This story originally ran in the Football Issue of GoDuke, the Magazine -- Aug. 2020

For Gunnar Holmberg, the path to becoming a starting quarterback in college football has been much like the Yellow Brick Road that Dorothy followed in the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz" as she learned different life lessons on her journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard.
 
While the beginning was tough for Holmberg, losing his father to cancer at a very young age, he was fortunate to be surrounded by family and to interact with coaches and players who helped pave his pathway to Duke and the opportunity to learn from the wizard himself, the "quarterback whisperer" — David Cutcliffe.
 
Holmberg grew up with an incredible athletic pedigree in his family and despite losing his father Sean when he was 10 years old, he was able to use that sports lineage to his advantage.
 
His late father wrestled at Slippery Rock University; his sister Torianne played volleyball at Emory & Henry College; his cousin Maddie finished third in the heptathlon at the 2018 NCAA Championships for Penn State; his cousin Gabrielle is a member of the track & field program at Duquesne; his uncle Rob Holmberg played football at Penn State and spent eight years in the NFL; and his great uncle was NFL legend George Blanda.
 
"It has always been very competitive in my family with everyone playing sports, which is what got me started," explained Gunnar, whose name comes from his father's heritage as a Marine. "I was lucky to learn a lot about football from my uncle and just sports in general from my family growing up."
 
At Heritage High School in Wake Forest, N.C., he finished his career with 6,987 passing yards and 65 TDs.  During his junior year he helped lead the team to an 11-3 record and a berth in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 4A state quarterfinals. As a senior, he led the Huskies to an 12-2 ledger and another appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCHSAA 4A state tournament.
 
Holmberg was part of a building process at Heritage. His sophomore season, the team complied a 5-7 record. The next two years they developed into one of the best teams in the state, winning the school's first playoff game.
 
Not surprisingly, a winning team is made up of a lot of talented players and Holmberg was surrounded by players who would continue to make their mark at the next level — Ricky Person and Thayer and Drake Thomas at N.C. State, Joe Kane at Virginia Tech and Zack Gemmell at Charlotte, to name a few.
"We really came together as a team in high school," explained Holmberg. "A number of us had played together since Pop Warner."
 
Holmberg's Heritage squad had the envious role of facing one of the top high school teams in the nation each year in Wake Forest High School, just 10 minutes across town, with one of the top defensive tackles in all of football, Dexter Lawrence.
 
But they faced these teams with an incredible coaching staff. Former N.C. State and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Dewayne Washington served as the head coach of the Huskies, while he was assisted by two other NFL players in Torry Holt and Willie Parker, which added up to solid mentoring for Holmberg.
 
"It was kind of surreal to be coached by guys who had so much experience in the game," he said. "We learned how to handle big games, how to watch film. You could go to them with any questions or problems and they would help you, even the decision-making process of where to go to college for academics and football. Looking back, their experience was invaluable to us and they gave us a very strong belief in the game."
 
When it came down to choosing where he would attend college, the decision came down to a program he was very familiar with.
 
Holmberg attended football camp at Duke and was impressed not only with David Cutcliffe's reputation for molding NFL quarterbacks such as Peyton and Eli Manning, but also watching how Anthony Boone and Thomas Sirk played in leading the Blue Devils to bowl games.
 
"Growing up a guy from North Carolina, living in the area and kind of being around Duke — 'Yeah, I want to play there,'" he explained.
 
He enrolled a semester early after graduating from high school in December 2017. His freshman year in Durham was spent backing up Daniel Jones, not only adding strength and weight but gaining a great deal of knowledge from the guy who would go on to be the starting quarterback for the New York Giants.
 
"Learning under Daniel, seeing how he treats the game was great," he explained. "The fact I came in early, I was fortunate to have an entire year to watch and learn from him. Daniel is such a student of the game and a great leader. Along with attending the Manning Academy I was able to learn more about how to watch film and key study points."
 
His second year was derailed by a season-ending knee injury during fall camp. As a junior, Clemson transfer Chase Brice earned the starting role, but Holmberg was able to appear in six games as a backup. In those six appearances he completed 18 of 25 passes for 161 yards and two interceptions.
 
He now enters his fourth year as a graduate student on top of the depth chart as the Blue Devils' projected starting quarterback with a great deal of background knowledge.
 
Holmberg graduated with a public policy degree, a visual and media studies minor and a certificate in markets and management. He is currently pursuing a master's in management studies from the Fuqua School of Business.
 
"One thing I have learned is you don't have to be a superhero every play," he said. "Especially at quarterback, it's something you try to do at times. And it makes it worse. It doesn't help the team. Just doing your part, being smart, understanding the offense and the defense, take it seriously. Prepare yourself for every practice and every game."
 
Holmberg's time at Duke has provided him the opportunity to learn not only in the quarterback room, but from one of the game's top quarterback instructors, his head coach.
 
"I was told early and I tell everyone else that joins us to put your complete trust in him," Holmberg said about Cutcliffe. "He has this belief in you and an ability to teach you so much about the game. When I was injured my sophomore year, he kept me part of the team, allowing me to learn not only watching film, but being at games and practice."
 
"Watching him develop not only as a player but as a person has been extremely important for me," said Cutcliffe. "What he is now is a much stronger product. He's had a hard time staying healthy. He's just as fast as he ever was, but he's stronger. With strength comes more accuracy, to be honest with you. His quickness is better in the pocket."
 
That quickness is one of the reasons the Duke coaches first looked at Homberg as he clocked a 4.5 40-yard dash time early in his career.
 
"He's an accurate quarterback with a strong arm," said Blue Devil co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Faris. "An extremely intelligent young man, who cares and wants this team to be successful. This will be his fourth year in the system, so he knows the offense. He also has the ability to create with his legs, causing some real problems for the defense."
 
"I'm glad that he's going to be able to get the opportunity to showcase his skills because he's a very talented quarterback, he's an unquestionable leader, he always makes sure the team is fine whether it's on the field or outside the field," said running back Mataeo Durant, who was selected preseason first team All-ACC. "I'm ready for him to get his opportunity to shine."
 
Durant and Holmberg have become very close friends at Duke. Having played in high school with one of the top running backs in the state in Ricky Person, now a starter at N.C. State, Holmberg knows the value of a solid running game.
 
"When you have a good running back behind you it always opens up the passing game," Holmberg explained. "It is very comforting as a quarterback to know you have a solid running game and a great running back like Mateo that you can go to at any time."
 
Holmberg will be the fourth starting quarterback for Duke in as many seasons.
 
"Being in the offense for awhile I think the coaches trust me to put us in the best play possible," said Holmberg. "They do like my legs and my ability to run the ball and I feel more comfortable in the pocket. I believe I can use my legs to keep the defense honest."
 
Along with wins, the number one goal for Holmberg and this Duke football team will be ball security. The Blue Devils had a horrid season of ball security in 2020, coughing up 20 fumbles and throwing 19 interceptions as a team.
 
"A lot of it has to do with preparation," said Holmberg. "When you are prepared there is less chance of a turnover. We have worked hard on ball security at practice. We've all worked on getting stronger to hold onto the ball and understanding the importance of ball security. In the past we may have just overlooked a turnover in practice. There is now an emphasis on ball security and if we make a turnover in practice, we run the play over."
 
For Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, the goal as she strolled down the Yellow Brick Road, adding friends to her journey, was the Emerald City and a way to get home.
 
For Holmberg and his Duke teammates the path and goals are a bowl game berth and championship, and for Homberg an opportunity to take all his preparation and background over the years and prove his worth as a quarterback.
 
"There's a path that's been paved before me that I've seen with Coach Cut," Holmberg said, "just the way the guys before me walked out and had a total understanding and really had the game in their hands. I think that's something I look forward to proving myself.