Logan Carrillo finds rest on Friday nights after a football game ends. He might arrive home at 2 a.m., but that’s one of the few times he isn’t evaluating himself.
By Saturday morning, the senior quarterback is in his bedroom on his laptop, watching Riverview’s game from the previous night, trying to find a “wrinkle.” He assesses how he could’ve better helped the offensive line or his receivers. He analyzes why passes fell incomplete, dissecting his every move. When he needs a sounding board, Carrillo will call his dad, Gerardo, into his room.
“He’s always wanting to know the why,” Gerardo Carrillo said. “He always wants to find the solution. He always wants to help everybody.”
“He just wants to make everything better,” Carrillo’s mom, Cheryl Carrillo,
interjects. “92 is never good enough. Why didn’t I get a 100? He will come home and re-study. He will come home, and if he’s completed eight out of his 10 passes, he’s not focusing on the eight. He’s focusing on the two. He doesn’t always look at his success. He likes to focus, good or bad, on the things that didn’t go right to see where he can improve.”
And for most of his high school career, Logan has been watching.
Logan saw Anthony Miller start in his sophomore season. After a neck-and-neck quarterback battle during his junior season, then-senior Parker Nippert earned the job, throwing for over 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2025.
“It was definitely hard,” Logan said. “It was an emotional process for sure. But I understood that everything happens for a reason, and I stayed consistent with my work ethic…I knew that my senior year was going to be the year I had to make the most.”
And so far, he has.
The 6-foot, 175-pound quarterback has thrown for 1,681 yards and 22 touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes and averaging 15 or more yards per completion. In a win against Naples in Week 1, Logan broke Riverview’s single-game passing yards record, throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns.
And during a 47-7 win over North Port, Logan broke Riverview’s single-season passing touchdown record, surpassing Nippert’s previous mark of 19. On Friday, the signal caller will face one of his biggest challenges yet against Venice — a team Riverview hasn’t beaten since 2019 — for the District 6A-12 crown.
“I may not have all the physical traits that are necessary for the collegiate level performance, but ultimately, I think the thing that separates me is my work ethic and everything that I put towards the game,” Logan said. “And I think that keeps me going knowing that people are going to doubt me.”
Carrillo never satisfied
At 7 a.m., offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brody Wiseman knows who to expect.
Logan is in Wiseman’s room an hour before school starts every day of the school year.
They’ll watch film and Wiseman will talk about game plans. Logan will describe what he sees on tape and the plays that he’s comfortable with. It isn’t rare for Wiseman to receive a text at 9 p.m. with a suggestion. Or on Saturdays as the two watch the Florida Gators. If Logan recognizes a concept Riverview runs, he’ll alert Wiseman and ask if the coach noticed offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner calling the same play.
“It’s just an open dialogue in terms of what we’re doing scheme-wise,” Wiseman said. “It’s almost like having an assistant offensive coordinator that’s also playing.”
In some ways, Logan has been an offensive coordinator since he was 8 years old.
As soon as he became a quarterback, Logan had a spiral notebook, doodling plays as he learned the fundamentals.
“It had just a lot of X's, arrows, O's, and he would bring it to the field,” Cheryl said, adding, “He loved drawing and figuring out what he could do.”
For multiple Christmases, Gerardo and Cheryl gifted Logan books. They asked his coach what would help him learn, and Logan devoured pages about techniques and coverages.
“He was already trying to visualize ahead of what he was being taught,” Cheryl said.
Logan developed differently from most football players, relying on his understanding early rather than his measurables. His intelligence has always been there, but as Wiseman describes, he didn’t pass the “eye test.”
The average Division I quarterback is 6-foot-2, 210 pounds. Logan is 6-foot, 175 pounds.
“You got too many college guys that are worried about tape measures,” Rams head coach Mark Cristiani said. “Just put on the tape…but I would challenge any of those guys to go into the locker room and try to see a team that loves their quarterback more than our guys love Logan.”
Cristiani can remember first seeing Logan play as a sophomore, coming in as relief. He got hit in the mouth and still delivered the ball downfield.
“He’s always been that guy I’ve got to know more and more,” Cristiani said. “I really respect him for a bunch of reasons. He’s a tremendously hard worker.”
And as Cristiani learned more about Logan — who could take a hit and still make the play — the quarterback continued to become that guy.
Logan’s preparation centers on control. Beyond film study, his practices and drills make him feel like he’s “played the game 50 times before” he actually steps onto the field.
“I like the leadership aspect and kind of being the one in control,” Logan said. “I like to set the standard and have the authority over the team and responsibility where the game kind of depends on what I do and what I can contribute. I like that responsibility.”
But when Logan was younger, if he prepared and something didn’t go right, sometimes he let it “snowball.” At times, Logan struggled to isolate the mistake and move on.
Carrillo proves it on the field
Cheryl’s favorite memory of Logan playing happened when he was 9 years old.
He had just started playing, and his flag football team made it to the championship. The coach called a pass play. Logan questioned whether he could do it.
“And the coach said, ‘You’re going to throw it, he’s going to catch it, and we’re going to win,’” Cheryl recalled. “And it happened, and from that moment forward, Logan’s confidence continued to grow.”
Logan’s first real test as a starting quarterback was against Port Charlotte in the Kickoff Classic, a top-25 team in Florida. They’re led by Logan Flaherty, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound signal caller committed to FSU.
Logan kept up with Flaherty, throwing for 207 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for one more.
“He played lights out, and I think when you go in there and do that, it’s an affirmation of all the work that you’ve put in,” Wiseman said, adding, “It was a much-needed affirmation of, ‘Hey, I’ve put all this work in, I put all this time in, I’m really good too at what I do.’ I think that’s been on display for him this entire year.”
While most will comment on Logan’s intelligence, Wiseman thinks people don’t talk about his passing ability enough. Wiseman said Logan can make every pass on the field. He’s mobile, and he can escape the pocket and extend plays, keeping his eyes locked downfield. Wiseman said Logan’s technique is always sound. His feet are right. He’s always set properly. And he’s always on time.
Carrillo averages 240 passing yards and three touchdowns per game. He ranked 22nd in Florida in passing yards, and his 70 percent completion rate leads Sarasota and Manatee counties.
He currently has three offers, two to Division III schools, Oberlin College and Carleton College. But Logan’s hoping that when his season comes to an end, the right coach comes at the right time, as everything else has.
“It starts from within,” Logan said. “Obviously, you practice externally, and you practice the physical movements, but it’s not all going to come together unless you believe that you have it within yourself to execute the skills you’ve been practicing…you got to believe it’s going to pay off.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Riverview QB Logan Carrillo waited his turn. Now he’s breaking records
