Transition and experience a strength for Pitt QB commit

Ricky Town’s recent history is one of transition.

From USC to Arkansas to Ventura College, the former four-star recruit and No. 5 quarterback prospect in the nation has moved around quite a bit in the last three years. But the offensive coordinator at his most recent stop thinks that all of that movement has been a positive for Town’s development.

“He has seen multiple systems and he has been around the block,” Ventura College offensive coordinator Ryan Clanton told Panther-Lair.com. “He’s got a high football IQ, and that’s big for quarterbacks; not enough quarterbacks have that anymore.

“So Ricky’s been in three different systems and learned a ton. I think that’s going to be a tremendous advantage for him as he goes to work with Shawn Watson; I think they’ll do well together.”

Town will be playing for Watson at Pitt, where he visited and committed over the weekend. It will be Town’s fourth college in three years and his third FBS school in that time. Clanton, who played offensive line at Oregon from 2011-13, brought some of the Ducks’ offensive approach to Ventura and fit it to Town’s skill set.

“That’s his advantage: he’s been in multiple systems,” Clanton said. “He knows what USC and Arkansas taught him and what I taught him, and he can do a lot of things. He’s really good at play-action and he’s a bigger, physical guy who can run the ball.

“We use some of the quick RPO spreads that Oregon uses, but we also throw complex downfield RPOs, not just bubbles. I think he is good in that system; he’s really good under center, but once he got comfortable in the RPO stuff, he did well.”

This past fall at Ventura, Town opened the season as the starting quarterback, but Boise State transfer Jake Constantine won the job after a few games. Clanton said that Constantine’s experience with the Broncos fit Ventura’s offensive system a little better. But what stood out to him was how Town handled himself throughout the season.

“One of his top strengths is his leadership,” Clanton said. “He’s been the guy and he’s been the backup, and he has done a heck of a job as a young man developing his character. Whether he’s playing the game or he’s not, he’s always on time, never disrespectful and he always has a positive attitude.

“Sometimes I thought he’d be mad about something that happened, but he always showed up with a positive attitude. That’s his number-one strength. I like Ricky a lot. I’m an offensive lineman who played with a lot of good quarterbacks, and I really love the kid.”

Clanton took a position at Ventura after graduating from Oregon, and given the proximity, he was well aware of Town, who was from Newbury Park.

“I knew Ricky was going to be a heck of a quarterback,” Clanton said. “I watched him play in high school and knew that we weren’t going to get him at Ventura. He looked good and he was throwing really well.

“So when I heard we were getting him this year, I was pretty excited. We had just gotten done with Jake Luton, who is at Oregon State, so I was excited to get another big quarterback in. I like big quarterbacks; I wanted to have a guy that could see over our big offensive line. I wanted a big quarterback and a guy that knows multiple systems, so with him going from USC to Arkansas to our Oregon-type of stuff, it was all completely different and I was excited to see how he blossomed.”

Town arrived at Ventura in the spring and made a positive impression on Clanton and the Ventura staff.

“He walked in here and he was competing,” Clanton said. “We had other really good quarterbacks, and when he walked in, he wasn’t really swinging it like he could. When he realized the other guys were on his tail, he kicked it into fifth gear and took it away from those guys. You could tell how serious he was; he always wanted to meet and watch film, and he took it really seriously. That’s what I like.

“I think he’s looking for a place where he can go compete. He competed at SC, he competed at Arkansas, he competed here. I think he’s looking for a place where he can continue to compete. He has a relentless attitude.”