Ely’s Comeback

With just under three minutes left in the third quarter against Missouri, Toledo’s senior quarterback Phillip Ely drops back to pass and gets sacked for a loss of nine on the play. That would be Ely’s last drop back of the 2014 season just two games in, as he would tear his right ACL on the play.

“I think when you talk about Philip’s story, its remarkable where he’s at right now,” said Head Coach Matt Campbell. “He not only gets hurt by tearing his ACL in the Missouri game playing at a really high level, but not a lot of people know he tore his labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in that game. For that kid to go through those two surgeries in the off season, I don’t know if I ever seen someone work as hard as he has to get back on the field.”

Ely, who transferred from Alabama after the 2012 season, won the QB battle in the offseason and played well in his first two starts throwing for a total of 541 yards and four touchdowns but saw his dreams of a starting college quarterback vanish before he knew it.

“Coming from someone who never had a serious injury it was really hard at first,” Ely said. “It took me a night to get over all the emotions that come with an injury like this, I had a lot of support from my coaches, family and friends that really helped.”

Like many athletes who have been injured, Ely’s career was in question and his return was uncertain.

“I don’t know if you have anyone with a serious injury not feel down on themselves and think that their dreams are over,” Ely said. “But I was told growing up to always work hard and control what you can control. And when I thought about that, that’s when things started going in the right direction for me.”

That’s just what he did — took control of the situation and kept his sprits high.

“He inspired us,” Campbell said. “When we got to the hospital, we get there and he has a smile on his face. The first text [Woodside] gets after the Cincinnati game was from Phil telling him great game and that he’s proud of him. That’s the type of kid we are talking about here.”

However, Ely couldn’t make his comeback on his own. It took many months of rehab and strength building to get him ready in time for fall camp, nearly 11 months after his injury.

“Our strength coach did a great job with him,” said Quarterback Coach and Offensive Coordinator Jason Candle. “They got him through tough times with the rehab and getting his strength numbers back to the way they were before the injury. Coach [Rudy] Wade [strength and conditioning coach] did a great job of helping him get back to that player he used to be.

“It’s a testament of both Phil’s and our staff’s hard work and efforts.”

Ely can almost say that he’s back to 100 percent again, but the comeback story doesn’t end there. In his absence junior quarterback Logan Woodside went 8-2 as the starter which opened the door for yet another quarterback competition this offseason.

“He has to come back and he’s in a position battle again and that’s not an easy thing to do,” Campbell said. “But with Phillip, he comes to work the same way every day, and that’s with a phenomenal attitude and work-ethic.

“You wish that every one of your kids had the ability to do that and he’s got it.”