That’s what was expected when Nelson, a former five-star recruit, signed with UTEP in January after formalizing his transfer from Boise State, but then it seemed unlikely when he emerged from the spring looking like the fourth quarterback on the roster.
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Given more chances in a fall camp that was billed as a five-way battle, the sophomore Nelson, who began his career at USC in 2023, made the most of them. He showed enough steady improvement and enough talent that earned him five stars out of Los Alamitos High School, where he was a two-time Gatorade California Player of the Year, to move past Skyler Locklear, Shay Smith, Cade McConnell and Chad Warner.
Ultimately, it was the process behind Nelson getting better, which included summer lessons from former UTEP great and renowned quarterback coach Jordan Palmer, that convinced Walden to go with the highest touted recruit in school history.
“If Malachi would have had a fall camp like he did in the spring he wouldn’t have won the job,” Walden said. “To his credit he’s always been a kid since he’s gotten here who’s hungry to learn and get better.
“That’s what I wanted to find out about him when we recruited him: Is he a guy who thinks he’s going to walk in here and we’ll hand it to him, or is he truly about earning it? No one guaranteed him anything, he had to earn it. In July he asked me, what do you need to see from me? I gave him a list of four or five things, this needs to happen for you to give yourself a chance.
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“He ran with the twos and threes (second and third teams) all summer, then in fall camp we mixed it up. When he got in there and got his shot he corrected those things we talked about. What led to the decision was watching him grow from spring to what he did in fall camp, and how fast that growth took place.”
Locklear, last year’s starter, will go into the Utah State game as the backup, and Smith is expected to have a role as a Wildcat quarterback. McConnell will begin in the same place he began in 2023, as a fourth-teamer, when he eventually rose to starter. The true freshman Warner presumably will redshirt, as almost all freshmen quarterbacks do.
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For Nelson, this is a reward for the improvements he’s made since coming to UTEP.
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“It means everything,” he said. “I’m super-excited and grateful for the opportunity. This is a huge blessing to take over the reins here. I’m looking forward to winning some games and continuing to grow.
“It was the want-to to be No. 1, to be the best. I continued to grind, working with Jordan Palmer really helped. I didn’t focus on what happened in the past, coming out of the spring, it was more working with coach to see what I needed to get better at. He said I did a good job of that.”
Nelson’s ascension to a starter begins to fulfill the immense potential he showed out of high school, but he’s still new to playing at the FBS level. He didn’t get on the field at USC when he was behind eventual No. 1 NFL draft pick Caleb Williams. Then, last season at Boise as a backup, he went 12-of-17 passing with one interception in three games.
At UTEP, he looked out of sorts in the spring, playing for his fourth team in four years, but looked more comfortable at the beginning of fall, then settled in and looked better and better as camp progressed.
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After the Aug. 9 scrimmage a week into camp he started regularly working with the first team, then stood out in the second scrimmage on Aug. 16.
That roughly equated to the timeline Walden set up for naming a starter, and that came true on Thursday.
“It’s his first time starting and he’s going to go through growing pains,” Walden said. “That’s part of being a first-time starter I don’t care how good you are. He’s extremely talented, he’s amped up his leadership, he does a great job in the huddle. Malachi is who he is.
“He’s very confident and secure in who he is as a human being.”
His long rise will take its most tangible form on Aug. 30 when he gets under center for the first snap against Utah State.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Malachi Nelson named starting quarterback for UTEP football
