Usually the purpose of community college is for it to catapult students to the four-year level.

It’s rare that someone does it backwards.

But that is exactly what sophomore quarterback Nick Mitchell is doing.

“For me its not about getting back to the four-year level at this point it’s about having success and going out here and working hard with my teammates and getting better and improving on my craft, ” he said.

“If I do all the things right I’m sure it will just happen but that’s not something that I’m focusing on necessarily, I’m focused on the team, ” he added.

He claims the reason for leaving Oregon State was the offensive system did not fit his style of play.

It’s only been a semester since Mitchell has left Oregon State and came to Cerritos, he even still practices in his bright Beaver orange cleats.

“I just haven’t gotten a pair of blue cleats but they’re in the mail right now so I’m waiting to get those,” he said as he flashed his movie star like smile.

Mitchell was apart of the Beaver football team for the last two season and even started in five games in his freshman season.

“The speed of the game at that level is pretty high, the talent here is really good as well so I’m just excited to get out there and continue to play,” he said.

His new head coach Frank Mazzotta feels Mitchell will bring a level of leadership to this team.

“He’s definitely a leader. Anybody who played in the Pac-12 and the Big-12 that’s a big deal. He’s come in with a lot of confidence right now but he’s learning the system,” Mazzotta said.

Over the course of his career as a Beaver he went 51/113 while throwing for 571 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

“It took Jimmy [Walker] a while to get his accuracy right too. This kid isn’t accurate right now because he’s still learning what to do. That’s the tough thing about a freshman, he’s truly a freshman to us,” Mazzotta said.

Leaving Oregon State was a hard decision in itself for Mitchell but it was even harder that he left his older brother.

“All of my brothers either played college football or are going to play. But my brother was a senior so he just graduated and he’s gone. But I just felt like going to a community college was the best opportunity for me to improve on my craft and get better,” Mitchell explained.

He claims the reason for leaving Oregon State

Mitchell used his time at Oregon State to learn the pace of the game but is looking at Cerritos as a second chance to play the sport he loves.

Mitchell will compete for the starting job for this upcoming football season.

Mazzotta admitted that it will be up to Mitchell to prove to his teammates that he is the guy for the job.

Defensive end Miles Henry-Davis calls Mitchell “Golden Boy.”

“He just looks like the prototypical All-American quarterback that you see in movies and television shows and his play backs it up,” he said.

While many players on the football team are working to get to the four-year level Mitchell has been there already and is not expecting to be treated any different.

“Nothing against Oregon State but I’m not trying to be the Oregon State guy here. I just want to be a Cerritos guy,” Mitchell said.