In the wake senior Colton Chapple’s departure, the Harvard football team is in the process of filling the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year’s big shoes. Sophomore Connor Hempel is currently the top candidate to lead the Crimson offense next season, according to coach Tim Murphy.

It may be the offseason, but it doesn't seem that way for the Harvard football team.

Players have risen early for morning practice four days a week to prepare themselves for the upcoming season, and coaches have been working to assess the state of the team following a second-place finish in the Ivy League in the fall.

Perhaps the most glaring departure from that squad is senior quarterback Colton Chapple. With Chapple at the helm, the Harvard offense had a record-setting 2012 season, finishing fourth in the country with 487 yards per game.

Chapple, who was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year his senior season, set Harvard records in both touchdowns and total yards.

Although the cornerstone of the Crimson's offense will no longer be behind center, Harvard coach Tim Murphy believes he has two capable replacements in rising senior Michael Pruneau and rising junior Conner Hempel. The starting quarterback position remains up for grabs, and the two have competed for the job and will continue to do so throughout the summer.

Both players have received little playing time in their Harvard football careers. Hempel appeared in only three games last year, after the outcomes were all but decided. In those games, he went a combined 15-for-24 in the air with no touchdowns and one interception.

Pruneau has not taken a snap since 2011, having suffered an ACL injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the fall season. In two games as a sophomore, Pruneau went 4-for-11 with a touchdown and one interception.

"I think we have two really good quarterbacks," Murphy said. "I'll preface that by saying [that] realistically neither guy's really ever taken a snap. So that's based upon ability. I mean, those kids can do all the things we ask our quarterbacks to do. They're dual threats, they've got live arms, [and] they're bigger, athletic guys. So potentially we've got two really solid quarterbacks."