Kaleb Winterburn has been a quarterback for most of his life. At the college level, the Helena High senior will likely have to learn to look at the game from the opposite perspective. Because of his time under center, he has no reservations.
Winterburn, a 6-foot-2, 200-pounder with good speed and agility, is entering his second season as the Bengals’ starting quarterback. His experience playing defense at the varsity level has been extremely limited during his prep career. But Winterburn impressed Montana State’s coaching staff enough during his performance working at safety at MSU individual camp in June to garner a partial scholarship offer as an athlete.
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Because of his size, strong frame and athletic upside, Winterburn will most likely project to playing safety at the college level. Just weeks after receiving his offer, he verbally committed to sign with Montana State next February. The possibility of playing defense at the Division I level does not intimidate Winterburn one bit.
“I’ll probably be playing safety, which is pretty sweet because that’s what I played in small fry and I love it,” Winterburn said. “It’s going to be an experience for sure going to defense. But since I already play quarterback, I understand the position since I have to look the safety off every single play. It’s not going to be as hard to learn as people might think. It’s just safety and it’s just playing football. It will be a challenge but I’m looking forward to it.
“You just flip to the other side of the ball and view the game from a different angle but in the same way. Since I’m a quarterback, I’m taught to trick the safeties with my eyes. Now it’s the opposite but it shouldn’t be too hard.”
The Bobcats offered Winterburn a full tuition waiver as his initial scholarship. With a standout senior year, the coaches indicated Winterburn could “up his offer”, he said. He received offers from Carroll College and Montana Tech. Winterburn said Montana wide receivers coach Mike Ferriter, himself a former Helena High quarterback, recruited him and Winterburn confirmed UM head coach Bob Stitt wrote him two letters. But Montana State was too alluring to pass up.
“I want to stay in Montana for football and it was between Carroll, Tech or Bozeman,” Winterburn said. “My brother and two of my cousins go to Bozeman so it’s where I wanted to be. Just commit now and maybe even get my scholarship to go up with an early commitment. It’s where I want to be so why not do it now?”
“Montana State is the place to be right now. Their enrollment is skyrocketing. It’s going to be pretty sweet to be a part of it. My brother just moved into his new house. I helped him move in last weekend. The campus is awesome. My cousins love it. I love it there.”
As a junior last fall, Winterburn led Helena High to the semifinals of the Class AA playoffs, upsetting Bozeman in his future home in the first round of the eight-school tournament. All told, Winterburn completed roughly half of his 216 passes for 1,625 yards and 12 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for 216 yards and a touchdown.
Montana State director of high school relations and special teams coordinator B.J. Robertson was Winterburn’s primary recruiter. Montana State first contacted the prospect before his junior year and consistently sent him letters throughout last winter and spring.
“It’s a lot of relief, honestly,” Winterburn said of his commitment. “It gets a lot of pressure off of you big time. I don’t have to worry about going to college my senior year. I just have to play and do my thing and hopefully end up with a state championship.”
Montana State head coach Jeff Choate has been very straight forward with Winterburn. During individual camp on the MSU campus in June, Choate worked Winterburn out as both a slot receiver and a safety and told the future Bobcat he might be able to play both at the collegiate level.
“I think the entire coaching staff at Montana State is awesome,” Winterburn said. “They make you feel like you are at home right away. Coach Choate is awesome. We talked the other day and we talked about where they were going to put me. He was straight forward with me about not playing me at quarterback because it’s just not worth it when I can be playing safety. They are straight forward and honest and I like them a lot.”
Winterburn is unsure what he will study in college but he’s leaning toward business or education. His ultimate goal is to become a high school football coach, a dream inspired by his respect for longtime Helena High head coach Troy Arntson.
“He lives the life,” Winterburn said. “He’s in the weight room talking us up, goes home to his nice house and is surrounded by football every day. That’s kind of what I want to do. He’s a great coach and I’ve always looked up to him. That would be nice to live that lifestyle when I get older.”
Before any of those goals can be chased, Winterburn is focused on leading Helena High to the AA state title his senior season. With his college decision out of the way, he can squarely focus on the upcoming months.
“It means everything because it was my dream ever since I started playing football in fourth grade,” Winterburn said. “It’s pretty awesome. It’s been my 11:11 wish every time the clock reads 11:11 so get this chance is amazing.”
[/restrict]Photos courtesy of Adriana Peterson, Helena photographer. All Rights Reserved.
