BROOKINGS – Two months ago, Chris Oladokun thought he was going to play his graduate transfer season at Florida A&M. Now, the Tampa, Florida, native finds himself in the middle of a starting quarterback battle for South Dakota State, which made it to the FCS National Championship game in the spring.

“I was literally in the middle of my quarterback session at home one day with my coach back home and he pulled me to the side and was like ‘you know there’s a good opportunity at South Dakota State’ and I had just watched them in the national championship a few weeks before. I thought it was a good opportunity for me and I knew they had a lot of dudes on the team coming back,” Oladokun said.

Oladokun began his career at home in Tampa with South Florida where he started two games in 2018 and completed 22 of his 44 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He then decided to head to Samford in Birmingham Ala., and played two seasons there. 

In 2019, Oladokun played in all 12 games and completed 62% of his passes for 2,064 yards and 18 touchdowns. Last spring, he started the opening game for Samford and went on to play in seven more games. He decided to move on from Samford because he wanted a better opportunity to show his skills.

“At first I was like ‘uh moving out to South Dakota. That’s a little far,’” Oladokun said. “But I thought that was the best decision for me progressing for sure. At the end of the day it’s just believing in myself. I felt there was a lot more on the table, especially in college, to put myself out there for the next level. I think I still have a lot of ball left in me and a lot of good playing years left. That was part of the decision of me coming back. 

“Leaving Samford, I want to be the guy and have a collect group believe in me as much as I believe in myself and that’s what I felt here from the players and the coaches. My little brother goes to Samford too now, so there’s no bad blood there. I still have a lot of good friends there. That was just more a personal decision and doing what’s best for my career and I think coming here is definitely going to better my career.”

Oladokun is in battle with Keaton Heide after starting quarterback Mark Gronowski went down with a knee injury in the title game that will put him out all fall. Offensive coordinator Jason Eck said he’s been impressed with the new quarterback and the work he’s put in the past couple months.

“Even just this summer, [Oladokun] has blended in well with the team and has had a great connection with his teammates. He’s respected them and that’s the challenge that you have with a new player that’s a transfer. How well is he going to fit. Is he going to be positive for the culture, is he going to be positive with the coaches. The quarterbacks have done a great job. It’s been a competition between him and Keaton. It’s not like it’s been a cutthroat competition. They’ve been coaching each other and helping each other out,” he said.

Oladokun has been tasked with learning an entirely new offense in just three and a half months before the Jackrabbits play at Colorado State on Sept. 3. He said the transition has been pretty smooth so far.

“It’s been pretty good so far,” he said. “With help from [quarterbacks coach Zach Lujan] and Coach Eck and the guys in the quarterback room have really helped me out and understand the offense. Coming in the summer played a big part of that and doing some of our 7-on-7 stuff with each other. That was big for me. Everything we’ve installed so far, I feel really comfortable with. 

“At the end of the day football is football. Pass concepts and run concepts and protections, everything is pretty similar. We just call it differently and line up differently than I’m used to. We huddle now and that was probably the biggest switch. Looking at wrist band rather than looking at the sideline and getting a signal.”

One thing that will benefit Oladokun if he gets the starting job is having weapons all over the field. He will be the only non-returning starter for SDSU. The Jacks return both their top running backs in Pierre Strong Jr. and Isaiah Davis and their top receivers in Jaxon Janke and Jadon Janke.

“The culture is built from our top guys. The Janke twins, Pierre, Isaiah, [Zach] Heins. They’re all leaders and that’s good to see. A lot of times those top guys kind of do their own thing and go to side, but all of them are leaders in their own specific ways and just being out here for the first seven practices, their big time players who make big time plays,” Oladokun said.

Jaxon Janke led the team in receiving last year with 32 catches for 463 yards and six touchdowns. He said he has enjoyed working with Oladokun both on and off the field so far.

“Chris is a very unique individual. He came in here with the utmost confidence and determination to learn the playbook and to meet these guys and become one of the guys. He’s done a very good job of doing that and it’s interesting to see his progression and how fast he’s been able to pick everything up. You can tell he’s been around the game a very long time. Just the way he keeps his eyes down field and extends plays too,” Jaxon said.

The Jacks’ goal has always been to win a national championship and last year was the closest they’ve gotten. Oladokun has already caught on with SDSU’s mantra of “1-0” and said that’s what the Jacks need to do if they want to reach their goal this year.

“We have to just be 1-0,” Oladokun said. “Every single day. Practice, weights, film. Just be 1-0. If we look ahead to January in Frisco, you’re not going to reach it. Take it one game, one practice at a time and just keep chipping away and climbing that mountain to get there.”