INDIANAPOLIS – A new quarterback will be under center for the Bulldogs in 2024 after the departure of former PFL Offensive Player of the Year Bret Bushka.
 
The QB meeting room includes Dartmouth transfer Nick Howard, Reagan Andrew, Sage Shindler, Landon Hochstein, Jarrin Alley and Gabe Passini.
 
"I've lived the experience of being a student-athlete here at Butler so I understand everything that they're going through," first-year quarterback coach Eddie Schott explained. "Being in the offense as a quarterback for the last two years has helped me be able to teach it from their perspective because I understand the decisions they have to make on the field."
 
Howard, Andrew and Shindler are the vets in the room while Alley and Passini are gearing up for their first year with the program. While at Dartmouth, Howard helped the Big Green win an Ivy League Title in 2023. He also finished his career as the all-time rushing touchdown leader in Dartmouth history.
 
A dual threat, Howard led the team with 613 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns to earn honorable mention all-conference accolades. He also passed for 302 yards and a score. During his five years (four seasons) in Hanover, Howard was a two-time team captain that rushed for 1,925 yards and passed for 1,158. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry and passed for 730 yards in 2022.
 
Before Butler, Shindler started 10 games for the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in 2021. He threw for 2,190 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also recorded two 300-yard games and had five games with multiple touchdown passes.
 
"The older guys in the room have taken the younger guys under their wing and shown them what it means to play quarterback at Butler," Schott added. "From off the field stuff, to our warm-ups, meal checks, and program standards, they have set the expectation and been great examples."
 
Andrew and Hochstein have not seen any game action at BU, but were each highly decorated prospects coming out of high school.
 
Andrew was the 2021 Missouri Offensive Player of the Year coming out of Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School. An All-State selection in 2021, Andrew passed for 2,556 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior.
 
Hochstein threw for 2,143 yards as a senior while adding 646 rushing yards to score 32 total touchdowns. He left Norwalk ranked second all-time in career passing yards (4,071) and second all-time in touchdown passes.
 
The depth of the position group is in great shape with the additions of Jarrin Alley and Gabe Passini during the off-season.
 
Alley was an All-State selection at Bloomington South after throwing for 2,738 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior. He ended his career ranked second all-time in passing yards and passing touchdowns finishing behind former NFL QB Rex Grossman.
 
Passini is another All-State talent from Middleton, Wis. He threw for 1,650 yards and 23 touchdowns in his senior season.
 
Schott has been pleased with the amount of quality reps over the first few weeks of training camp. However, there is still work to be done before the start of the regular season.
 
"Reinforcing ball security during warm-ups, before practice, and at meetings is something we focus on," Schott added. "We also emphasize not forcing bad throws in our offense and playing the next play." 
 
The Bulldogs open the season at home against Upper Iowa on Saturday, August 31, at 1 p.m.