Lowell senior Gavin Gutierrez is returning to his roots.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Gutierrez takes over at quarterback after shifting to wide receiver last season. Following standout Brody Kalwinski‘s graduation, Gutierrez moves back to the position he played growing up, including during his freshman and sophomore years on the junior varsity level.
“For me, being a wide receiver last year, I had my eyes open when I came back out to play quarterback,” he said. “So my goals this year are to mentally just play my game, handle the adversity well, and I want to be able to be a dual threat.”
Casey McKim, who begins his second season as the coach of the Red Devils, has confidence in Gutierrez.
“He’s really impressed me so far,” McKim said. “He’s accepted that role and taken on the challenge. Every single day, he’s just pushing to improve, and you can see it from the way he goes about it.
“In fact, at times, we have to calm him down because he’s probably throwing a little bit too much. He’s that kind of worker. That’s a tremendous, tremendous thing, especially when you’re in a position of leadership and other guys are looking to you. That’s a kid you want to play for — that’s the highest praise there is. I was an O-lineman at one point, and that’s the kind of kid you want to block for. So I’m really excited for him.”
But McKim doesn’t expect Gutierrez to be a finished product by Friday, when the Red Devils (9-3) open the season on the road at Crown Point.
“He hasn’t played varsity quarterback,” McKim said. “He hasn’t played quarterback since his sophomore year on JV. So there’s going to be some growing pains. But I’m very confident he’s going to get to a really good spot by the end of the year, and he is going to continue to grow week to week.
“That’s going to help us massively because I think he’s going to be a weapon. There’s going to be some ups and downs, but he’s the person that can handle it.”
During Gutierrez’s freshman season, he split reps as the JV quarterback with Gage Wimberly, who is a senior defensive back/wide receiver. Gutierrez became the full-time JV quarterback as a sophomore.
With Kalwinski established at quarterback on the varsity level, Gutierrez moved to wide receiver last year. He was somewhat skeptical at first, but he embraced the opportunity. He finished with five catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns. He also had eight tackles and an interception as a defensive back.
“I was pushed back in the beginning when they brought up the idea of wide receiver,” Gutierrez said. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I never even touched the position. Like, I’m fast, but it doesn’t always mean you can be put in a position.
“But I took my speed, and with the help of the entire coaching staff, them being supportive and helping me through the transition, giving me extra work, giving me the film, I was able to make that transition over to a wide receiver. It was an eye-opener to how much I needed to get better, but I knew I could do it.”
McKim was eager to get Gutierrez’s skills on the field in some capacity.
“He’s the fastest kid on our entire team,” McKim said. “I mean, he is lightning fast. He’s a good athlete, there’s no question about that.”
McKim also praised Gutierrez’s attitude. Gutierrez has played on Lowell’s varsity baseball team since his freshman year and has been a starter since his sophomore season. He posted a 4.24 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings and batted .291 with 12 RBIs, 14 runs scored and 12 stolen bases last season.
“He’s a competitor,” McKim said. “He’s in high-pressure situations in baseball too. He was thrown in the Andrean sectional game in baseball this last season, which is a monumental task, so he’s relied upon in multiple sports. He’s the guy that’s going to be on the mound in big games, and last year we played him at receiver, and then we had some injuries so we ended up having to play him at corner too.
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“He’s just willing to do whatever it takes to help the team, even if that’s being in difficult and hard situations. He’s willing to accept that role. He doesn’t have much ego. He has grit. He gets through things, and that’s an area where he’s improved drastically. There were times where he’d be frustrated with something, and he’s improved so much in helping other guys handle the adversity because he’s doing a great job with it himself.”
Indeed, Gutierrez has made an impact on teammates.
“He’s a lifelong friend,” Wimberly said. “We met in football, and we’ve been close ever since. I know he has a very high standard for himself and the team, which holds everyone accountable. He knows when to be serious and when to have fun, and he’s a great leader.
“Being the new quarterback, he has a big role to fill, and he took it straight on and has been putting in the work for the team. I know he helps the community with the National Honor Society, and he’s also a great leader on the baseball team.”
Gutierrez said he and senior wide receiver/defensive back Beau Ison also have been friends since they were little.
“Gavin is someone who I’ve played football with almost my whole life, and he’s always been a great leader who leads by example,” Ison said. “He’s a hard worker who pushes everyone on and off the field. Seeing him pushing himself makes you want to play for him.”
Gutierrez hopes the Red Devils can push further this season. They finished second to Andrean, the Class 2A state champion, in the Northwest Crossroads Conference and lost to Hobart in a Class 4A sectional final in what was a promising debut season under McKim.
“Everybody’s bringing the energy that needs to be here,” Gutierrez said. “Everybody has the same mindset. We want to be hungry. We want to win our games. We want to do everything we can. We’re practically brothers. We see each other every day, and everybody has the same mentality of being on the same page. Everybody’s here to have fun, but everybody’s also here to get their work done.
“If we play our game the way we’re supposed to, minimize the mistakes that we make and band together, we can get things like conference championships, sectional championships. If we band together and actually do what we need to do, we can accomplish those things and go even farther.”