Run Your Own Race: Inside the QB Camp Where Jordan Love & Steve Calhoun Are Building SoCal's Next Generation

I've walked into enough camps to clock the vibe in about ten minutes — who's there to coach, and who's there for the photo op. The Change the Game Quarterback Camp was the other kind. From the second I stepped onto the field at Western High School in Anaheim, the whole thing ran like a Sunday game plan: punctual, locked in, every minute accounted for.

At the center of it were two names that carry weight. Steve Calhoun — the world-renowned QB coach behind Armed & Dangerous — and Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, anchoring a two-day elite camp built for roughly 70 quarterbacks. And this wasn't a wave-from-the-sideline appearance. Calhoun has coached and mentored Love since the QB was in eighth grade, so the chemistry between them set the tone for everybody on the grass.

Here's what stood out: Love was in it. Drill to drill, he moved through the group making sure he touched everybody — breaking down footwork, timing, how he reads a defense, the little stuff that separates a thrower from a quarterback. The camp skewed coed and spanned middle school through high school, with a handful of girls competing right alongside the boys. And give it up for the college athletes who came back to work this thing — guys who've been through the grind, returning to run stations and pour into the next wave for the foundation. That's culture. That's the cycle done right.

But the show-stopper was Calhoun himself. The man put on an absolute coaching clinic. He dug into the nuances of the position — eye discipline, footwork tied to the read, how subtle hip and shoulder tweaks change the whole throw — and you could see exactly why he's ranked among the top-5 QB coaches in the country, with NFL arms like Russell Wilson, Nick Foles and Jake Locker on his résumé. He wasn't dumbing it down; he was leveling these kids up, treating middle schoolers and high schoolers like quarterbacks worth investing in.

I caught him between drills and asked the obvious question: Do you ever get tired after running these camps? No hesitation. "NO! I enjoy what I do! I enjoy inspiring the next wave of athletes! I never get tired! This is what I do!" You feel that energy in everything the camp touches.

Then they raised the bar again. The group went inside for a football-IQ session — film breakdown, what to look for, how to actually dissect the game. That's the part most camps skip. On the field

you attack the physical side; in that classroom, tired legs and all, you soak up the mental side. That's the difference-maker — and it tracks, because the foundation is built around "leveling the playing field," pairing elite training and film study with mentorship, recruiting guidance, and scholarships for underserved athletes.

The moment that hit hardest came from Love: run your own race. Stop watching what everybody else is doing and get focused on you — because all it takes is one opportunity. And he's living proof. Love was a two-star recruit whose only FBS scholarship offer came from Utah State; he turned that single chance into MVP of the 2018 New Mexico Bowl and the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. One offer. One mindset. When a kid hears that from the guy who actually did it, it lands different.

But here's the real takeaway — the thing I kept seeing on faces all weekend. These kids walked away inspired. Boys and girls, middle school to high school, every one of them left believing a little more in what's possible. They got better, sure. They also got hope, a blueprint, and proof that the work is worth it. With John Conti driving the foundation's development, that's the whole point: build the athlete on the field, build the person off it.

If you've got a quarterback who wants to stand out — to learn, to grow, to put in the work — circle this on the calendar. It's the second annual, it runs in June, and it's the kind of thing that quietly reroutes a kid's trajectory.

Steve Calhoun and Jordan Love have the keys. Some of these kids are about to drive. See you on the field next time.

Sources: Change the Game Foundation · Armed & Dangerous Football · Jordan Love bio