For Arizona Wildcats commit Clay Millen, quarterbacking is in his DNA

Editor’s note: The Star is profiling members of the Arizona Wildcats’ 2021 football recruiting class throughout the fall.

Clay Millen threw an interception in the Washington Class 4A state quarterfinals last November, and that was a truly newsworthy event.

The quarterback from Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, the headliner of Arizona’s 2021 recruiting class, attempted 360 passes last season. That pick was the only one he threw.

Millen passed for 3,145 yards and 34 touchdowns, including one the very next time Mount Si had the ball. It would provide the winning points in a 24-22 victory over Lake Stevens, which was seeded third in the tournament. Mount Si was No. 11.

Millen didn’t let the mistake affect him. He didn’t let the pressure — tight game, on the road, packed house – get to him.

Millen absorbed the advice he received on the sideline from his coaches, including his father, Hugh Millen, a former NFL quarterback who has served as Mount Si’s passing-game coordinator since Clay’s older brother, Cale, ran the offense:

This is a chance to show everybody in the stadium how tough you are.

The touchdown also offered another example of how savvy Clay Millen is.

Mount Si faced third-and-6 at Lake Stevens’ 34-yard line — the edge of field-goal range. The Wildcats (yes, Mount Si has the same mascot as Arizona) were leading 17-15 early in the fourth quarter. A simple first down would have sufficed. But Millen surveyed the secondary and called an audible — something he has the freedom to do and does frequently.

Millen instructed receiver Andrew Mostofi to execute a double move — a corner-and-up. Mostofi caught his defender flat-footed, and Millen hit him for the touchdown.

Even his dad was impressed. Said Hugh: “Coming off the interception, fourth quarter of a playoff game, literally standing room only, big stakes — he’s just locked into, ‘How do I attack this coverage and personnel?’ He was willing to throw the ball down the sideline, and he had the confidence to pull it off.”

That swagger — which stands in stark contrast to Clay Millen’s humble off-field demeanor — was evident the previous week as well. Mount Si had just upset No. 6 seed Chiawana. Millen threw six touchdown passes. He approached Mount Si coach Charlie Kinnune and delivered this decree: “We’re going to beat Lake Stevens next week.”

“I knew right then that we were going to,” Kinnune said, “because my quarterback was emphatic about it.”

House of football

To say that Cale and Clay Millen were born to play quarterback would be hyperbole. But it wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate either.

After starring at Washington, Hugh Millen played for about a decade in the NFL. He appeared in 40 games, starting 25, for the Rams, Falcons, Patriots and Broncos.

Cale and Clay inherited some of Hugh’s best physical traits, including long levers and big hands. Cale, a redshirt freshman at Oregon, is listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 211 pounds. Clay is 6-3½, 196.

Their dad, Clay said, is a “football junkie.” Hugh currently serves as a pre- and postgame radio analyst for Huskies and Seahawks games. He frequently watches film at their home in Snoqualmie, a suburb of Seattle.

Sometimes the boys would watch with him. Anytime he’d see a quarterback take a big hit, Hugh would freeze the tape and summon them.

“This is part of the position,” he would tell his sons. “If you don’t want to take this hit, then find a new position or a new sport.”

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The Millen boys played multiple sports growing up, and neither Hugh nor his wife, Michele, ever pressured them to play football. Hugh recalled driving Cale to his first youth game and telling him, point-blank: “You do not have to play football because Dad did.”

But Cale wanted to. And Clay wanted to do what his brother was doing.

So the Millens became a West Coast version of the Mannings. Cale preceded Clay as the starting quarterback at Mount Si, passing for 8,288 yards and 104 touchdowns over three seasons. After serving as Cale’s backup as a sophomore, Clay succeeded him last year.

They both benefited from being around their dad and the game their entire lives.

“He’s the one who taught me how to throw a football,” Clay Millen said. “He just really raised my football IQ.”

Because football is “ingrained” in their DNA, to use Clay’s word, Hugh felt comfortable enough to install a relatively complex offense featuring NFL and college concepts. “I call him our calculus instructor,” Kinnune said.

Kinnune trusts Hugh Millen to oversee the offense, and Hugh trusts his sons — first Cale, now Clay — to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Cale audibled a lot. Clay does it even more.

“We can call the play for you, and that’s based on a set of assumptions of what the defense will present,” Hugh Millen said. “But you’re the guy who’s got the final set of eyeballs. You’re the one who’s able to determine what’s the best look. He has the entire playbook available to him.”

Staying the course

Clay Millen has a 3.98 GPA. He could have called an audible on his graduation date and enrolled at Arizona in January. His brother made that move — an increasingly attractive option for players looking to jump-start their college careers — in 2019. Additionally, high school football in Washington has been postponed until spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Clay isn’t planning to leave home anytime soon. He intends to play the spring football season for Mount Si. Aside from the benefits of getting another season’s worth of game reps, Clay believes he owes something to his teammates.

“I’ve been playing with a lot of these players since fourth grade,” he said. “A lot of them are seniors. You only get one senior year. It seemed like the right decision to stay back and enroll in June.”

Hugh Millen took it a step further.

“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “He could never look his friends in the eye for the rest of his life knowing he cut out on them.”

Clay Millen had the blessing of UA coach Kevin Sumlin and his primary recruiter, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Noel Mazzone. Mazzone’s reputation as a quarterback tutor and the relationship he had built with Millen were big factors in Clay committing to Arizona. But Clay needed to see the UA campus before making it official, so he and his family took a very unofficial visit to Tucson in mid-June.

“It just kind of secured it,” Clay Millen said. “I felt at home, at peace.”

Clay has done his best to stay in shape and stay sharp while fall football is on hold. The Millens have a weight room at their house. A gym recently opened near Mount Si. Clay and a small group of buddies throw at a nearby soccer field.

And his dad is readily available to analyze film and break down defenses.

“Hugh is always teaching and coaching,” Kinnune said. “I’m sure that his boys have watched an hour or two of film in their day.”