QB PHILOSOPHY: •As a quarterback … you are what you do everyday. •I can’t just talk about toughness to quarterbacks. I have to apply it to everything I do in a practice environment. I have to push them and drive them to places they don’t want to go, mentally as well as physically. I have to take them into deeper water … I have to take them deeper into the woods. •I want you to play with a sense of abandon, but while trying to keep your mistakes to a minimum. I want you on a tight rope, but I don’t want you to fall. A quarterback playing on the edge is a great attribute. Play fast … play to the point of almost being out of control … and then, pull it back just a little but you’ve got to know when you’re about to go out of control. As a quarterback you can’t always play it super-safe or you’ll never make the big plays. You have to take chances every once in a while. You have to find where that boundary is and how challenging you can be. •With young quarterbacks, I want to speed up their maturity rate and their learning process so that they’re ready to lead the football team sooner rather than later. •A quarterback’s passion, his deep love in life … besides his family … has to be football. •I want the quarterback’s work ethic to outlast his teammates. He will outwork them. His motivation and desire will never let him give up or give in. •“More” is seldom achieved without hard work. Having more, or getting more, almost always requires giving more … of yourself. •Keep on working hard … keep on trying your best … keep on trying to get better … and keep on trying to get rid of mistakes. •I want you to be the hardest worker and be the leader on the field. I want you to be able to respond well to pressure. •If the head coach yells at you, it serves its purpose … and, once it’s over, it’s over. Just take it the right way and continue practice … don’t pout. With me … my iciest of glances speak for themselves. •I don’t want my QB’s to get sensitive about what I tell them, this is not about how they feel … this is about performance! •Do things right in practice. I don’t want to see the same mistakes over and over … fix them! •What you believe in … physical conditioning, toughness, practicing under pressure … forms the core, because that’s how you’re going to play. •Playing aggressive and having that edge is a deep-seated mentality that you can only develop over a long period of time and through constant reinforcement. •Because of the quarterback system and its structure … I know that returning quarterbacks are going to mold the young ones. For this to work right … for us to be successful, they’ve got to get in line with the rest of us. Persuade them to submit to the parallel. Every system needs believers … you’ve got to have people help you spread the message. •The most important “hot button” in a quarterback is always the one that makes that quarterback perform better. As a quarterback coach, it’s one of my strengths. For me … that button is never allowing them to feel satisfied … don’t get comfortable is something I always tell my quarterbacks. I want you to keep striving to improve and reach new heights … it’s a search without end. I don’t want them assuming that things will just start taking care of themselves. •Sometimes as a player you wear the hitting and the physical part of it as a badge of honor. You deliver some hits … you absorb them as well … you don’t whine and you keep on going. Other players admire you for it. They talk to each other about it. You get a reputation for your ability to take a hit. It becomes part of who you are in the eyes of everyone throughout the team. •Everything a quarterback does … his work habits, how he practices, how he plays, how he conducts himself … sets the example for the whole team. It’s knowing when to cut up with the rest of the players and when to be serious. They respect him because he works, he plays hard and he plays well. He’s one of the guys sometimes, but he’s not always one of the guys. Discipline is not so much taught as it is LIVED. •A quarterback has to be a tireless worker … old school … hard core. •The QB should lead by his actions, following his own advice, and doing whatever he would ask of others. He leads from way out front! •Sometimes you will have to “take a hit”. It is something you have to become conditioned to. You learn to absorb the hit and not let it affect your workday … whether it is practice or a game. A lot of young quarterbacks like the contact … It’s what you’re made of. Quarterbacks must wear the physical part of the “badge of honor”. Great quarterbacks deliver the hits and sometimes absorb the hits … you don’t whine and you keep on going about your business. Players in general will admire you for it. Opponents and teammates alike … talk to each other about your ability to take a hit. It becomes your reputation in the eyes of everyone throughout the team … and you will be commended for it. “He stood in pocket, he took the hit, and he still threw it”. You want to succeed … so, you have to do it that way. If you don’t … you won’t be playing. •You play smart, but you must play without “the fear factor” … because fear affects your senses. It affects your vision, it affects your judgment, it affects your feel, it affects your awareness, and it affects your reaction. Don’t get claustrophobic as you drop back because there are a lot of people around you … and, you think about not wanting to take that punishment. It’s the quarterback who gets antsy, who moves before he should, who throws the ball away a little before he should … whose vision down the field isn’t as clear as it should. Being claustrophobic is a syndrome but as a quarterback, you can cure it. You can’t be worried about taking punishment. The pocket does get tight … people are right next to you, but you have to focus on business at hand. •When it comes to getting hit … it’s not the hitting that causes most injuries … it’s the part afterward. It’s when quarterbacks hit the ground that most get hurt. The worst is when you get sandwiched into the ground, taking all that weight on your shoulders and chest. A lot of it comes from knowing how to take the hit. You just have to learn to relax and don’t tense up … just go with the flow. You just have to learn the proper way to fall. Don’t break your fall with your hands where it puts stress on your wrists enough to break. Also, keep your elbows in … to lessen the chance of you landing on either one of them and causing a shoulder separation. •You relax, rather than tense up because when you relax … you absorb the impact rather than allowing it to jolt you. One of the best feelings of all for a quarterback when he throws the ball, takes a big hit … and, put the pass exactly where he wanted it for the completion. •Quarterbacks have to be the hardest working and mentally toughest group on the team … the group of players who push themselves hard, even when things are not going well. The off-season many times will provide some early signs which quarterbacks have these qualities. •Powerful qualities in a quarterback are … loyalty, great work ethic, and self-starter. Qualities that can only be claimed if they endure the ultimate test of time. •There is no secret to it … it’s having the knowledge of the correct skills, having the knowledge of the drills that enhance those skills … and, the work ethic to practice them over and over. •Playing quarterback is so much about commitments, sacrifices, and investments. •Playing quarterback can be one of the greatest experiences in your life. If you are not properly prepared … it can be one of the worst experiences. •A quarterback’s good decision-making and leadership are essential to the success of the team. •It’s not what happens to you that determines where you go in life … it’s what you what you do with what happens to you that determines where you go in life. •The position of quarterback always seems to carry a little more criticism or applause than sometimes necessary. That is always a challenge … and he must shoulder that well. •I find quarterbacks don’t know “how to practice” on their own … I continually provide them with practice routines, including both footwork drills and throwing drills. •Many quarterbacks don’t know “what to practice” … they think that playing catch with someone makes them better. •If you don’t enjoy playing quarterback … why put yourself through the inevitable adversity? You have to want to be a quarterback. You can’t be afraid to fail. You can’t worry about being in a position with a lot of pressure and needing to be perfect all the time. You must have that certain strength to be able to rebound from an incompletion or interception. •Becoming a complete quarterback requires so much personal sacrifice … is as tough as it gets. •Quarterbacks have to have the skill and the will … but the will must be stronger than the skill. •There is one thing I can guarantee any young quarterback is that you will face adversity. For every “magic moment” you’ve had … you are going to be been picked off, benched, thrown down, or knocked cold. Never quit and never whine when things get rough. Don’t make excuses or point fingers … just say, “I’ll fix it coach.” •You can only establish your reputation as a quarterback on the field so the will to prepare becomes critical. •From hard work and repetition … come instinct. From instinct … comes the proficiency of playing quarterback. •Don’t play quarterback if it isn’t what you want with all your heart. •I don’t ever want to get the feeling that everything’s perfect, everything’s rosy because that’s when you lose your edge. Don’t ever lose your mental edge by getting comfortable. Max out everyday. •Success and confidence are symbiotic … the more we have of one, the more we find of the other. Confidence is the birth of success, just like success is the birth of hardworking habits … but they are all the result of the proper mental attitude.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 07:15:41 +0000