Bill Herren, the coach of a youth football team in Simi Valley, was missing a quarterback. So, acting on a recommendation, he went to Moorpark Junior College to meet with Tristan Gebbia, a local sixth grader who also played baseball and basketball but never contact football.
Once he pulled up, he saw a kid throwing a football with a perfect spiral to his father from a distance, and he was already sold.
“I’m watching his throwing motion, thinking it can’t be 10 or 11-year old,” Herren said. “Beautiful motion. I walk up closer and realize, ‘Wait a minute, that’s a kid. This is the guy.’”
But convincing Gebbia to play football was much harder than Herren thought. He remembers Gebbia’s father being reluctant to tack on another sport on top of baseball and basketball for his son.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Herren thought to himself.
So he pulled out all the stops. To accommodate for baseball and basketball, he allowed Gebbia to show up to practice just once a week. He only had him practice at quarterback. He “broke all the rules” because he “needed him badly.”
Herren’s persistence eventually not only landed him a quarterback, but also persuaded who he called a “once-in-a-lifetime” talent to play football.
Gebbia went on to excel under Herren before enrolling in Calabasas High School, where he blossomed into a nationally prized recruit and took the Coyotes from mediocrity to dominance.
He started as a sophomore and threw for over 3,000 yards and 35 touchdowns, leading Calabasas to a league title after an 0-10 record the year prior. The next season, he eclipsed the 4,000-yard plateau and threw for 45 touchdowns as the Coyotes won the Southern Section crown. And this year, Gebbia — who committed to Nebraska last month — is well on pace to shatter those marks through nine games — 2,794 yards and 32 touchdowns to date.
Against Newbury Park on Oct. 21, Gebbia became just the eighth quarterback all-time in California to throw for over 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns. Oh, and Calabasas is unbeaten this season at 9-0.
“The last couple of years have been amazing,” Gebbia told Prep2Prep. “Just a dream come true to my life, those around me and my teammates. It speaks volumes about the program and the guys around me. They’re the one making the plays out there and I couldn’t do it without them.”
Gebbia noted the satisfaction that came with helping to engineer the turnaround for his school.
“It’s amazing to see the culture of the school change,” he said. “Everyone comes to the game, from the mayor to second grade kids. There’s a great sense of pride in the community. I’m really glad I got to be a part of a great turnaround.”
It’s true that Gebbia is blessed with an embarrassment of riches that Calabasas sports at wide receiver. His top target this season, Darnay Holmes, is a five-star recruit. Keyshawn Johnson Jr., the son of the former NFL star, is not too shabby as a second option. Last season, he threw to Marquel Dismuke and Brian Hightower; all four of the aforementioned receivers were four-star recruits or higher.
It’s fair to say good receivers can make quarterbacks look good, but receivers are useless if the quarterback doesn’t connect with them. The humble and modest Gebbia, though, is content to give all the credit to his receivers.
“There’s a lot of guys around me that are high profile people,” Gebbia said. “With that comes a lot of spotlight and attention. I’m just glad to be able to be a part of it and play my role. Off-the-field stuff comes with itself.”
But Herren is happy to brag on Gebbia’s behalf.
“Tristan Gebbia will be a starter at Nebraska,” Herren said. “He will be a prototypical NFL quarterback. I believe Tristan has the potential to be drafted in the top 10 in the NFL Draft. He’s a leader. Look at everything — he has all the tools. He has every physical tool.”
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Gebbia is described as a pro-style quarterback with a rocket of an arm, excelling in a shotgun, spread-based offense.
“I’d probably say I’m just one of those guys that’s going to execute the game plan,” Gebbia said on his playing style. “Do what you’re supposed to do, play as smart as you can.”
But Herren said Gebbia’s most endearing quality is his character off the field. Though the two have become close, Gebbia still refers to Herren as “Mr. Herren” or “Coach Herren.”
“After football he might be the President of United States,” Herren said. “You dream to have anyone of his character. If you’re coaching a football team, you want him on your football team. If you’re a business manager, you want him on your business. If you’re in the army, you want him in your platoon.”
Gebbia will enroll in Nebraska in January as another keg in the budding Calabasas-to-Cornhusker pipeline, spurning his father’s alma mater in Ole Miss. There, he will be joined by Johnson Jr. and re-unite with Dismuke as he gears up for spring camp.
It’s a long ways from that day at Moorpark Junior College, when Herren first tried to convince Gebbia to play football.
And it’s a long ways from what Herren recalls happened in Gebbia’s first scrimmage ever on the youth team. He remembers the future prized recruit dropping back to pass under pressure, rearing back and uncorking a perfect spiral for a touchdown.
While his teammates celebrated, Herren grabbed Gebbia, and in front of his father and all the coaches, exclaimed, “Some day, you’ll throw 1,000 touchdown passes, but you can only have one first touchdown pass. You’ll remember that.”
Herren recalls Gebbia flashing a huge grin, and “it’s never stopped since then.”
Indeed, Gebbia’s story is just getting started. After all, he’s still a high school senior. But the kid from Calabasas who likes to play guitar in his free time, listens to Jack Johnson and loves to eat pizza, keeps his attitudes in life simple.
“Just play your hardest, be able to put your head in the pillow and say, ‘I did everything in my power to be best the quarterback I could be, the best student I could be,’” Gebbia said. “As with anything in life, just make sure you be the best you can be each and every day.”
