Mike Leach has had his eye on Will Rogers for some time.

Even before landing the Mississippi State job, Leach had extended a scholarship offer to the Brandon, Miss., native to play at Washington State but there was no chance Rogers was going to pass up on the opportunity to play in the SEC to play in the Pac-12.

Rogers ended up committing to Joe Moorhead’s Mississippi State program, but while Leach lost the recruiting battle for the Mississippi native, it worked out in the coach’s favor once he arrived in Starkville.

For those that don’t know, Rogers replaced Gardner Minshew at Brandon High School after Minshew left for ECU. While Minshew never gained much national attention playing for ECU, the one season he played for Leach at Washington State turned him into a Heisman Trophy contender and it helped him land with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Now Leach will have the opportunity to work with Minshew’s former heir apparent starting in 2020 — and thus far, Leach has been impressed with what he’s seen from the freshman.

When asked to discuss Rogers’ performance and ability to adapt to the offense during training camp following no spring camp to learn the system, Leach noted how impressive the true freshman has been.

“I’ve been really impressed with that,” Leach said of Rogers. “You know, freshman (QB) comes in one thing is the reps and the plays but one of the biggest hurdles that those guys sometimes have is the confidence to feel like they belong there — where they go out they’re timid like a freshman.

“He hasn’t done that.  He goes out there and competes like he should be there and so I think that’s allowed him to improve even quicker.”

After throwing for 6,581 yards and 61 touchdowns his final two seasons at Brandon, Rogers may just be getting started when it comes to putting up incredible passing numbers playing in Leach’s offense.