Why Bailey Zappe always believed he’d win Patriots QB job

FOXBOROUGH – Bailey Zappe didn’t see it coming.

After a promising rookie season, the Patriots made the surprising move to cut the second-year quarterback at the end of training camp. Zappe was crushed. The wounds were fresh when he talked with his former college offensive coordinator on the phone.

Training camp wasn’t easy for Zappe, who initially struggled in Bill O’Brien’s new offensive system. He wasn’t bitter. In the moment, he confided in Zach Kittley for advice and, despite his feelings, remained ultra-confident. Even with the Patriots set to start Mac Jones again this season, Zappe told his mentor the team’s starting quarterback job would be his.

After he cleared waivers, the 24-year-old had several offers from other teams to join their practice squads for a fresh start. Instead, Zappe wanted to remain in Foxborough. Even during the lowest moment of his young NFL career, this quarterback believed if he stayed in New England, he’d end up starting.

“It was a heartbreaking time to a certain extent. He was definitely not expecting to get cut,” Kittley said. “I know that there were some teams reaching out. He loves the Patriots organization and loves playing for coach Belichick. He really felt like in his heart, he told me, ‘Coach, I’m telling you, if I just keep my head down, keep working and keep being who I am, I think this is all going to work itself out and I’ll end up being the starting quarterback here.”

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The statement wasn’t surprising. Bailey is as hard-working as he is confident. Even during his toughest football moments, he never lacked belief. After coaching Bailey for four straight years at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky, Kittley saw time and time again how this quarterback performed when faced with adversity.

That’s why he believed Zappe during their phone call. It was just 24 hours after he was cut, and the quarterback was as confident as ever. Kittley already saw his pupil defy the odds and knew it was only a matter of time before he would do it again.

“He knew how hard he prepares. He loves the organization and it’s something he wanted to be a part of and didn’t want to run away from that opportunity,” Kittle said. “It comes back to the confidence that he had – if he kept being who he is and kept working the way he works, eventually he’d be the starting quarterback and here we are.”

Starting on Sunday against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will be another example of Zappe’s resiliency.

Zappe’s confidence comes within

Zappe’s college career didn’t start the way he wanted.

A standout at Victoria East High School, Houston Baptist was Zappe’s only scholarship offer. He started nine games as a true freshman for a Huskies team that went 1-10. Zappe finished with 1,548 yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Kittley took over as the offensive coordinator the next season, replacing Scott Smith

Houston Baptist football was a relatively new program at the time. Their first FCS season was in 2014. Zappe’s work ethic and confidence stuck out to Kittley. Despite their lack of wins, Zappe showed ample improvements.

“Toughness, adversity, and overlooked – those are the words I use when I talk about him,” Kittley said. “He’s a guy that grew up with a blue-collar family. Everything he did he worked for. He was tough. He fought through a lot of adversity early on. You talk about a kid who had one offer coming out of high school and almost didn’t play college football. He got beat up a lot there at Houston Baptist as a freshman and didn’t have the year he was hoping to have starting as a true freshman.”

In four years, Zappe never missed a game. He craved the sport and loved to learn. Kittley discovered football was the most important thing in Zappe’s life. On and off the field gave him confidence he could succeed.

This season, Patriots players have noted how cool, calm, and collected Zappe is. He doesn’t crumble under pressure and won’t hesitate to throw the ball downfield in tight coverage. He plays like this because he truly believes he can make anything happen on that football field. That’s one reason why he was so confident he would start for the Patriots even after they cut him.

When the Patriots beat the Steelers last week, Kittley smiled when the camera panned to Zappe and he was screaming after hitting Hunter Henry for a long touchdown pass.

“My biggest thing with him was always ‘prepare for every scenario.’ That was something he did. He prepares very thoroughly,” Kittley said. “You say cool, calm, and collected mentality but underneath that shell of him, he has a lot of confidence. You saw that. That swag and confidence he had when he threw that touchdown to Hunter Henry up the sideline. You saw him get after it and show a lot of emotion. That’s really who he is at heart.

“He tries to stay even-keeled, but he has a lot of confidence. He really believes in himself. All that comes from how hard he worked to get where he is right now and all the preparation he puts in on a daily basis.”

Zappe rose to the challenge in college

Houston Baptist wasn’t supposed to play Texas Tech in 2020, but the Big 12 program lacked opponents. By the time September came, most teams were canceling games due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Huskies agreed to take on the Red Raiders.

That’s when Zappe shocked everyone.

Houston Baptist trailed 35-20 with 11:29 remaining and Zappe already had two touchdown passes of 65 yards. That’s when he uncorked a 75-yard touchdown to Josh Sterns. Zappe threw one more touchdown pass, with 3:32 left, to bring Houston Baptist a 2-point conversation away from tying the game.

The attempt failed, but Zappe threw for 567 yards and four touchdowns on national television.

“That was a huge moment for him,” said Kittley, who’s now the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. “We came here to Texas Tech. it was one of those weird Saturdays during COVID where almost every game had been canceled at that point. We were like the only game on TV that night. He came out and we had a good game plan and he attacked these guys.

“He had a really good night and was a night where a lot of people across the country found out who Bailey Zappe is.”

The Huskies played in four games that fall before their season was canceled. It was during that stretch that Zappe put himself on the radar of NFL scouts.

In four games, Zappe threw for 1,833 yards with 15 touchdowns and one interception. He also threw for 480 yards against North Texas, 406 yards against Louisiana Tech, and 380 yards against Eastern Kentucky.

That Texas Tech game was a great example of why Zappe believes in himself. He always thought he belonged on the biggest stage – even when college recruiters failed to notice him. Kittle discovered that one of Zappe’s biggest strengths was a trait that was hard to quantify – his heart.

“When times seem the toughest or his back was against the wall, I always felt that’s when he’s at his best,” Kittley said. “Some of the best games he played in his college career, a lot of those were us, a lower-level school, playing the big Power 5 schools. That’s who he is. He’s a guy who rises to the occasion.

“A lot of it comes back to his upbringing by his mom and dad, who are unbelievable people who raised him to put your head down to compete and you’re going to get what you work for.”

Zappe followed Kittley to Western Kentucky the next season. He threw for 365 yards with three touchdowns against Indiana. The next week, he threw for 488 yards with three touchdowns against Michigan State. That season, Zappe set two all-time single-season FBS records with 5,987 passing yards and 62 touchdowns, beating Joe Burrow’s 60-touchdown record from 2019.

The bigger the moment, the bigger Zappe looked in the pocket. The quarterback said he’s always felt overlooked and uses it as motivation.

“That just comes from just growing up, and I only had one offer and just always having a chip on my shoulder to kind of prove to everybody that I’m able to play quarterback in this league,” Zappe said of his confidence. “I think as far as going into every game, I think it’s just as far as the preparation and things you do throughout the week that can lead to that confidence going into the game.”

Zappe proved NFL scouts wrong

When Zappe was in the middle of his record-breaking 2021 season, scouts from every NFL team traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to scout the quarterback. Every representative sat down with Kittley.

Most of them had similar questions. They loved Zappe’s demeanor and confidence but wondered out loud if his 6-foot-1 height and arm strength would be enough for the NFL. Kittley passionately defended his quarterback.

“We had every scout in America come to Western Kentucky and sit down and talk with me one-on-one about him, it was the same thing. “yeah, coach but he’s only 6-1. We’re not 100% sure about his arm strength,’” Kittley said. “I told them all – he has the arm strength. He has the mind. Yeah, he’s 6-1, but all that stuff doesn’t matter. I’m telling you, the kid’s a stud.’”

Zappe looked the part in two games as a rookie last season. The fourth-round pick went 2-0 as a starter, finishing with 781 yards to go with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

The performance gave him more confidence, but he was shocked when the Patriots released him on Aug. 30. The next day, he cleared waivers and signed with the Patriots practice squad. To add insult to injury, the Patriots were the only team to claim a quarterback, following cut-down day, adding Matt Corral to their 53-man roster.

After his tough start, Zappe is back in the spotlight. The quarterback’s prediction came true and he has taken over for Mac Jones as the team’s starter. Last week, Zappe became the first Patriots quarterback to throw three touchdowns in the first half since Tom Brady in 2018.

It was a nice moment for Zappe, who rebounded and is starting just like he predicted at the end of August.

“That was hard,” Zappe said about his conversion with Kittley. “At that moment, getting cut, you don’t know what’s going to happen in the next 24 hours. So, it was mainly him just giving me confidence and just talking to him back and forth in a private conversation. Just him telling me to get ready to go and anything could happen.”

Kittley said scouts have reached back out to him to admit he was right about the quarterback.

“What’s been fun for me is over the years, the guys I talk to that are scouts, shoot me text messages like last Thursday saying, ‘Coach, you were spot on about this kid and he’s a really good football player,’” Kittley said. “That’s been fun for me, again, us that have been around him, who know who he is and how he operates, we’re not surprised by this one bit.”