Aug. 21—BROOKINGS — Mark Gronowski is back for one final season at South Dakota State. He’s still got two years of eligibility, but after leading the Jackrabbits to a second straight national championship in January, he announced in April he would return for one more season in blue and yellow.
That final season could be viewed as a farewell tour of sorts, but for Gronowski it’ll be anything but. He’s a quarterback on a mission.
The fourth-year, 6-foot-3 Naperville, Ill., native has put in the work every offseason since he burst onto the scene as a true freshman in the spring of 2021, but this may have been his most productive one yet. The 2023 Walter Payton Award winner as the FCS player of the year, Gronowski attended the Manning Passing Academy where he worked with and met Peyton, Eli and a handful of other NFL coaches and played alongside some of the nation’s top quarterbacks. He put on about 10 pounds and arrived at fall camp weighing a robust 233 pounds and looking almost more like a defensive end than a quarterback, and since the first day of practice he’s been throwing lasers all over the field.
The best player in the country looks better than ever, and while his status as a leader and face of the program is Jackrabbit lore at this point, it’s time, for once, to put the intangibles aside and focus on the tangibles. The arm strength, the accuracy, the footwork and physical stature have Gronowski’s teammates shaking their heads.
How good can he be this year? How high is up?
“He’s been making some incredible throws in camp,” said safety Tucker Large. “As good as he’s been, he looks even better. He’s gonna have a huge year.”
Certainly that’s the goal. Gronowski could end up taking his talents to an FBS program next season, but if he plays well enough, he could be NFL-ready.
He completed 68 percent of his passes last year for 3,058 yards and 29 touchdowns with only five interceptions, while rushing for 402 yards and eight scores. For his career Gronowski has thrown for 7,590 yards and 70 touchdowns while rushing for 1,387 yards and 27 touchdowns. He’s 37-3 as a starter with two rings, and the pursuit of a third was a big reason he came back to SDSU.
“The national championship,” Gronowski said, “is the biggest achievement, the biggest goal for me and for our team.”
This is more than just lip service. Having won two national championships, the Walter Payton Award and a pair of Valley offensive player of the year awards, Gronowski has nothing left to prove or accomplish at the FCS level.
Then again, both national championship teams had NFL talents at running back, wide receiver, tight end and on the offensive line. If one were looking for ways to poke holes in Gronowski’s resume, they could suggest he’s had a cushy job at SDSU.
Gronowski could silence that narrative with another season of elite play.
“He stayed here for a reason,” said coach Jimmy Rogers. “I know he’s felt a certain way about what people think of last year’s team and he is what he is because of what was around him. But he’s come out and proven he’s as good as every other quarterback in the country.”
Rogers wasn’t asked to clarify, but it didn’t seem like he was limiting that comparison to FCS quarterbacks. The Jacks clearly believe their quarterback stacks up with anyone else in college football. And Gronowski believes it, too.
Going to the Manning Passing Academy gave him a chance to see how he measured up, and the results were positive, not to mention it gave him the chance to rub elbows with some of the most legendary characters in the NFL.
“It was awesome,” said Gronowski, who roomed with Rocco Becht of Iowa State, Donovan Smith of Houston and Graham Mertz of Florida while in Louisiana for the camp. “It was great to be able to compete with all those top quarterbacks in the country and also get to meet and build relationships with people. I was able to ask questions to Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. I met Bill Belichick, Sean McDermott and just got to soak up as much knowledge as I could.
“It was a great opportunity to see how I threw compared to SEC players, Big 12 players, ACC players, and I feel like I can compete with any of them.”
When Gronowski arrived in Brookings three weeks after his time in Louisiana it was immediately apparent that he was an improved version of the player who’d been named MVP of the national championship game.
He was bigger. His passes were more accurate. And definitely had more zip on them.
And while there’s a new offensive coordinator, with offensive line coach Ryan Olson replacing the departed Zach Lujan, Gronowski is taking on a greater role in directing the offense, too. He has to, with eight new starters on offense and guard Mason McCormick no longer calling protections on the offensive line. Gronowski has never looked sharper physically, but he’s also more in command of what’s going on schematically than he’s ever been.
“He’s really seeing it and using his skill set to manipulate the defense,” Rogers said. “To be able to do that and still have the ability to run, I mean, he’s 230 pounds now. He’s not an easy guy to tackle, he’s tough and he doesn’t get rattled.
“To have a guy like that, who’s not gonna be rattled and can throw the ball on time to a spot where it’s untouchable to the defense — he’s ready for the next step. But he’s got to lead us for one more year.”
