JC Smith football works through intense QB competition

HERBERT L. WHITE | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Parker McQuarrie, a transfer from New Haven who spent two years at UCLA, is competing against Wagner transfer Damien Mazil for the starting quarterback role at J.C. Smith.

Age and lack of experience are common bonds in Johnson C. Smith’s quarterback derby.

A pair of 20-something transfers, Parker McQuarrie and Damien Mazil, are vying for the starting job with Josh Jackson, a mid-semester transfer who ended spring camp as the presumed starter, the third option. Golden Bulls coach Maurice Flowers didn’t indicate a favorite after the first week of preseason drills in which they alternated practice sessions with the first team, but a decision is expected by Aug. 18.

“We had our summer workouts and things like that, but once we get to training camp, it’s a two-week competition before we start getting ready for our first ball game,” he said. … “Just very pleased with both of them. They’re both doing great things with the offense, and we’re not in a position where we need a quarterback that’s going to be going slow and learning along the way.” 

The Golden Bulls return a veteran offense that averaged a school record 33.6 points per game in 2025, including five preseason All-CIAA picks – three of them linemen – as well as 2025 all-conference selections Bobby Smith at tailback and receiver Brian Lane. 

“Our football team is an experienced football team, and we need to play football involving everyone on the roster,” Flowers said, “and that includes being able to throw the ball efficiently when we need to.” 
Mazil and McQuarrie are football veterans, albeit unproven at the collegiate level.

Mazil, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound graduate transfer who played at Division I FCS Wagner, passed for 719 yards and four touchdowns over four seasons with the Seahawks in addition to rushing for 138 yards and another score. In 18 career games, Mazil completed 80-of-151 passes (53%), including 18-of-39 (46%) for 97 yards and an interception in 2025 as Wagner posted a 5-7 record.

McQuarrie’s résumé is even thinner. A four-star recruit coming out of high school, he spent two years at UCLA without playing. The 6-7, 235-pounder completed 19-of-47 passes (40.4%) at Independence (Kansas) Community College in 2022 before a couple of seasons as a backup at FCS New Haven.  

“We’re going to go with an older guy,” Flowers said. “Parker, being a guy with two years to play, he’s an older guy, 23 years old. And then Damian, he’s a grad transfer that has one year who’s 23 years old also. We want an older guy to lead us right now, very similar to what Kelvin Durham did last year.”

Durham, who quarterbacked the Golden Bulls to a 10-2 record, the CIAA title and a Division II playoff berth in his lone season at JCSU, was a three-year starter at Fort Valley State before transferring. 

Regardless of who starts the Aug. 29 season opener at Benedict, there’ll be opportunities for each to contribute – McQuarrie for his arm strength; Mazil as a dual threat. “There’ll be plays for both of them,” Flowers said.

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