James Perrone had started over in mid-May the search for a college football program that best suited his quarterback skills.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Miami, FL, had previously given a verbal commitment to South Florida last September. But a head coaching change at the American Conference school led Perrone to back off that pledge on May 14 and re-open his recruitment. Connecticut and Toledo became immediate frontrunners for the Miami Herald’s two-time Dade County Offensive Player of the Year until a phone call altered the direction of Parrone’s recruitment.

The call Parrone made was to highly regarded quarterback trainer Baylin Trujillo, whom he had been working with since his sophomore year.

“He called me and said, ‘Coach, I’m looking at some of these schools that don’t have any (quarterback) commits. I kind of like ECU. Do you have any connection at ECU? And if you, that’s a squad I could see myself committing to,”’ Trujillo said. “At the time he was already talking heavily with UConn and Toledo. Those two schools were really coming after him hard after he decommitted from USF.

“But I did actually know (ECU offensive coordinator) Jordan Davis and (chief of staff) Lance Ware, so I reached out to them. I told them one of my top 2027s is still available, and he mentioned you guys, so can you evaluate him?”

Davis, ECU’s first-year coordinator, invited Parrone to Greenville to watch him throw in person on May 30.

“He lit it up,” Trujillo said. “It was probably the best camp he’s ever had. The head coach (Blake Harrell) pulled him aside and told him ‘You’re our guy. You have an official offer and you can commit anytime.’

“On his way back Sunday he (Parrone) called me and told me he fell in love with the place and it was way better than he expected. He honestly felt at peace with the decision to commit.”

Parrone’s gave his official verbal commitment to the Pirates on June 2, making him the first member of ECU’s football recruiting Class of 2027.

The pledge kicked off the 2027 class with one of the top quarterback performers in the talent-rich state of Florida. Rated the No. 39 quarterback prospect nationally by 247Sports.com and No. 36 by On3/Rivals.com, Parrone received other scholarship offers from Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, Colorado State, Connecticut, Florida International, Georgia State, Maryland, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Toledo, USF and West Georgia.

Starting his prep career as an eighth grader at Southridge Senior High in Miami, Parrone appeared in four varsity games in 2022, completing 42 of 88 passes for 814 yards and four touchdowns. He became the varsity starter for the Spartans the next season as a freshman when he connected on 86 of 116 throws for 1,505 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Parrone’s reputation in South Florida jumped to star status in 2024 when he led the Spartans to a 12-3 record and an appearance in the state 6-A semifinals. He completed 212 of 364 passes for 2,966 yards and 30 touchdowns, while also rushing 46 times for 347 yards and four scores. The performance earned him the first of two straight Dade County Offensive Player of the Year honors from the Miami Herald and also caught the attention of Trujillo, a former college and arena league quarterback. Trujillo had formed BTru QB Training after his playing days to work with quarterbacks of all ages.

“I first started hearing about him (Parrone) through like Tik Tok,” Trujillo said. “He had started to blow up in the South Florida area, doing a bunch of different camps and winning MVPs. Then I had one of the elite quarterbacks I train, Dereon Coleman, who is committed to Miami now, go down south for quarterback training with Cam Ward and James happened to be there. Once he (Parrone) figured out I was training Dereon, he reached out and was interested in more quarterback training. He really didn’t have any quarterback development down south, he was just playing off athletic ability.”

Parrone has been making the two-and-a-half hour drive from Miami to Lake Nona just outside of Orlando “once or twice a month” during the season and twice a week in the summer to work with Trujillo, whose list of clients also include Coleman, current Notre Dame freshman Noah Grubbs, Brady Hart from Texas A&M, Colorado State’s Carter Emanuel and former Ole Miss and UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee.

Trujillo recognized from the start that Parrone had a special set of quarterback skills.

“He just had an explosive arm,” Trujillo said. “He always had the fast twitch with his arm and had a quick release and is very accurate. He makes hard throws look very easy. As a trainer some of the intangibles I look for is how much effort do kids use in their body to throw the football? Is it effortless? Do they really use a lot of their body? When he was throwing, I was just really impressed with how easy and the control he had on the ball.”

Trujillo compares Parrone’s skills to those of Plumlee.

“He’s got similar traits to John Rhys,” Trujillo said. “The way he (Parrone) plays because he’s so athletic and he’s so freakishly good with movement, I do believe John Rhys Plumlee is the closest thing that I’ve trained I can compare to him.”

With his skills enhanced through training with Trujillo, Parrone earned a second Miami Dade Offensive Player of the Year honor as a junior when he completed 193 of 295 passes for 3,231 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also added 636 yards rushing on 58 carries and scored nine times.

“He led the state in passing last year with arguably the hardest schedule in the south (Florida),” Trujillo said. “He is an absolute dude. The kid is destined for greatness. I think ECU got a massive steal in this class.”

Parrone’s offseason has been eventful. After his junior year at Southridge, he decided to transfer to national powerhouse Miami Central in January. He ended up, however, landing at another national power, St. Thomas Aquinas. After more consideration, it now appears Parrone will be playing his final prep season for Miami Central.

“Southridge is a pretty good powerhouse in Miami, but he tried to bet on himself and transferred to an even bigger school,” Trujillo said. “We’re still trying to map that out, but it looks like Miami Central, where he originally transferred in January, is where he’s going to wind up.”