Just three games into his UNA career, Destin Wade has already caught the attention of the football coaching staff with a bold and creative quarterback playing style.
It took an in-field mistake to bring Head Coach Brent Dearmon to decide Wade was substituting Ari Patu as quarterback for the remainder of the Southeast Missouri game on Sep 6.
“We met as a whole staff,” Dearmon said. “[We] said, ‘Who’s gonna give us the best chance coming out of the half[time] that’s gonna win this game for us? And at that moment in time we all said, ‘Let’s give Destin a chance.’
From then, Wade was responsible for 102 passing yards with a 44.4 percent completion rate and two passing touchdowns. He was second in rushing yards with 67, three yards behind Jalyn Daniels. Overall, UNA out-rushed SEMO by 124 yards. As a quarterback, Wade’s play style was discussed with interest and a bit of shock by the game’s commentators.
“I think he’s just naturally gifted as a runner already,” Dearmon said. “If you go back and watch him as a high school player, that’s what his gift was back then. We’ve got to continue to develop him and the whole group of quarterbacks feeling more of a confidence level of driving the ball down the field.”
For the final Braly opener, Wade entered the field as starting quarterback, leading in passing yards with 11 completions for 161 yards, including a 44-yard pass and a 73.3 percentage of completion rate.
“I like to lead with my actions,” Wade said. “I show those guys I’m going to compete until the last whistle, until the end of the game. So I think not playing scared and just trust[ing] in God, trusting my teammates, trusting my coaches. That’s what I really strive for, just playing for them.”
Background
Wade hails from the Nashville area, specifically the Spring Hill neighborhood. He grew up with the “great support system” to pursue athletics from his parents Steve and Valerie, brothers Jalen and Cameron and twin brother and “built-in best friend” Keaten.
Wade said the Spring Hill neighborhood raised him with a sense of community that made it difficult to leave. He played under Head Coach Brian Coleman at Summit High School, where he began at starting quarterback during his freshman year and remained the starter for three seasons.
“[Coach Coleman] put me in the best spot to succeed and lead those guys to three state titles,” Wade said. “He’s a great coach, and the staff, they all believed in me and I’ll never forget him”
Wade’s rushing game began as a personal passion for speed, and he was also playing for his school’s basketball team. He finished his high school career with 2,308 rushed yards with 30 touchdowns and 1,436 passing yards with 18 touchdowns.
“My dad put me in football and basketball growing up, and ever since then, I just like fast-paced sports,” Wade said. “I quit baseball in two years because it was too slow for me. But ever since then I just loved being a quarterback.”
As a four-start prospect player, he was ranked No. 293 nationally by ESPN, No. 24 athlete in his class and No. 9 player from Tennessee. Wade was named Class 6A “Mr. Football” after being a finalist for 5A “Mr. Football” the previous year.
Wade began receiving college offers in his sophomore year. After graduation, Destin and Keaten Wade followed each other to play in Kentucky and Colorado.
“God just blessed me with the talents to do so,” Destin Wade said. “So I give him the glory for basically helping me and helping my career.”
He said he learned much from the quarterbacks and coaching staff of both universities, which “was a once in a lifetime opportunity [he] couldn’t miss.” Wade said he loved his time playing for these two Power Four schools with his brother, but he entered the transfer portal to come to UNA to find new opportunities.
UNA provided Wade with a closer proximity to home, and he said he liked how Coach Dearmon ran the offense. The hardest part was leaving his brother Keaten behind, who is still playing for the Colorado Buffaloes as an outside linebacker.
“I thought this was a place I could call home,” Wade said.
As a student at UNA, he has switched his major from ethnic studies to sociology. Wade said social studies are interesting to him mainly because his mother earned a similar degree. As an athlete, goals and expectations are “to win.”
“Each and every game, each and every day, each and every practice and each and every rep,” Wade said. “Just go full, full hundred percent every day”
