It's not unusual for a high school football coach to talk up his star quarterback.

Especially when that quarterback was one of the best players in school history and was considered one of the best players in the state his senior season.

Still. The way Perry (Ariz.) High head coach Preston Jones talks about Chubba Purdy should make Florida State fans optimistic about the potential of the freshman QB.

"He's a freak athletically," Jones said. "The sky is the limit for that kid."

During Purdy's first two years at Perry, he watched from the sidelines as his brother, Brock, quarterbacked the Pumas to victories and touchdowns. But all the while, even as he was getting reps in freshman and junior varsity games, Chubba thought he might be the best quarterback in the family.

The younger Purdy likely still thinks that. Even after Brock won the starting quarterback job at Iowa State as a true freshman in 2018 and then threw for 3,982 yards and 27 touchdowns a year ago for the Cyclones.

"There's a big argument I'm sure at their dinner table, as well as there is in our coaches' office with the coaches and kids that have played with them about which one is better," Jones said. "They both have their strengths. But they are both extremely, extremely talented quarterbacks."

Purdy obviously has a lot of strengths as a quarterback. He racked up exactly 9,000 yards of total offense and 111 touchdowns during his two seasons as a starter at Perry.

But even more impressive than his athleticism, Jones says, is how he throws the football downfield. That's what arguably stands out the most to the veteran head coach.

"His accuracy is off the charts," Jones said. "It's very, very good."

Especially the deep ball.

The quarterbacks coach at Perry High School is Steve Axman.

Axman coached college football for over four decades, including stints at UCLA in the 1980s -- when a guy named Troy Aikman was the quarterback. He also coached former Super Bowl quarterback Neil O'Donnell at Maryland later in the decade, and he had stops all over the Pac-12 as a QBs coach.

"He got to coach Chubba for a couple of years," Jones said. "And he used to come in and say, 'He throws a better deep ball than anyone I've ever coached. And for a guy that's coached at UCLA, University of Washington, Stanford, University of Arizona ... for Coach Axman to say something like that about a kid is very, very impressive."

Growing up the younger brother of an elite athlete can make for some growing pains in adolescence, of course. But it can also instill a competitive spirit that can border on maniacal.

As good as Brock was at Perry High School, Chubba wanted to be better.

As good as Brock has been in college, Chubba wants to be better.

And anytime Chubba is playing anything, against his brother or anyone else, it's clear that he intends to win.

"He's extremely, extremely competitive," Jones said. "They say the ping-pong battles they have at their house are sometimes more intense than anything they've ever seen. That's a competitive family. He's a competitive kid."

The head coach, who appeared on Monday's "Wake Up Warchant" podcast, points to one game in particular to hammer that point home. It's a game that is less than a year old, but will likely be one he remembers for the rest of his life.

"I think it was Game 4 (of the 2019 season) and we're playing against a Top 5 team in the state," Jones said. "And we went into quadruple-overtime with them. And Chubba put our team on his shoulders. In overtime in Arizona, you put the ball on the 10-yard-line. And it didn't matter what I called, Chubba was going to take that ball and he was going to score.

"It wasn't going in anyone else's hands. If it was a pass play, he was going to scramble and score. If it was a running play, he was going to keep it and score. He was not going to be denied. That's what kind of competitor he is. He ended up with 10 touchdowns. He threw for five and ran for five."

Jones says it's that same competitiveness that should help Purdy at Florida State.

The coach said he'd prefer it if the 6-foot-2, 212-pound quarterback was able to redshirt in 2020, because he thinks that's beneficial to all true freshman QBs. But he understands that Purdy will be battling it out for a starting spot when preseason camp opens in early August.

Redshirt junior James Blackman is a returning starter, but he is expected to be challenged by redshirt sophomore Jordan Travis, Purdy and fellow true freshman Tate Rodemaker.

Whether Purdy earns the job this year or not, Jones thinks he has a chance to be a very good college quarterback.

"He was really, really special," Jones said.

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