John August O'Korn (born November 22, 1994) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. After attending St. Thomas Aquinas High School in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, where he led his team to the 2012

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

7A state high school title, O'Korn chose to attend the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. He began as the starting quarterback for Houston during the 2013 season as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

after teammate David Piland suffered career-ending injuries. After throwing 3,117 yards and 28 touchdowns as a freshman and honored with the American Athletic Conference Freshman Player of the Year, he lost his starting position after starting the first five games in the 2014 season. On February 5, 2015, he announced his plans to transfer to the University of Michigan, where he threw for 1146 yards and 4 touchdowns over two years.

Early life

John O'Korn was born to Gary and Paula O'Korn in

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Huntingdon is a borough in (and the county seat of) Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Juniata River, approximately east of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Altoona and west of Harris ...

. He attended Huntingdon Area High School, where he played quarterback, throwing for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, starting 5 games. As a youth, John was an outstanding baseball and basketball player as well as wrestler, placing in several national tournaments. When his family moved to

, O'Korn attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In his first season at St. Thomas Aquinas, he threw for 377 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. The next season, he led the team to the 2012

7A state title with an average of 43 points per game. Throwing for 22 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions and over 2,500 yards. He received scholarship offers from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, and UCF in addition to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

College career

Houston

2013 season

O'Korn earned the backup position for quarterback during preseason camp behind David Piland. However, he made his first collegiate appearance during the first half of the season opener. He became the quarterback beginning with the 2013

Bayou Bucket Classic In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

against

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. When Piland announced that he would end his career due to concussions, O'Korn was solidified in the role.

2014 season

O'Korn was the starting quarterback for the first five games of the 2014 season before being benched in favor of Greg Ward Jr. The benching was due to an offensive scheme change due to 2013 Offensive Coordinator Doug Meacham leaving for same position at TCU.

Michigan

2015 season

On February 5, 2015, O'Korn announced that he would be transferring to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Due to NCAA transfer rules, O'Korn sat out the 2015 season. He spent the 2015 season serving as the scout team quarterback.

2016 season

2016 Spring practice began on February 29 with a highly anticipated quarterback battle between redshirt junior

Shane Morris Shane Ryan Morris (born August 4, 1994) is a former American football quarterback. He was a highly touted five-star prospect from De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren, Michigan, until he endured mononucleosis midway through his senior se ...

, O'Korn, redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight, true freshman

Brandon Peters Michael Brandon Peters (born October 15, 1997) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan Wolverines football, Michigan before transferring to Illinois Fighting Illini football, Illinois. Hig ...

and redshirt freshman Alex Malzone. As Spring practice wound down in late March, Speight, O'Korn and Morris seemed to be the leading three, but in that order. O'Korn and Speight were the starters in the April 1 Spring game. On September 3 before the opening game against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, Speight was named as the starting quarterback, despite O’Korn leading the preseason point challenge. O'Korn made his Michigan debut in the third quarter after Michigan had built a 49–0 lead, and he went 3–3 on a touchdown scoring drive. After Speight was sidelined with an unspecified shoulder injury, O'Korn started and led the team to a 20–10 victory over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

on November 19. O'Korn posted 7 completions in 16 attempts for a total of 59 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The performance represented the lowest passing yardage total for Michigan since

John Navarre John Robert Navarre (born September 9, 1980) is a former American football quarterback who was a three-year starter for the Michigan Wolverines from 2001 to 2003, leading the Wolverines to the 2003 Big Ten Conference championship in his final year ...

posted 58 in a November 17, 2001 victory for the 2001 Wolverines against

2017 season

After another quarterback battle for the starting role, O'Korn entered the 2017 season as Speight's primary backup again and relieved him briefly in the second quarter of the season opener against

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. After Speight suffered what would become a season-ending injury on September 23 against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, O'Korn became the primary starter and played horribly. He helped lead the Wolverines to victory against Purdue, but in his first season start of the season in the

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

game against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, O'Korn threw three interceptions in a 14–10 loss. Against rival Ohio State, he also threw a costly pick in the fourth quarter with 2:47 left to play which cost the Wolverines the game. After the game, he emotionally blamed himself for the loss, saying with tears falling down his face, "the hardest part for me is just you come here to win this game and our senior class wasn’t able to do it, and you know I hold myself responsible for a lot of that…. I can’t imagine a worse feeling right now"

Statistics

Through the end of the 2017 season, O'Korn's statistics are as follows:

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

, O'Korn was invited to attend the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

' rookie camp on a tryout basis, followed by tryouts with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

References

External links

Houston Cougars profileMichigan Wolverines profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OKorn, John 1994 births Living people People from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida American football quarterbacks Houston Cougars football players Michigan Wolverines football players