Disappointment doesn't faze Landis

Spencer Landis battled valiantly in April, trying to play through the painful ulnar nerve injury in his throwing elbow. Sometimes, the pinched nerve would make it so he would lose all sensation in his elbow, and he felt like he was throwing with a rubber arm.

Still, Landis was in it until the end. But after Liberty’s spring game, sophomore Mike Brown was named the Flames’ starting quarterback, and soon after, the word got out that South Carolina’s Tommy Beecher was transferring to Liberty for his senior season. Beecher won the starting job in August, Brown was named the backup. And Landis, it seemed, was totally out of the picture.

So quietly, the senior who had been the understudy to Brock Smith for three years at quarterback had a second elbow surgery to correct the ulnar nerve problem, even though there was little chance he would see the field this season. Third-team reps were going to the quarterback of the future, Tyler Brennan, and Landis was reduced to helping out with the scout team.

It’s a tough situation for a player who was an injury away from being the starter at quarterback for the last three seasons.

“It was tough at first, especially when coach (Danny) Rocco told me,” Landis said. “I came in here expecting to start, but you know, things don’t always work out like that. It’s not always fair.”

Now, mind you, Landis isn’t saying he didn’t get a fair shot at the job. He said both Beecher and Brown are deserving of their roles, and that they earned those roles. But there is a natural progression a player has in his mind when he arrives on a college campus. Work as a reserve for a year or two, then battle for a starting job and by the time said player is a junior or senior, he would be a regular on the field.

Landis could have gone one of several ways once he realized that progression wasn’t going to be in the cards for him. He could have quit, but that’s just not part of his nature. He could have transferred, but Jenna, his wife of a year and a half, quickly talked him out of it.

He could have been petulant and become a locker-room problem.

Or he could suck it up and help the team the best he could in his limited role. He chose to do just that and revealed his character to his teammates by being the consummate team-first guy.

“He was like this in high school, too,” said linebacker Wes Cheek, who played with Landis at Dacula (Ga.) High School. “He’s going to do anything he can to help. Even this year, after his second elbow surgery, he’s fought back and fought back and he’s down there helping the scout team and helping our defense get a lot better.”

In that regard, Landis is a secret weapon of sorts. Most times, the scout team is run by a true freshman who is redshirting. Freshmen aren’t always quick to pick up on the terminology of their own offense, much less trying to duplicate what the 11 opponents on the schedule will do on a week-to-week basis.

Landis has four years of running Rocco offenses under his belt, and he’s at the skill level of a lot of the quarterbacks the Flames will face in Big South games.

“Having the young kids watch him and seeing him over there helping out shows that he’s doing whatever the team needs,” Liberty offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said. “It just shows that he’s a team player.”

Landis wants to teach and coach high school football when he’s done with his time at Liberty, and his role this year has helped him to prepare for that. He and Jenna plan to move back to Georgia after school is out to begin that chapter of their lives. Until then, he’ll continue to operate in the shadows and use his knowledge and experience to help his teammates make a run at a third straight Big South title.

“Anything I can do,“ he said. “It’s not the best scenario, the one you’d jump to first. But I don’t think I’ve gotten cheated or anything. I’m getting an education. I’ve got great friends. I’ve learned a lot. I wouldn’t change anything that’s happened.”