Before he became the all-time leading passer in Texas high school history, Grant Gunnell actually wanted to be a running back.
 
No joke. The man who now stands 6-feet-6-inches tall and tallied 16,108 passing yards during a brilliant four-year career at St. Pius X High School in Houston never really had visions of slinging the ball. He always wanted to be the man barreling through with the rock securely in his grasp.
 
"I was always watching highlights of Barry Sanders, and I had an Earl Campbell jersey," Gunnell recalled recently. "I wanted to be a running back. I outgrew that."
 
Literally.
 
Gunnell began his football career as a running back, but as he sprouted to his 6-6 frame, a position change to quarterback was in the cards.
 
Once he made the change, he realized he was dreaming of the wrong position as a youngster. There were two facets about playing quarterback that really drew Gunnell in. First, he loved the idea of touching the football on every play. Secondly, most look at the quarterback as the leader and Gunnell fed off being a leader of his peers.
 
"You can't measure someone's leadership," Gunnell said. "You either have it or you don't. I have the natural ability to lead toward the common goal. I feel like I have a good ability to do that. I have a good understanding of different personalities, and I understand you can't lead everyone the same way."
 
That attitude was the one instilled in him by his parents, Chris and Julie, and his two older brothers, Nelson and Will. Nelson, five years the elder, served as the one in the house who toughened Grant up, while Will, just more than a year older, was more of the running mate.
 
Chris, meanwhile, taught his son, Grant, about the sacrifices needed to be great at something and pushed him to be his best at everything he did, while Julie was the No. 1 fan, always there to offer support.
 
With that support system in place, Gunnell flourished at St. Pius X as the quarterback and drew the interest of Division I programs all over the nation. When his high school career ended, he had thrown for more yards than any Texas high school quarterback before him, including the likes of Drew Brees, Pat Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Vince Young, Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles and others.
 
"I'm sure when I'm older, I'll look at it, and appreciate it," Gunnell said. "Right now, I'm still more disappointed that I never won a state championship. But I'm sure I'll tell my kids about, and it's a huge accomplishment. But right now, it's not a huge deal."
 
Gunnell then joked: "I know when I'm older, I'll brag about it."
 
He'll likely have plenty to brag about. Last season as a true freshman for the Wildcats, Gunnell completed 65.2 percent of his passes (101 of 155), setting a new freshman record at Arizona. He threw for 1,239 passing yards and nine touchdowns to just one interception. He led Arizona to a win in his first-ever start against UCLA in the Wildcats' Pac-12 opener, throwing for 352 yards and earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.
 
More importantly, he feels at home in Tucson, living with his brother Will, and teammates Boobie Curry and Robert Congel, happy with his decision to head west for college.
 
"It's everything I thought it was going to be (on my visit)," Gunnell said. "It's home."