Pat Haden, Cody Kessler Chat About Playing The Quarterback Position

Now holding coach Sarkisian's keys to the offensive kingdom, Cody Kessler sat down with legendary signal caller and current Athletic Director Pat Haden to discuss his past, Spring Football workouts and the future of SC Football.

While the pressure to perform is constant, Kessler has the added confidence of an entire year of starting experience to fall back on during rough patches. After battling (or at least competing) for the starting spot this spring, coach Sarkisian gave the experienced and more polished passer the chance to lead his team during players-only workouts.

Born and raised in Bakersfield, Kessler remains a family-oriented player that not only expects the best from his coaches and teammates, but also has acquired the trust of his locker room to push forward week after week. While last season was certainly tough to handle from the revolving door of head coaches to the slew of disappointing losses, the team is desperately looking forward to the upcoming season.

"You have to come ready to play every single week," Kessler said, before previewing some of the biggest rivalry games on the schedule. "Stanford is gonna be really tough, and you always have a mark on the Bruins from last year."

While Kessler joked that the pressure to win or lose can be the best (sometimes worst part) of playing the quarterback position, the redshirt junior signal caller better understands how to correct those mistakes and the day-to-day preparations built towards creating successful careers.

In coach Sarkisian's high-tempo offense, the Trojans success will be centered around proper communication from start to finish, firm confidence under center and sharp decision making from the line of scrimmage.

Kessler loves playing the position in this fashion, firmly believing that his relationship with Clay Helton and Steve Sarkisian can take this offense to the next level. From what we've seen to this point, the Trojans will certainly benefit from the camaraderie that comes from confident shoulders that are putting the gears into motion.