Mitch Mustain

Mitchell Stewart Mustain (born February 27, 1988) is a former professional football player.

He played high school football and baseball at Springdale High School in Springdale, Arkansas.

In 2004 as a junior, Mustain was 139-of-222 for 2,169 yards and 20 touchdowns as Springdale posted a 12–1 record and reached the Class AAAAA semifinals.

He threw only five interceptions in 222 attempts and rushed for 350 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In 2005 as a senior, Mustain threw for 3,817 yards and set the state's highest classification single season record with 47 touchdowns and completed 69.3 percent of his pass attempts.

Springdale went undefeated with a record of 14–0 and won the Class AAAAA state title, including three wins over nationally ranked opponents and a No. 2 ranking in one national poll.

He was named Mr. Football in Arkansas by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Springdale Mayor Jerre Van Hoose declared December 6, 2005 "Mitch Mustain Day" in the city.

In December 2005, Gus Malzahn, Mustain's coach at Springdale, was hired to be the new offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas; this was widely taken to signal the Razorbacks willingness to shift their offense to adapt to Mustain's style of play.

The hiring enabled the Razorbacks to recruit the highly touted quarterback.

Mustain played his first year of college football at the University of Arkansas in 2006 before transferring to the University of Southern California (USC) in 2007.

Mustain started at quarterback for the West team in the 2006 edition of U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, where he was awarded the Hall Trophy as National High School Player of the Year.

He similarly swept the other major 'national player of the year' awards (Gatorade, USA Today, PARADE) for the season.

Scout.com ranked him as the top high school recruit for the class of 2006.

Mustain had told reporters he planned to play for either Notre Dame, Tennessee, Alabama, or his home-state Arkansas Razorbacks.

Mustain was the top quarterback in the nation coming out of high school in 2006, and was considered a better prospect than eventual Heisman-winner Tim Tebow.

On January 16, 2006, Mustain informed Malzahn of his decision to commit to Arkansas, but only after Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis opted to offer quarterback recruit Jimmy Clausen a scholarship over Mustain.

In addition to Malzahn, Mustain joined six of his high school teammates at Arkansas.

Mustain enrolled at the University of Arkansas on July 10, 2006, and, in his first game on September 2, 2006, replaced starting quarterback Robert Johnson in the fourth quarter of an eventual 50–14 loss to the USC Trojans.

He immediately put together an 80-yard touchdown drive against the Trojan defense.

The following day, Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt named Mustain as the starting quarterback for the next game against Utah State, moving Johnson to wide receiver.

Mustain accumulated a record of 8–0 as a true freshman starter, including a 27–10 win on the road over the #2 ranked Auburn Tigers on October 7, 2006, helping guide the Razorbacks to 11th in the college football rankings.

The offense was oriented around what was considered among the nation's best running back tandems, Darren McFadden (who would be the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy), Peyton Hillis, and Felix Jones; as a result, Mustain's statistics did not match his high school numbers in a more pass-oriented offense.

A turning point occurred on November 4, 2006, in No. 11 Arkansas' 26–20 win over South Carolina, when Mustain was relieved after one series by sophomore Casey Dick, who led the Razorbacks for 228 yards and a touchdown.

The day after the game, Dick was named the starting quarterback for an upcoming game against #13 Tennessee, with Nutt citing "experience" as the primary reason for the change.

Mustain did not play in the next three games and entered for one series in the SEC Championship game on Dec. 2 against the eventual national champion Florida Gators.

On Dec. 20, Nutt announced that Dick would start for the Razorbacks in the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl against the Wisconsin Badgers; however, he stated that Mustain would also enter the game in the third series.

The Badgers beat Arkansas, 17–14.

Mustain finished the season with 894 yards passing, completing 69 out of 132 passes with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Under NCAA transfer rules, he sat out the 2007 season and started playing for USC in the 2008 season.

On Jan. 15, 2007, Malzahn announced he was leaving the Razorbacks to join the University of Tulsa.

The day after Malzahn's announcement, Mustain requested permission to transfer to another university.

It was eventually granted by Nutt.

The announcement was one year to the day after Mustain had initially announced his decision to sign with the Razorbacks out of high school.

Nutt had initially refused Mustain's request to transfer out.

After the initial denial, Mustain went to two Arkansas boosters for guidance, and they and his mother, Beck Campbell, met with Nutt and Athletic Director Frank Broyles to secure the transfer.

Mustain graduated from USC in 2010, and proceeded to have a professional football career in the AFL.

He did not play baseball in college, opting instead to pursue a football career.

Despite this, Mustain would briefly play in Minor League Baseball in 2012.

By the time he left Southwest Junior High School, Mustain was already the object of high expectations; however he did not start for the Springdale High School varsity team until the first game of his junior season.