach on the field. William tries to be the same type of presence for the McCallie offense.
“Whenever I’m on the field, I want to know everything that the defense is doing,” he said. “I want to know where to attack them and know everything that my guys are doing to where if they have any questions, I’ll tell them.”
Having William’s steady hand leading the way gives the Blue Tornado an opportunity to go for their third consecutive state championship title.
“We’ve got to stay focused week by week and keep winning each week,” William said. “Our goal this week is to go 1-0.”
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