When Hayden Bjorndal first stepped in at quarterback, he wasn’t the starter. He wasn’t even the backup. He was third string. One year later, he was first string, and the change didn’t happen by accident.
“I put in lots of work,” the Class of 2030 quarterback from Draper, Utah said, “such as practicing by myself every day, asking what I can do to get better, getting advice from friends and family.” That’s a simple list, but it takes a real commitment for a young player to follow it. Practicing alone every day means nobody is watching and nobody is keeping score. Asking coaches what you need to improve means being ready to hear the answer. Hayden did both, and he earned the job.
Football has been part of his life for five years, but he loved the game long before he played it. He says he always wanted to play, and now that he’s a quarterback at Alta High School, his favorite part is easy to name: throwing touchdowns. It’s an honest answer, and every quarterback who has felt a scoring throw leave his hand understands it.
What Hayden values most at the position shows a deeper understanding of the game. For him, it comes down to football IQ. That means reading a defense, feeling pressure before it arrives, and being able to spin the ball well. Those are the skills that separate quarterbacks who simply have arms from quarterbacks who can run an offense, and Hayden already knows which one he wants to be.
He sees that same style in Brock Purdy, the quarterback he admires most. Part of it is that Purdy plays for Hayden’s favorite team, but the bigger reason is that Hayden sees himself in Purdy’s game. “He reminds me of myself a lot because our games are similar,” he said. It’s a fitting comparison. Purdy is known for his decision-making and poise, and Hayden describes those same strengths as the foundation of good quarterback play.
Hayden already has a championship on his résumé. He won a title in his final year of youth football, a strong way to close one chapter before starting the next. He also knows where that next chapter started. He gives his first quarterback coach credit for teaching him many of the things that helped him become the player he is today.
His goals are specific, and they show he knows what the work involves. In the short term, he wants to put in more time in the weight room, practice more outside of school, and memorize his entire playbook. Long term, he wants to become Alta’s starting quarterback, raise each of his weight room maxes by 50 pounds, and win a state championship. He has already gone from third string to first string once. Now he’s working to do it again at the high school level.
Building the Résumé: Why Upgrading Your Membership Matters
Hayden’s story is about steady work that pays off over time, and his high school career gives him four seasons to keep building. An upgraded QB Magazine membership helps him document that climb as it happens.
Moments like his youth championship, and the ones still ahead at Alta, deserve more than a single post. Custom graphics turn those moments into polished content that family, teammates, and coaches can share and remember. Hayden already posts his highlights on Instagram, and reposts across QB Magazine’s platforms put that work in front of an audience far beyond his own followers.
Starting as a freshman also means that recognition has time to grow. Each graphic and repost adds to the next, so by the time Hayden is an upperclassman, his name comes with years of progress people have been able to follow.
Most of all, it creates a lasting record of a quarterback who started at the bottom of the depth chart and worked his way to the top, one practice at a time.