First off, can you let me know how you got started as a quarterbacks coach?
I played high school football in New Jersey and was an All-State quarterback. I went to Tennessee Tech after that for two years then transferred to Rowan College where I was top 10 quarterback in the country – across all divisions. I played four years of pro ball after that then started teaching and coaching.
I was a Graduate Assistant at Temple at first, then I taught and coached high school in New Jersey. I coached football, baseball and basketball then started to train quarterbacks about 12 years go.
How did that start?
I started off training high school kids – kids that played for teams I coached against too. Then I went on to coach NFL draft guys as the high school kids went on to college. I stayed with them and taught them through the draft
What is the biggest need you see college quarterbacks have as they look to get to the NFL?
The biggest need was time. College coaches are limited in how much they can work with and teach college quarterbacks now. They aren’t allowed to work with them in the offseason. They get 15 Spring practices then they’re off again. So the lack of time college coaches have with players – that’s why a lot of players come to me – they need that help.
I built a network of players that needed more help. I’d talk to the coaches to help understand what they felt their players needed. When I worked with Kenny {Pickett} I spoke with Mark Whipple on what he wanted me to work on with Kenny. I talked to the coaches to become an extension of their coaching needs.
The hardest thing is getting those repetitions. If you’re not a starter you don’t get much. So at that level as a player you have to be able to self-coach. You may not get enough reps so you stay after practice and get more throws in. If you’re struggling with accuracy you have to be able to self-correct and to teach yourself.
There are coaches who know those answers – but how to players self-teach?
That’s the hardest thing, for sure. The beauty of the position is that it’s not a cookie-cutter position. You can show them the techniques to help them with their accuracy, but if I line up five guys, they may all do some things differently and better than those other guys. So you have to create a personalized plan for each one to account for why one misses on throws and another doesn’t and teach them how to see that.
Do NFL teams account for those differences enough when they draft a quarterback – do you think they account enough for “fit” in a team’s scheme?
It’s a great question. That’s what I talked about with Kenny. You have to balance a player’s physical traits with other things. There are guys that come in to the draft with elite physical traits that aren’t ready yet to play in the NFL. They may be raw – their throws are unclean. They may have great arms and can throw far. They may be gifted physically. But that doesn’t make them a good quarterback.
You have to balance physical traits with then other side of their play – their mental perseverance. How fast they read through progressions and what kind of poise they have as they do so. Does he see the field well and quickly. A lot is subjective – if I could write the definitive book on it I’d be a millionaire! That’s why it’s so hard to evaluate the position and why so many people who get paid to do it still fail.
How do you judge a player on all of those subjective aspects?
There are three “Ps” we’re taught to judge even outside of all that. Personnel – do they have the personnel around them to succeed – the receivers and tight ends. Protection – do they have the guys up front to keep them clean. And playcaller – is the play calling putting them in the best position to succeed. You stick any quarterback on a team that has all three of those and they should look real good as a player. But if you pull two of those away it doesn’t matter how good you are. You may flash but you can’t be consistent.
Then, you also have to account for who they play – their competition. That’s the hardest thing – judging a player while taking into account all of those things. For me, you have to pay attention to how accurate they are and how they process information quickly. The position requires spacial awareness – can I get the ball to that guy and how – all in one-to-two seconds.
Kenny is a good example – he worked hard and got better every season. When he got to his Senior year he was ready to be great – and that was right at the time when his team was ready around him too. He had those three “Ps”. When he went back he knew he had a good team around him – he had the tight ends, Jordan Addison at wide receiver and other good college wide receivers. And they were good upfront. Plus, Mark Whipple ran a great system that had Kenny throw the ball a lot. Kenny was ready both physically and mentally and the team was ready around him. If he went a year later that might have been a different season for him.
What does Kenny do well that really helped him excel?
I think two things.
His ability to process what is going around him calmly amidst chaos – he can keep his eyes downfield and keep his poise. He was taught well where to keep his eyes trained. A lot of quarterbacks are taught drops and how to throw, but not everyone teaches quarterbacks how to train their eyes and keep them focused. A lot of quarterbacks miss on throws because their eyes are in the wrong place. Is it a middle open or close? What to read – what side of the field and what keys to read? When do my eyes get there?
That comes from training and helps with the poise to see and think quickly. You marry that poise with what you’re taught and that helped him to be successful.
How do you train for that element of a player’s mental approach – especially that poise and “Training their eyes” to stay focused and make quick – correct – decisions amidst chaos?
The best teacher is repetition. You run the same plays against different coverages to train your eyes on what to look for. That helps you learn how to use your eyes to move safeties and linebackers and to find the right reads. The worse thing is to make the right read but move your eyes to soon there and lead defenders into the play for an interception. We’ve all done that.
What has changed the most about how you teach the position from, say, 10 years ago?
Two things.
First, you have to move the pocket now. The days of five and seven step drops where you stand in the pocket like a statue are over. You have to be able to climb and side in the pocket and extend plays. You have to train guys to do that. We never did that 10 or 20 years ago. We were drilled on steps.
The second thing is now there are a lot more multiple-progression read plays. Coverages matter less – you care less about the coverage. The beauty is you just need to keep your eyes focused on your one, two and three and keep your eyes and feet aligned at the drop. As a quarterback you can play faster this way – you just need to go through your progressions more. That’s the biggest thing – more of those progression-concepts.
When you see guys take that big leap from good to where Kenny ended up at his Senior season – what accounts for that? What did you see Kenny do that helped with that leap?
Kenny worked hard on keeping a better base and staying balanced. When he was younger he was a very good pitcher in baseball. Sometimes when a pitcher plays quarterback they end up loading too much weight on their back leg throwing the football and over-striding on their front leg. That takes away accuracy and velocity. Staying balanced – getting his front foot down faster and adding velocity to the ball was a big improvement for him.
After watching his performance Sunday – what thoughts stand out about his play?
He was solid outside of the interceptions. He played high-percentage football and did a great job taking what they gave him and throwing with anticipation. The Dolphins had a great scheme and mixed it up – he did a great job of processing that and making throws on the run as well.
And the turnovers?
At the end of the game he had that bad second interception – he was baited on that. But the best part about that is when they got the ball back he marched the team right back downfield. He didn’t get gun-shy like many rookies do. He processed things quickly and was accurate on his throws.
That is the thing with rookies too. Sometimes they’ll force things to make a play – that’s what happened on that second interception. Next time I don’t think does that. It was on the heels of killer back-t0-back penalties which didn’t help. He’ll learn from it and take what’s given next time.
Do you think this offense fits him well? He was much more of a downfield passer at Pitt.
All quarterbacks need to get into a rhythm. That’s the most important thing. Look, I don’t think they want him throwing the ball 50 times a game – that’s not what they want, I’m sure. Hopefully the scheme grows more and they look to take more shots at that second level – more intermediate throws – using that part of the field. He was so great at that at Pitt. Hopefully you’ll see them run more overs and digs there.
Overall thoughts coming away from the game?
I think fans should be excited. I know there’s disappointment over losing and the turnovers, but there was a lot to be excited about to. The energy he brought and how quickly he processed things in his third NFL game. He got the ball to his playmakers and scrambled for a few key first downs too. He could have come out gun-shy after the interceptions but he came right back, and that’s a big thing. And that fourth down throw to Pat {Freiermuth} was one of the best throws I’ve seen in the NFL this season.
I think the mistakes he’ll learn from. There was a lot of good stuff there though and I know Kenny – he’ll learn from his mistakes. That’s who he is.
How do you think he’ll continue to adapt in the NFL?
In the pros is where you have the biggest learning curve, but his learning curve was less than others because he plays so much football already. He started 49 games in college. Nothing really fazes him. For him it’s really just understanding what Coach Canada wants him to do on every play and the guys around him. If it’s a tight end versus speedy receiver in the slot, do you shoot the ball in to the receiver due to their speed or lead them more – do you hold the linebacker longer with your eyes – things like that.
Kenny set goals for himself in college and worked hard to realize them. I know he’ll do the same thing in the NFL. If there’s anyone I believe in, it’s him.