Gene Swick

Gene Swick (born c. 1955) is an American former football player. He played college football as a quarterback for the University of Toledo from 1972 to 1975, and the Cleveland Browns selected Swick in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft, but subsequently waived him during camp. In 1975, he set the NCAA Division I record with 8,074 career yards, which broke the previous record held by Jim Plunkett of Stanford and stood until surpassed by Mark Herrmann of Purdue in 1980.

Early life

He was born the son of a minister, Jack Swick, in Licking County, Ohio. His family moved often, and he attended Millersport High School and Oak Hill High School each for one year, and Hebron Lakewood High School for his final two years. Swick chose to attend the University of Toledo to play college football because they ran a pass-oriented offense, which many larger schools such as Ohio State did not at the time. He said he received interest from Woody Hayes' Ohio State coaching staff, but that he did not wish to hand off the ball to a running back. Swick described Toledo's offense as often using four-receiver sets and eschewing short passing game in favor of attempts of ten yards or more.