UCLA's unlikely starting quarterback never stopped believing in himself
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Ty Dieffenbach, a former Cal Poly and Pittsburgh signal caller, wasn’t well known among UCLA and national college football fans until last week.
Dieffenbach has been patiently waiting for his moment since he made the switch from wide receiver to quarterback as a sophomore at Agoura High.
And like subbing in to play quarterback at Autzen Stadium and leading UCLA to the biggest win of the season thus far, his football journey has never been a layup. But that’s what makes Dieffenbach’s first Football Bowl Subdivision start against Wisconsin on Saturday at the Rose Bowl so special.
Dieffenbach was a wiry 6-foot-3 receiver preparing for his sophomore season in 2020 when coach Dustin Croick took over the Agoura football program.
Teams had to wipe down the balls after using them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once players were cleared to return to practice after a long break, Dieffenbach routinely ran a route, caught a pass and threw the ball back to the start of the drill.
Dieffenbach was throwing deep passes with perfect spiral in front of Croick, who lacked a starting quarterback.
Dieffenbach agreed to switch to quarterback and committed to intense training that move required.
Croick and Dieffenbach worked via Zoom to study schemes, installations and the skills it took to play under center. What would have been a grueling process for most was an escape for Dieffenbach, who was struggling through the most adverse time in his life: his mother’s bout with breast cancer.
“He’s a sophomore. His mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer. So you have a kid that’s going through that, and the quarterback stuff was his outlet, going through the hardest thing that he’s been through off the field and something super personal,” Croick said. “Football was his medicine at that time, where it wasn’t as serious as what he was going through.”
Through it all, Dieffenbach learned how to be a quarterback and a leader. After going 7-3 and breaking the school’s single-season touchdown passing record Croick once held, all of the team’s star players graduated.
Read more:UCLA names Ty Dieffenbach starting quarterback with Nico Iamaleava out
And Dieffenbach, who was racking up college offers, was left with a depleted roster and a grim senior season outlook. But while top-tier high school programs tried to lure him away, it was never a question.
It was always Agoura.
“He’s getting calls left and right from other schools to transfer to big-time schools that are in our area. And I remember the conversation with his dad and him. I told him if you’re going to leave, you’re still my boy. I still love you, and I get it,” Croick said. “And he’s like, absolutely not. I would never leave, because I’m Agoura. I’m A-Town, and I’m here. And to be honest, from my perspective, back then he should have left. But that’s the type of kid he is.”
Despite a 1-9 record and a knee injury sustained in Week 1 that kept him out of the rest of the season, Dieffenbach’s loyalty never wavered, and the Calabasas product was rewarded with a late offer from Pittsburgh, making him one of the first Power Four football players out of Agoura in more than a decade, Croick said.
After not seeing any action as a true freshman, he was frustrated by the lack of playing time but stayed the course, working to see the field the following season. However, after offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. was fired after a 3-9 season, his outlook at Pitt went from bad to worse.
New offensive coordinator Kade Bell wanted Dieffenbach to make another position switch, this time from quarterback to tight end.
Dieffenbach’s loyalty was tested a second time.
Take a leap of faith and leave Pitt after two seasons without playing, or stay at a program and a school where he felt comfortable.
“It was very hard for him to leave Pitt because he didn’t want to. He felt good there. He had really good friends there. But you can’t control a new offensive coordinator. You can’t control them wanting to do a position change or anything like that,” Croick said. “He just believed in himself to play quarterback. He said, ‘I want a shot at playing quarterback. If I don’t ever do that, I won’t know, so I need to do it.’”
Dieffenbach transferred to Cal Poly. After winning the starting job during preseason camp, he finally had the chance to see the field at the college level.
But injuries altered his season. He was consistently playing at less than 100%, missing time and never really finding a groove.
“He got hit in the back, and there were some issues there, bruising and pain, and that was a lot to have to fight through,” former Cal Poly head coach Paul Wulff said. “When you have an injury and you’re playing and you’re sore, it affects you. It’s not that easy, so he had to overcome that, which was hard for him. But he kept plugging away at it, and he finally got a little bit better and got a little more confident, and the pain wasn’t as much, but it lingered all season for him.”
And after a 4-8 season, Wulff left Cal Poly and Dieffenbach faced another crossroads.
It was not until new UCLA coach Chesney and offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy took over the Bruins that a new opportunity arose. He decided to join the UCLA roster with no guarantee he would earn snaps at a school with an established starter and a returning backup.
He earned the respect of his UCLA coaches and teammates, who were not surprised by how Dieffenbach responded when Nico Iamaleava was injured during a top 25 game at Oregon.
After leading the Bruins to their first win at Autzen Stadium since 2004, Dieffenbach earned the right to replace Iamaleava in the starting lineup.
“He’s been able to withstand some difficult times of not playing at Pitt or getting injured at Cal Poly. At the end of the day, he believes in himself,” Croick said. “Even at Pitt, I told him you’re going to get your shot. You just got to stay locked in. He never wavered. If you go to his time at Pitt, it was super important for where he is right now.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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