Just four months after many expected him to be the next face of Stanford football, backup quarterback Brett Nottingham is transferring.
A University spokesperson confirmed Nottingham’s departure after Saturday’s practice. The junior will not be with the team for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Nottingham was Andrew Luck’s primary backup last season, appearing in six games with 78 passing yards and a touchdown. But senior Josh Nunes, who was unavailable for much of 2011 with an injury, earned Luck’s old starting job on Aug. 22 to the surprise of many followers of the program, given Nottingham’s apparent edge in an open scrimmage just three days earlier. Nunes’ superior game-management skills and mastery of the Cardinal’s complex playbook — which Nottingham has now turned in — won him the spot over the younger Nottingham’s arm strength.
The emergence of current starter Kevin Hogan, a redshirt freshman, bumped Nottingham down to third in the pecking order late in the season. He is 5-for-8 with 22 passing yards in late-game action this year.
Nottingham has not specified which school he will be transferring to.