Scott WrightThe Oklahoman
STILLWATER — While back home in Nebraska earlier this month, Zane Flores spent some time with his personal quarterback coach, John Teigland.
But their time together isn’t all about preparing Flores for the quarterback competition he’ll be locked in at Oklahoma State the next few months.
Flores got to be on the coaching side of things, too.
“He worked a camp that they hold at one of the local high schools,” Mel Flores, Zane’s father, told The Oklahoman. “There’s one for fourth to sixth grade, and then one for the older kids, up to high school ages.
“He gets a big kick out of working with the young kids, but even the high school kids, a lot of them probably know who he is and he likes helping them out.”
It’s a welcomed break in the short window of free time a college football player gets in their calendar these days. OSU wrapped up spring practice less than a month ago, and the spring semester finished in early May.
So Flores had only a brief period of time to venture home to Gretna, Nebraska, just outside of Omaha, to relax and visit family.
He meets up with a high school teammate for workouts at Gretna in the mornings, then gets together with Teigland to throw a few times a week.
“And he’ll try to get as much golf in as he can,” Mel said with a laugh.
The summer break flies by, with players reporting back to OSU the first week of June to begin classes and individual workouts.
In general, football has been more fun for the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Flores lately, ever since he was medically cleared in his recovery from the ankle surgery that ended his season last October.
As a result, the NCAA has granted Flores an additional year of eligibility, meaning he will be classified as a redshirt freshman again in the fall.
"He got an email from compliance back in December on that, so we’ve known for a while, but he was pretty excited about that,” Mel said.
Above all that, Flores’ foot isn’t in pain every day after a hard workout.
The surgery repaired a bone issue Flores was born with. The condition ultimately caused a stress fracture in his ankle, so the surgery fixed both problems.
“A lot of times after practice, it’d be hurting that night and I’d be limping around and stuff,” Flores said. “It got pretty bad at some points. Last year, there’s points where I wasn't doing any running. I was just kind of standing and throwing. The coaches knew about it, so they let me do what I could do.”
He was medically cleared in February and full-go by the time spring ball began.
And now, with Garret Rangel and Maealiuaki Smith off to other destinations via the transfer portal, Flores and redshirt freshman transfer Hauss Hejny are set to duel for the starting job in the fall.
As coach Mike Gundy went through the process of mass staff changes in December, it was a tense time for Flores and his family.
“It made us a little nervous when everybody who recruited him is gone, but everything has gone great,” Mel said. “Zane has always been very comfortable with Gundy, so he was pretty confident things would be OK. He had a couple meetings with Gundy before the hires and he liked the way it went.
“Zane likes all the new coaches. He loves everything that they’re doing.”
Of course, that made for a hectic January with Flores learning the offense of new coordinator Doug Meacham, while also building a relationship with quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns.
“When we got back from winter break, the whole staff was there,” Flores said. “We had to install the whole offense, so we were meeting as much as we could, as much as we were allowed to. Had to install the offense as quick as we could. But then, anytime we can, we’re up there in the meeting room, watching film.
“Obviously, with the staff change, you’re unsure what it’s going to be like at first, but they’ve been great.”
