As Tim Taggart prepared an open grass field for one his first workouts in the summer of 2022, a 6-foot-2, long-limbed high schooler stepped out of a nearby car.

It was one of his newest clients.

In his next chapter of coaching, one that followed a year off from the sport, Taggart fielded interest from quarterbacks in the Philadelphia area for a development program he started. One of those first to respond was rising sophomore Matt Zollers.

The Royersford (Pa.) Spring Ford underclassman answered Taggart right away about the opportunity, while on a team trip for preseason camp. Zollers was eager to get started, as soon as he returned home.

In the meantime, Taggart watched Zollers' freshman film, from a season where the quarterback stepped into a significant role, given his readiness for the position, with senior signal caller Ryan Freed.

But when Zollers showed up and started throwing, Taggart saw more than what his freshman film showed.

"I took a step back, and I'm like, 'Holy crap,'" Taggart said.

Zollers displayed a natural live arm and characteristics of moving around and making certain throws that popped off the screen, but Taggart knew there was still work to be done, especially with Zollers' mechanics.

"Once he was able to focus on that stuff and clean that up, the sky was going to be the limit," Taggart said.

Taggart was impressed by Zollers' natural athleticism for his size and age, moving side to side and stopping and throwing. Zollers' football IQ and ability to read defenses also encapsulated a player advanced for a high school quarterback removed from his first season.

"He was all gas, no breaks," Taggart said. "He wanted to work. He didn't really want water breaks. He just wanted to keep working on things, kept asking for extra reps."

Zollers, who was joined by his older brother, Zach, now a defensive end at Pittsburgh, kept perfecting his throws throughout the workout. Whenever he made a mistake, he turned his frustration into determination, wearing out his brother as a receiver in his first meeting with Taggart.

"I remember getting on the phone after the workout with one of my buddies, who also coaches quarterbacks around the area," Taggart said. "I was like, 'Dude, I think I just met a potential national-recruited kid by the time he's a senior in high school.'"

Zollers boasted a work ethic that never called for Taggart to push him to workout, train or study film. Taggart received texts multiple times a week from Zollers, asking when he was next available to hit the field or come over and work on plays with a whiteboard.

"All the credit goes to him," Taggart said. "I'm just lucky enough that I fell into the right place at the right time, and he gave me the opportunity to work with him. I'm grateful for that."

Taggart, a quarterback coach at Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College, never crossed paths with Zollers on the gridiron, outside of their private workouts. Taggart never wanted the attention of being the guy who coached a quarterback with a long list of Power Four suitors, but with their relationship came younger player wanting to be like Zollers.

"Having a kid like Matt be at a public school and get the attention that he has and have the success that he has had, it brings out more in terms of confidence with younger generations of quarterbacks," Taggart said.

Local players saw what Zollers accomplished by staying at a public school, not entertaining a transfer to a private institution, and recognized there's an opportunity to follow in his foot steps from Pennsylvania.

Parents reached out to Taggart over the past few years and pitched the talent of their children and desire to be on the same path as Zollers, and Taggart has been honest with them.

"Everyone's different. I can't promise anything," Taggart said. "If you're your kid's going to walk out of the car and be 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, be able to throw the ball 75 yards effortlessly, never be late to a workout, always want to put in extra work and be dedicated like that, then sure, maybe I'll be able to help him reach his potential like Matt."

Younger kids came up to Taggart in the past few years and asked to meet Zollers and pass along words of fandom to the four-star quarterback.

"The one cool thing about being around somebody like Matt and watching him grow as a sophomore, junior and then now his senior year, is just watching him embrace that role, being somebody that little kids look up to and want to be like, and he loves it," Taggart said.

"He gives back, and he tries to give his time and everything like that to people because he gets it."

In his fourth game of his senior season, Zollers suffered a lower-leg injury, ending his high school career. Taggart, who was watching Zollers play on a live stream while in attendance at another game, rushed to Spring-Ford and then the hospital with Zollers' family, staying in the emergency room until 2:30 a.m.

"The first thing he said to me is he looked at me and he went, 'Coach, why does this got to happen to me?'" Taggart recounted.

Taggart didn't have the answer then, but over the past months, it's been a question he, Zollers and Spring-Ford coach Chad Brubaker sought to answer. Brubaker mentioned finding a silver lining in the injury, looking for the positives in Zollers' time off the field and how it would translate to the next level at Missouri, who signed the Class of 2025 quarterback in early December.

"I've been amazed at how he's remained positive," Brubaker said. "It was devastating. High school kids love to play their senior year with their buddies, and it was taken away from him."

The opportunity to rest from the field opened a door to grow in leadership for Zollers. He worked to help the team from the perspective of not being able to play, teaching the backup quarterback how to read defenses and study film.

"His whole high school career, he was always the guy," Taggart said. "He could always go out there, and he could lead by making plays on the field and bringing that energy and being at practice, and walking into a room, kids just stop talking and be like, 'Oh, Matt's in the room. All right, it's time to get serious now.'"

It taught Zollers' patience, preparing him mentally for football beyond high school.

"He's not somebody that's going to go and be the typical high school kid where he's more worried about his friends and girlfriends and things like that," Taggart said. "Matt is all ball. Matt understands what he wants."

Once he got out of his cast and into a walking boot, Zollers took the next step in getting himself back up to speed physically. He called Taggart to set up stationary throwing and continue to ready himself for early enrollment.

Zollers was recently cleared to no longer wear his walking boot in the past two weeks, and that night after his physical therapy treatment, he called Taggart again to set up a throwing session for this past Saturday to work on drop backs since he just started running again.

"It brought a lot of joy, being able to see him back out there with a football in his hand, cleats on, smiling," Taggart said. "Looking like Matt again."

It'll take time for Zollers to get comfortable transferring his weight into his front foot, the one he dislocated in September. Zollers wanted to attack his return to the field, though, scheduling another throwing session with Taggart for this weekend.

"The actual physical health side of it is good," Taggart said. "There's a reason for the surgery, the whole process that he went through to get to this point. Now it's the whole mental side.

"If I know Matt the way that I think I know Matt, I think it'll happen a lot quicker than it would for the average human being, just understanding how Matt's mindset is and how he attacks things."

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