Agent Zero: Tucson Sugar Skulls QB Mylik Mitchell emerging as top player in IFL

Tucson Sugar Skulls quarterback Mylik Mitchell was ready to hit the workforce after his football-playing career paused.

The “Cleveland boy” was a star quarterback at John Hay High School in Ohio before he signed with Kent State. Mitchell suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Kent State’s 48-0 loss to Alabama in Tuscaloosa during his freshman season in 2016.

After a brief stint at Kent State, Mitchell “worked in factories, picking orders” and making corrugated boards for Georgia-Pacific manufacturing company.

“Once I got a raise, I’m like, ‘If I stay doing this for too long, it’s going to be the last thing I do,’” Mitchell said. “I got out of there before it got too lucrative. ... I had a few older guys at work tell me, ‘You can’t be in here, man, you gotta chase your dreams.’”

Mitchell signed with Ferris State, a Division II school in Michigan, and won two national championships with the Bulldogs. Following Mitchell’s collegiate career, he “got the opportunity to play in the IFL and I took it,” he said, and signed with the Tucson Sugar Skulls before this season.

Through two games this season with Mitchell, who wears zero for his jersey number, at quarterback, the Sugar Skulls have the highest-scoring offense in the IFL, averaging 52 points per game. Mitchell is the league’s third-best rusher, averaging 77 yards per game. He has completed 24 of 35 passes for 282 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

Mitchell completed 15 of 18 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to four rushing touchdowns. The first-year Sugar Skulls quarterback has accounted for 12 touchdowns this season.

Tucson head coach Billy Back called Mitchell “a smooth operator.”

“He’s poised and doesn’t get rattled. There’s not much that bothers him and he can throw from every arm angle. He’s all of 6-3, maybe 6-4, and is just an athlete,” Back said. “He’s got the second-best jumpshot on the team behind me, so he can do things. He’s a leader. ... He’s a great leader and a heck of a ball player.”

Mitchell and the Sugar Skulls (1-1) host their first home game of the season on Sunday, when they face the defending IFL champion Bay Area Panthers (2-0) at Tucson Arena. The Panthers are quarterbacked by former IFL MVP and Sugar Skulls quarterback Daquan Neal, who reunited with former Sugar Skulls head coach and general manager Dixie Wooten, who is Bay Area’s offensive coordinator.

Earlier this week, Wooten was complimentary of Mitchell and said, “he’s an NFL-caliber quarterback.”

“He’s tall, he’s big, can run and throw and do everything,” Wooten said. “He puts a lot of fear in defenses.”

Mitchell joined “Spears and Ali” on ESPN Tucson this week to look back on the first two weeks of the season, life in Tucson, and why the “drive never leaves” to play football.

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How would you assess the start to your IFL career?

A: “I just try to be grateful for it, just knowing I could aways be at home, doing something else that’s not enjoyable. I just try to have fun. I don’t really look at the stats, just try to get wins. It’s a team sport, so I’m not going to take the credit for 12 touchdowns — a couple of them were walk-ins. I’m just trying to have fun, man. It’s a long season and I want to make sure I have fun all 19 weeks.”

Through the first two weeks of the season, do you feel like Tucson has an identity?

A: “We’re still trying to find it. We still got players coming in and out, still got guys that got things to learn, plays to put in, formations and things like that. We knew coming in that we’d get these first couple weeks to get cleaned up. We’ll get to rolling here in the next few weeks and you’ll really get to see the identity then.”

Were you always a left-handed quarterback?

A: “I write with my right hand. I don’t know how that happened. ... I’ve been playing sports since I was a little kid.”

Playing in the IFL is not for the faint of heart, so why do you continue chasing that dream of playing pro football?

A: “The drive never leaves. If you want to step on the football field, you better have that drive or you’re going to end up falling behind or getting yourself hurt out there. I try to go out there with maximum intensity and make the other team feel it every play.”

What are your impressions of Tucson as a city so far?

A: “The weather. I’m from Cleveland, so I love that. At midnight, I’m outside. ... In terms of Tucson in general, I love the food. There’s food everywhere. We live kind of out of the way and it takes 15 minutes to get anywhere. ... It’s cool, I enjoy it. I haven’t been here long, but I’ve got about four months left here and I’m sure I’ll get into something.”