Flores is a sophomore at Oklahoma State in the Big XII. Entrenched behind Alan Bowman, Flores has learned much from the incumbent starter.

“Alan has been a big, I would say, role model for me,” the former Gretna High School quarterback said. “We came in at the same time, he kind of took me under his wing, and he’s seen so much ball, he’s been around for a while. So just to be able to learn from him, see how he operates and kind of see how he thinks through things, it’s been awesome.”

Flores has also been able to absorb knowledge from Mike Gundy, notorious for the Air Raid offense run in Stillwater for almost two decades, and quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay, who spent time in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals, as well as the Tennessee Titans practice squad.

“I’ve learned so much coming out of high school,” Flores said. “Like, I thought I thought I knew a lot about football and then I get there and they’re talking about so many different things that I’ve barely heard of. But it’s really cool to learn from those guys that have played at that level and succeeded at that level. You know, coach Gundy, coach Rattay, our quarterbacks coach, he played in the league a little bit. So it’s really cool to hear him kind of talk through things.”

Over the rest of the offseason, Flores hopes to add 5-10 pounds of muscle and improve his footwork, but his main focus is on size and speed.

“I think those are two points I kind of need to focus on in the offseason, and then mentally just kind of hammering the offense,” he said. “I feel good about it. But I mean, I can always grow mentally, learning defenses and really just living in the offensive playbook.”

In spring ball – which lacked a spring game for the second straight year as renovations continue at the Cowboys’ Boone Pickens Stadium, meaning Flores still has yet meaningful in-game snaps – Flores picked up team reps and said he will be ready to make the most of any opportunity he’s presented with.

“I feel a lot more comfortable on offense than I did last year,” he said. “So yeah, if my opportunity comes, I’ll be ready. But as of now, I’m just learning from the guys in front of me.”

Catching up with Kaelin at this past weekend’s Warren Academy QB Development Camp was also a positive for Flores.

“Me and Danny are really close,” he said. “I mean, we had some good games two seasons ago but we go way back, past that, since like seventh grade we’ve been training together, been training with JT. We have a really good relationship, it’s awesome to see each other do well. He’s balling at Nebraska now.

“But yeah, to just come back and kind of talk to him and Nate (Glantz) too, and just see how the guys are doing, it’s really cool.”

Kaelin, last year’s starter at Bellevue West, is now a freshman at Nebraska who just completed spring ball and played in the Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium last month. New co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Glenn Thomas has been instrumental to a smooth adjustment to the Division I level.

“Right when coach Thomas came in in January, I got to meet him and I think he did a good job of being available for us to meet with him, start putting some of the playbook in and start just learning things,” Kaelin said. “He’s super knowledgeable. He’s coached at a lot of big places. So he knows the game of football really well.

“And I think that’s something I say that I’ve learned and I’ve already grown a lot in as far as just recognizing coverages and being able to apply it on the field in real time.”

Thomas has spent time in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as on Matt Rhule’s staffs at Temple (2016) and Baylor (2017-19).

While of course the battle for the starting quarterback role with five-star freshman Dylan Raiola and incumbent starter Heinrich Haarberg is the “elephant in the room,” Kaelin has also worked well with his counterparts.

“I think just from the standpoint of all three of us, I think (we) have done a good job of showing up every day, preparing really hard and I think that only pushes each and every one to one of us to get better,” he said. “You know, one other thing that I think was positive from the spring is the fact that we’re in a quarterback competition. We just got so many reps. We did the spring league thing that got us more reps.

“So I just think for every single one of us, like I said, we just continue to prepare. We’re all really talented. I think we’re all capable of making a really positive impact on the team.”

Not as much pushing each other as focusing on getting themselves better, Kaelin said, will only elevate the play of the Huskers as a whole.