The only noticeable change in the tone of Callum Schweitzer’s voice came midway through an extended telephone interview with the Los Gatan.
“Splitting time is something I’ve never done before,” Schweitzer said, when asked about his 2024 junior year, in which he started the season sharing first-string quarterback duties with Scotty Brennan (before Brennan took the reins for good in the last handful of games). “It was interesting, but I kind of put that behind me and focused on winning this year.”
Schweitzer’s response revealed his competitive nature, the impetus behind becoming one of the best signal-callers in the Central Coast Section this season. The Wildcats (2-2) enter their Oct. 3 showdown with Pittsburg High School in the rare role of underdog—just the way they like it.
“We love being the underdog,” Schweitzer said. “It kind of gives us a chip on our shoulder. We look forward to competing against a great team and hope to bring home a win for the town.”
Pittsburg is a perennial state power and enters the non-league contest ranked No. 27 in California, while Los Gatos checks in at No. 54. The first annual Allan McGurk Cancer Awareness Game is dedicated to the former LGHS assistant coach who passed away from cancer in the summer.
Schweitzer has completed 51-of-77 passes for 879 yards—that’s a whopping 17.2 yards per completion—including 11 touchdowns to three interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder has also been a dynamic threat running the ball and scrambling, accumulating 211 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns. Schweitzer counts the Wildcats’ 35-7 win over Liberty on Sept. 5 as his best performance of the season.
In basically one half of play, Schweitzer completed 13-of-16 passes for 152 yards and two TDs while rushing for 62 yards on just three carries and a score.
“I thought I played a really clean game and did what I needed to do to give our team the best chance to win,” he said.
Despite putting up gaudy numbers this season, Schweitzer isn’t satisfied because the team sits with a .500 record through four games. Granted, Los Gatos’ two losses have come by a combined three points, meaning it could easily be 4-0 instead of 2-2.
“We have to bounce back and start winning more games,” Schweitzer said.
One of the team’s defeats came in a road game against Clovis High, which made for quite the experience. Clovis has a tradition where its stadium lights go dim and flicker after each time it scores a touchdown.
“They scored the first touchdown, the lights are flickering, and you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s time to go, it’s time to get these points back,’” Schweitzer said. “It lit a fire in our offense and I thought our guys showed a lot of grit. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come away with a victory in the end. But the offensive line played great the entire game.”
Schweitzer enjoyed the entire experience traveling to and playing Clovis.
“A long bus ride is never too bad,” he said. “You get to lock in for three hours, so it’s kind of calming.”
Schweitzer loves competing on the field and in the weight room. Quarterbacks usually can’t hang with the linebackers when it comes to hoisting up iron, but Schweitzer is the exception.
“I love the weight room,” he said. “I love competing with the linebackers on our team. Tyler (Purcell) and Austin (Krug), we’re always competing and messing with each other with weight-room numbers. Our strength coach does a great job with building a competitive atmosphere.”
From the moment the 2024 season ended, Schweitzer was focused on improving himself to put the team in the best position to succeed this year. Starting last December, Schweitzer worked with renowned quarterback coach Greg Panelli once or twice a week.
In a group setting with other top-level quarterbacks from different areas of California, Schweitzer honed in on his mechanics in an environment conducive for improvement.
“Friendly competition is big in those sessions,” Schweitzer said. “For mechanics, they always keep talking about extension with quarterbacks and keeping the front side tight and focusing on extension out front. That’s what I worked on a lot in the off-season.”
Schweitzer has an offer from San Jose State University, but will go through the process before making a final decision on his college destination. If Schweitzer continues progressing in his decision-making and throws, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see at least one more Division I team make him an offer by season’s end.
Schweitzer’s two older brothers, Will and Tate, both played football at Los Gatos. Callum knows Will and Tate didn’t take it easy on him whenever the trio played sports together growing up, and for that he’s thankful.
“Being the youngest brother is definitely an experience I’ll never forget,” Callum said. “A lot of competition playing wiffle ball in the backyard, a lot of football and basketball. They used to make up games just to mess with me. But, looking back, it made me tougher and more competitive.”
Schweitzer was a regular at Los Gatos football games, dreaming of one day starring under the lights. And now, his time has arrived.
“Growing up and watching my brother’s games definitely made me dream big,” he said.
