Photo by Steve Buchanan Photography
Coaches had what you might call the perfect plan for the Easton High football team’s quarterback position. Ryan O’Connor, a senior at the time, would start at the position during the 2020 season and his brother Kevin, a sophomore, was slated to serve as the backup in his first year on the varsity. Both had great size, strong arms, and could run for big chunks of yards. Kevin was to replace Ryan after he graduated last year and moved onto the University of Delaware with a football scholarship in hand.
The plan changed somewhat, however, during the preseason: Kevin became the starter at linebacker. It was the last thing he expected to happen. “They just threw me in on defense during training camp in August,” Kevin says. “I thought I was going to be strictly a quarterback in high school.”
Former Easton Football Coach Pat McGlinchey felt he had to play Kevin at linebacker since he possessed all the physical skills of a future college player. “He just shined,” McGlinchey says of the signs he saw early in the season. “Kevin is an exceptional athlete. He could play anywhere on the football field.”
Playing defense turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Kevin—at least in terms of football. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound outside linebacker led Easton in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (15), and hurries (6) by a large margin playing 100 percent of the snaps.
More importantly, what happened 10 months later shocked even Kevin himself. The University of Virginia offered him a scholarship. Offers also followed from Towson and Old Dominion universities. Kevin, who carries a 4.1 grade-point, also got strong interest from Harvard University.
“When I first got that text from the Virginia coach,” Kevin says. “I was like ‘What the heck! This is crazy.’”
One of Easton’s assistant coaches, Jacob Fowler, sent game film to a friend, Virginia outside linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga. It’s clear he must have liked it. “When they saw his film, they were blown away by it,” says McGlinchy, who served as head coach from 2018 to 2021. “It was essentially a perfect storm that happened. They were looking for a certain body type and Kevin fit that body type.”
Virginia tops O’Conner’s list. He also likes Virginia Tech and visited both schools in January. “I really like Virginia a lot,” he says. “I like their academics. I am really looking for what I can do for a career after football. It’s all going to come to an end at some point.”
Before O’Connor goes off to college, he still has a senior year to play and dominate again. The 17-year-old O’Connor made the Bayside Conference First-Team defense for both of his seasons on the varsity. This past fall, he led Easton in sacks (4), tackles for loss (11), and forced fumbles (2). He played about 20 percent fewer snaps that season than the previous one.
“He is fast, can move sideline-to-sideline and chase anyone down,” McGlinchy says of a player who runs a 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. “He likes physical contact.”
O’Conner made an impact at quarterback, too. Last fall, in his first year as a starter, he threw for 17 touchdowns and 1,869 yards while rushing for 654 yards and six more scores. The Bayside Conference named him a Second-Team selection.
New Easton Football Coach Matt Griffith believes O’Connor could take a big step forward this fall. “He can take over a game on either side of the ball,” says Griffith, who had previous stints as Easton’s head football coach and offensive coordinator. “He has a chance to be the conference player of the year on offense or defense.”
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