Countdown: 81

It's the middle of June, so it's appropriate to get overly excited about, and read to much into the doings of the offseason.

Even though he hasn't taken a snap in maroon and orange, Michael Brewer is one of the favorites to earn Tech's starting quarterback job. According to ESPN.com Insider Travis Haney ($), he's the QB Beamer Co. wants No. 1 on the depth chart at the end of August.

I know the coaches in Blacksburg are frank in their desire for Brewer to come in and seize the job. The options are otherwise sparse, I've been told.

Brewer won't be able seize anything until he competes in practice. Practice is many weeks away. However, he can position himself for a successful August camp right now, and he seems to be doing just that.

Andy Bitter caught up with Brewer at Tech's one-day prospect camp last Sunday. He spoke with the Texas Tech transfer about how he's meshing with his new teammates and faring with picking up Tech's playbook, among other things.

Brewer said the Hokies get together for player-organized on-field workouts Monday through Thursday after weight-lifting. They'll go for an hour or two on the field, doing 7-on-7 work to get timing down and give him a primer on different parts of the playbook.

Brewer has benefited from a new NCAA rule that allows coaches to meet with players who have met certain academic benchmarks for as much as two hours a week over an eight-week period in summer. He said most of that time with offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler is used for installing parts of the offense, allowing him to work on that the next time he's on the field with teammates. (Coaches, per NCAA rules, still can't do on-field work with players in the summer.) Brewer's done additional film review on his own time.

Brewer's already being fed parts of the offense by Scot Loeffler. He's then regurgitating what's he's been taught to his offensive teammates. Being the liaison between Loeffler and his other offensive teammates is a leadership role and requires trust from the coaches. Additionally, he's already developing an on-the-field rapport with the receivers.

He's also saying all the right things.

"We're not happy with the way things turned out last year and we feel like we're a better football team than that," Brewer said, already adopting last year's offensive frustrations as his own. "And we're trying to compete every day and work to be better this year."

Brewer won't win the job of QB-1 in June or July. However, he seems to be taking advantage of all the little opportunities that might allow him to flourish once camp opens.