Western Kentucky quarterback Bronson Barron fields the snap during the annual spring game at Houchens-Smith Stadium. Barron, a junior transfer from Weber State, is in his first season playing for the Hilltoppers.

Bronson Barron could have played it safe and stayed home.

A native of American Fork, Utah, Barron had already proven a capable starter at in-state school Weber State. In three seasons with the Wildcats, he’d led the team in passing all three years and tallied 5,146 career passing yards and 36 touchdowns while helping the team to on Big Sky Conference championship and a pair of appearances in the FCS playoffs.

Even when former Weber State head coach Jay Hill left after the 2022 season to become associate head coach and defensive coordinator at BYU, it made sense that Barron would stick around as the longtime incumbent quarterback.

Instead, he chose a different path.

“I played a little bit at Weber State, had a good run there,” Barron said. “I just felt like you know what, maybe it was time for something new … a new challenge.

“… Our head coach left, so that kind of brought some questions. I felt like it was the time for me to go and explore my options. I’m grateful for the opportunity that the coaches here at Western Kentucky gave me, a scholarship to come here and compete.”

A 2018 graduate of American Fork High School where he was an all-state selection and region MVP, Barron signed with Weber State that same year but didn’t join the program until 2020. In between high school and college, he served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Ghana.

Barron returned to the football field in 2020 and was soon starting for the Wildcats, a job he held for three seasons. During that 2022 campaign, Barron married his wife, Kennedy.

When the Barrons decided to pull up stakes in Utah and explore new options, WKU soon came into focus as a real opportunity. The pass-happy scheme orchestrated by head coach Tyson Helton is a natural draw for a quarterback looking to prove himself at a higher level of competition.

One glitch, though – the Tops already have a very much established quarterback in senior Austin Reed, who burst upon the scene in his first year at WKU to lead the nation in passing with 4,746 yards and 40 touchdowns.

Barron came to Bowling Green anyway, knowing he was likely battling for the backup spot this season and beginning to audition for the starting job next year.

“Austin is a helluva quarterback,” Barron said. “Austin’s great and to see what he did last year and the way he led the team, but I think Western Kentucky is known for throwing the ball around. I don’t know a quarterback in the country that doesn’t want to play quarterback here. And so obviously the scheme here was a huge reason for me coming here. I wanted to come here and challenge myself.

“And then coach Helton … I mean, that’s a guy who you want to play for. He walks into the building and you know he’s there and he has a presence about him. And I was just able to really build the respect and a relationship with him in that whole recruiting process. But overall, the scheme here at Western was a big thing. And then being able to compete and improve my game was a big reason as well.”

Barron has the edge of experience – both playing and in life – over current WKU redshirt freshmen quarterbacks Caden Veltkamp and Turner Helton, who have a combined one game of experience – Veltkamp went 4-for-4 passing for 25 yards in a late-game appearance last season. With redshirt sophomore transfer Wille Taggart Jr. shifting to wide receiver after playing quarterback in the spring, it’s a three-man battle to back up Reed.

“It is a big quarterback battle for us,” Tyson Helton said during Tuesday’s media day. “You know, Austin is the quarterback here, but he’s always one play away – knock on wood – that he may get dinged up. And so every quarterback that plays for us has to approach it like a starter. I like our quarterbacks. There’s a lot of competition that’s going to take place during fall camp.

“I don’t know who the backup is today and all our quarterbacks know that, so it makes for a fun camp for them because it’s anybody’s game. I looked them all in the eye and I said I think any one of you can run out there and go win a game for us if you have to go do that, but somebody has to go prove themselves that they’re the first guy that’s going to run out there and our staff has to believe that they can go win the game.”

Barron said his fellow WKU quarterbacks and new offensive coordinator Drew Hollingshead have been great in helping him get ready to contribute as needed for the Hilltoppers.

“At the beginning it was a little difficult – you know, there’s a lot going on,” Barron said. “This is my third offense in three years, so it was different from anything that I had run before. But you know with the other guys in the room and coach Drew, they were really able to help me get up to speed and grasp it and understand it.”{&end}