FALMOUTH — Falmouth High junior Jack Bryant already has become a prolific quarterback, passing for nearly 2,000 career yards.

Talented teammates have been a key to his success. Falmouth’s switch this season to a high-speed, spread offense also has helped.

And then there’s his dad, Tim Bryant, in his fourth season coaching Falmouth’s quarterbacks and offensive line. Tim Bryant played quarterback at the University of Massachusetts from 1986-88, earning Yankee Conference rookie of the year in 1986 when the Minutemen tied for the league title.

“What a gift for us to have a former college quarterback teaching our quarterbacks,” said Falmouth Coach John Fitzsimmons. “It boils down to three things: He knows the game at a high level, he can teach the game and he has a sensitivity about the complexity of what we’re doing,”

An assistant at Deering in the 1990s and early 2000s, Tim Bryant worked privately with the 2011 Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist, Jamie Ross, at Deering, then coached Noah Nelson, now a sophomore quarterback at Bowdoin College, at Falmouth High.

Now it’s Jack Bryant benefiting from his father’s tutelage.

“We do a lot of work together, just getting the basics down, so it’s not something I have to think about when I’m playing,” Jack Bryant said. “He knows the type of stuff you need to do to be a good quarterback.”

Jack Bryant set a Falmouth single-season record with 1,528 passing yards as a sophomore, completing 106 of 186 passes (57 percent) as the Yachtsmen advanced to the Class B South final.

Falmouth is 2-0 this fall, scoring a league-leading 93 points. Bryant, a team captain, has thrown for 421 yards and five touchdowns – to five receivers.

“He has a tremendous team orientation,” said Fitzsimmons. “We have two units of receivers and he can throw it to any of them.”

On Friday, Falmouth will face another father-son, coach-quarterback combo when it plays at Biddeford (2-0).

Biddeford head coach Brian Curit also serves as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Joey Curit plays quarterback and safety, often relaying his father’s defensive instructions to teammates.

“Obviously (Falmouth is) a really good team and a very good offense so we’ve been thinking about a couple different things,” Joey Curit said. “The coaching staff put some great things together and if we execute it, we feel pretty good.”

Both Jack Bryant and Joey Curit have the advantage of learning the game at an early age from experienced coaches.

“From day one I’ve always tried to get him to understand the cerebral approach to the game: Are we up by 14? Are we up by seven? I think Joey has done a good job with that,” Brian Curit said.

Nelson, the former Falmouth quarterback, said he often went to the Bryants’ house for extra football study and Jack Bryant would be in the room.

“We would draw stuff on the white board and watch film. (Tim Bryant) really took it to the next step,” Nelson said. “Jack was going into sixth grade and he was already doing that stuff with us.”

When Nelson was a senior at Falmouth, Jack Bryant was a freshman on the sideline. Wearing a headset, he listened to all of the play calls and communication with Nelson.

“We do it with the younger quarterbacks now. Jack got the benefit of that his freshman year,” Tim Bryant said. “He listened to every single thing I said to Noah.”

During Monday’s practice, Falmouth raced through its offensive session, routinely getting plays off in less than 20 seconds.

Each player used a wrist band to quickly translate the formation and play calls, while Jack Bryant deciphered the defense, called out the “Mike” (middle linebacker) and made pre-snap reads.

Tim Bryant spent nearly all of the practice session instructing Falmouth’s deep receiving corps.

“We have a lot of time to discuss that sort of stuff at home,” Jack Bryant said. “He tries to spend time coaching everybody else and then he can coach me at home if there’s something that he’d like to see me do better.”

Tim Bryant, 50, is a partner with the law firm Preti Flaherty. He said he never pushed either of his sons to play football. Sean Bryant, a 2016 Falmouth grad, is playing this season at Holderness Academy in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

Jack Bryant said that he’s never had to be talked into playing.

“I’ve always been excited to go to practice. I love practice. I love playing,” he said.

Now 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, Jack Bryant is taller, stronger and faster than a year ago. He’s already thrown for more yardage in 13 games at Falmouth (1,949) than his father did in three seasons at UMass (1,673).

“I mean, I do have a little bit of an advantage. He was playing in the triple option,” Jack said. “It’s a little bit easier for me.”

Related Stories