ARKANSAS STATE FOOTBALL

Logan's run: Persistence fuels ASU quarterback's journey

Arkansas State quarterback Logan Bonner (12) during the ASU media day on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, at the ASU football complex in Jonesboro. 
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/THOMAS METTHE)
Arkansas State quarterback Logan Bonner (12) during the ASU media day on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, at the ASU football complex in Jonesboro. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/THOMAS METTHE)

Linda and Bane Bonner don't sit together at their son's football games.

"We never have and probably never will," Linda said. "Bane says I ask too many questions."

They are protective of their son, Arkansas State University redshirt junior quarterback Logan Bonner. One conversation with them and it's easy to see just how much they love him. They're outspoken, candid and energetic. They're also competitive, passionate and loyal.

All of this has rubbed off on Logan, who hopes to be ASU's starting quarterback this season after starting the first four games in 2019. A "gunslinger" from Rowlett, Texas, Logan has faced a plethora of obstacles as he enters his fifth year in Jonesboro.

He patiently waited three years to become the starter, riding the bench behind Justice Hansen. He suffered a season-ending injury after finally earning the role, forcing him to watch from the sidelines as his backup thrived. And now he's in a quarterback competition for a season that might not even happen because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Through it all, Logan has remained patient. In the era of the transfer portal -- where it's no longer rare to see college athletes change schools once, twice or even three times -- he has stayed true to his school.

Not just because he wanted to, but because that's what his parents taught him.

"I was raised to go get what you want," he said. "They raised me that if I wanted something, then go and get it no matter what anybody said or what anybody thinks about you. Just do what you need to do to go get your dream, and so that's what I'm trying to do."

But Logan's dream was not to be the starting quarterback at Arkansas State. He wanted to play football for the University of Texas.

There were few things he wanted to do other than play football. When he was a kid, Linda used to sing to him Brad Paisley's "Anything Like Me."

"Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on," the song goes. "That'll be his first love 'til his first love comes along."

"I don't think I'll love anything more than I love football," a young Logan would respond.

A standout since age 5, he seemed well on his way to fulfilling his dream. He was the star of his elementary and junior high teams, and he expected the trend to continue at Rowlett High School.

Entering his sophomore season, Logan thought he would be the starter. But Coach Doug Stephens, who was hired after Logan's freshman year, went with a senior to start the first game.

The senior lasted one series, throwing an interception. Logan started every other game the next three years, throwing for 73 touchdowns and 8,263 yards. He holds 12 school records and is 12th all-time in career passing yards in 6A Texas high school football.

"I knew that he had a future. He had some gifts. Mechanically he was very sound, he had good size, and of course his character was impeccable," said Stephens, who has been Rowlett's head coach since 2013. "He's going to do his part to be a team player. He's very unselfish in everything he does. The team always comes first for him."

Logan's stats didn't translate to many offers, but many schools showed interest, including Texas. Then-Texas coach Charlie Strong spoke with him regularly, inviting him to camps and a visit the summer before his senior year.

"Deep down, I thought we were going to Texas," Bane said. "We sat in Charlie Strong's office for three hours and he said they were going to take a quarterback. Unfortunately, it wasn't him. It was Shane Buechele."

Logan and Buechele faced off last year in the ASU season opener after Buechele transferred from Texas to SMU.

Texas never offered Logan, and few schools did. This left him, his parents and his coaches frustrated.

"The thing that separates Logan from most kids I've been around is his competitive spirit and drive," Stephens said. "If you want a gunslinger that's going to go in there and compete his butt off, that's who he is to his core.

"And I think at that position it makes such a big difference when your confidence level is so high. And that's hard to recruit. That's hard to judge."

Eastern Washington was Logan's only offer until Arkansas State called late during his junior year. Logan and his mom visited Jonesboro in April 2015 during his spring break.

"I had never heard of Arkansas State," Linda said. "So when we went to Jonesboro, he kept looking at me like there's nothing out here. All he would see is fields and hay. We couldn't even get a regular radio station."

Despite the mostly farm-filled six-hour drive on Arkansas 67 to get there, Logan fell in love with Jonesboro. For the first time during his recruitment, he felt truly wanted by a program.

"The thing you noticed about him was just a competitive edge," ASU Coach Blake Anderson said. "The guy just absolutely loves to play the game and compete. I think that's something you have to have to be a really good leader, and especially at the quarterback position. And that's something you knew about Logan in the recruiting process. You could see that he had a high football IQ, and you could tell he was a worker."

Logan signed with the Red Wolves the next year despite a late push from Southern Mississippi, which tried to flip him a week before signing day.

He came to Jonesboro with a chip on his shoulder. He felt under-recruited and had something to prove.

The chip grew while sitting behind Hansen, who would earn the 2018 Sun Belt Player of the Year award and throw for 10,133 yards and 83 touchdowns in his Red Wolves career.

"I sat behind Justice for a while, [and] there were sometimes I really thought I should have got a chance in certain aspects, which is every quarterback on every college team in the country," Logan said. "But it was hard to keep that confidence every day, every game, when you're not playing. You go from playing your whole life, and then you don't play for a couple years. I mean, you're playing here or there, but it's tough. It's tough to maintain that confidence and keep it going."

Bane and Linda said Logan had multiple opportunities to transfer from Arkansas State, but he remained patient.

After Hansen's departure, 2019 finally would be his year. And with new coordinator and quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf leading the offense, Logan was primed to be the Red Wolves' new leader.

"He had waited his turn for three years, and he was excited, he was confident, he was ready to take over, and he was ready to get to work," Heckendorf said. "He had, and still has, that competitive nature where he feels like he can make every throw."

He was phenomenal in the first four games of the 2019 season, throwing for 1,052 yards, 10 touchdowns and 1 interception.

But during the season opener, he hurt his right thumb and would need surgery. He played through the pain at first, not knowing the extent of the injury. After the fourth game of the season, Logan got his hand checked out.

"Coach Anderson came into my office and told me the news, and my heart just sunk," Heckendorf said. "Having a season-ending injury like that after waiting three years, it rips his guts out. But to see how he handled it, you couldn't be more proud of him as a coach.

"Through his disappointment, he was there every day. He was in the quarterback meetings. He did everything he could to help Layne [Hatcher], to help Coltin Clack, to help Carson Coats last season."

Bonner watched from the sidelines as Alabama transfer Layne Hatcher was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, leading Arkansas State to an 8-5 season and a bowl victory over Florida International.

Bonner was never bitter about Hatcher's success. In fact, he loved it. The pair became close friends after rooming together on road trips all of last season.

After the season, Logan again had the opportunity to transfer. But he still had unfinished business in Jonesboro, which earned him the respect of his teammates.

"It starts off because he does the right thing. He's a great teammate. It's never been about Logan," Heckendorf said. "One part of being quarterback is having 10 other guys believe in you on the field. And I think he does that by how he plays and how he acts."

Hatcher's play in 2019 has given him an opportunity to compete with Bonner for the starting position in 2020. Anderson and Heckendorf both say Bonner will get the first snaps during fall camp, but Hatcher will get some, too.

For his parents, they hope 2020 will finally be his year.

"As a dad, selfishly, I want him to fulfill his dreams," Bane said. "Playing a full season, winning a championship and going to a bowl. And show the city of Jonesboro why they chose him and why he stayed."

Linda still thinks back to that Brad Paisley song. She recalls the memories of Logan chasing his football dream and the path he's forged along the way. The Pop Warner games, the high school playoffs, the recruiting trips, the SMU game, the injuries, the wins, the losses -- all of it.

She reflects on the man Logan's become and takes little credit, but Logan knows his parents had a bigger influence on him than they like to admit.

"There's worse folks to be like," the Brad Paisley song ends. "Aw, he'll be all right if he's anything like me."

Arkansas State quarterback Logan Bonner passed for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns in the first four games last season, but he was replaced in the lineup by Layne Hatcher after suffering a thumb injury. Bonner and Hatcher are now competing for the starting position.
(Democrat-Gazette file photo)
Arkansas State quarterback Logan Bonner passed for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns in the first four games last season, but he was replaced in the lineup by Layne Hatcher after suffering a thumb injury. Bonner and Hatcher are now competing for the starting position. (Democrat-Gazette file photo)

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