QB Magazine Athlete Feature

Darren Hanna’s trainer has a saying, and the fourth grader repeats it like a rule rather than a slogan.

“Coach JP always says, ‘the work is going to work.'”

It is a strange little sentence until you sit with it. It does not promise that the work will pay off soon, or fairly, or in the way you hoped. It just says the work does its job eventually, whether or not anyone is watching at the time. For a nine-year-old quarterback who recently had to start over in a new place, that turns out to be exactly the right thing to hold onto.

Starting Over

Ask Hanna about the biggest challenge he has faced and he does not describe a game.

“Leaving my hometown team,” the Class of 2034 quarterback said. “And remembering who I am and letting the work speak for me.”

Anyone who has watched youth sports knows how much is packed into that. A new team means new coaches with no history with you, teammates who already have their friendships sorted, and a depth chart you have to earn your way onto again from zero — all at an age where the old team was also most of your social life.

Hanna’s answer to it was not to campaign for himself. It was to remember who he is and let the tape do the talking. That is a strikingly patient response for a fourth grader, and it is the same idea as Coach JP’s line, arrived at from the other direction.

The Résumé

The work has, in fact, worked. Hanna’s list of memorable games reads like a career highlight reel that happens to have started in kindergarten.

At 6U, he accounted for four touchdowns in a semifinal his team won in triple overtime. At 7U, in the Super Bowl, he threw a touchdown and then ran in the game-winner himself. At 8U, he threw a touchdown against Space City in a national tournament to beat them.

And then there is the one he mentions almost in passing: five touchdown passes in a state championship game.

Five. In a title game. What stands out across all of it is not just the production but the timing — semifinals, Super Bowl, nationals, state championship. Hanna’s best games keep landing on the days when the season is on the line.

Hard Work, Football IQ, Leadership

His definition of the position is three words long, which is about right for someone who prefers to demonstrate rather than explain: hard work, football IQ, and leadership.

He credits two places for his development — the guys at Goldfeet Global and his quarterback trainer, James Pinkney, of Pinkney Football Academy.

“They always train me hard and tell me to always be confident,” Hanna said.

Trained hard and told to be confident. That combination is worth noting, because either one alone tends to go wrong. Hard training without confidence produces a tentative player; confidence without hard training produces one who is about to find out.

He has also been through a serious South Florida camp circuit for his age, working camps hosted by JT Thomas, Brian Burns, Greg Rousseau, Xavier Restrepo, Elijah Moore, and Jordan Battle — a lot of reps in front of a lot of people who have actually done it.

Lamar

His favorite quarterback is Lamar Jackson, and his reasoning covers all three phases.

“His work ethic, ability to make plays with his feet, and arm talent,” Hanna said.

Work ethic comes first, ahead of the athleticism — the same ordering he used when defining the position.

His goals are similarly unglamorous: get stronger, and keep sharpening his fundamentals. No mention of rankings or championships, even though he has a drawer full of the latter. Just the two things that would make him better next season than he was in the last one.

He is a multi-sport athlete as well, playing baseball, basketball, and running track and field. And when asked what he actually enjoys most about football, he skips all of the above and gives the most nine-year-old answer imaginable, which is also probably the correct one.

“Throwing touchdowns and celebrating with teammates.”

A Note on Memberships

Darren has already stacked up a real set of games worth remembering — the triple-overtime semifinal, the 7U Super Bowl, the five-touchdown state championship.

Heading into the fall, an upgraded QB Magazine membership adds a professionally designed athlete graphic and a profile that grows season by season — a place where each of those seasons gets recorded as it happens rather than reconstructed from memory later on. At his age it is simply a home for the story while it is being written.

Explore membership options at quarterbackmagazine.com/memberships.

Instagram: @d.hanna_1