QB Spotlight: Will Grunnet — Edina High School, Class of 2029

For Will Grunnet, a freshman quarterback at Edina High School in Edina, Minnesota, football has been part of life since 2016. The inspiration traced back to one person: his dad. What started as a kid following in a father’s footsteps has grown into a genuine passion for the position — and a clear-eyed understanding of what it takes to play it well.

Ask Grunnet what he loves about quarterback, and the answer is telling. It isn’t the highlight throws or the spotlight. It’s the pressure. Handling tough situations, staying composed when the moment gets big — that’s the part of the job he’s drawn to. It’s a mindset that lines up perfectly with the quarterback he admires most right now: Jalen Hurts. “How calm he is, and that he shows up in big moments” is what Grunnet points to when explaining the Hurts model he’s trying to follow.

That belief in poise and presence shapes how he thinks about the position overall. To Grunnet, the essentials of being a great quarterback come down to two things: being a great leader and being mentally tough. Both are skills he’s actively working to sharpen.

Grunnet has put in offseason work to back that up, attending camp at the University of St. Thomas and training with QBMotionMW, the program run by former Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan (IG and X: @QBMotion_MW). Morgan has become more than a trainer — he’s the mentor Grunnet leans on most. “He’s a guy I can call whenever I have a question, and he’ll give me his best advice.”

The road hasn’t been without setbacks. The biggest challenge Grunnet has faced was breaking his non-throwing shoulder — a serious injury for any young athlete. He credits his recovery to the people around him, surrounding himself with friends and family who supported him until he was back to 100 percent. It’s a chapter that reinforced the same lesson he keeps coming back to: mental toughness matters.

Now healthy, his goals are split between the near and the long term. In the short term, he wants to improve his ability to extend plays and continue building his mental toughness. Longer term, the focus is simple and concrete: put up strong stats this season.

If there’s one moment that captures why he plays, it came on his very first varsity throw. Grunnet dropped back, delivered the pass, and watched his wide receiver turn it into a 90-plus-yard touchdown — his most memorable moment in the game so far, and the kind of play that fuels everything that comes next.

With a strong support system, a respected mentor in his corner, and a freshman season ahead of him, Will Grunnet is just getting started.