Quarterback Coaching

[Mr. Scot]

Ran across this story this morning...

 

Andrew Luck is good, but he can be so much better

 

Excerpts:

 

Peculiar as it might seem, some of the biggest indicators Luck is on his way to being one of the great quarterbacks in the game come from the moments he looks the most mortal.

It is after his mistakes that Luck's evolution truly shows, when his maturation as a quarterback is most plain to see.

"Now, there's a lot more of coming to the sideline and (saying), 'Aha, here's what happened,'" Christensen said. "He knows exactly what's taking place. Now we need to translate that into an aggressive mode where you see it before it happens.

"Then you've got something."

 

As you might expect, Christensen and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton aren't focused on Luck's gaudy numbers. At least not the ones you're likely to dwell on. They're looking at the number of interceptions (nine) and the rate of mystifying decisions that could jeopardize victory.

Christensen saw the latest of those in the Colts' last game, against the New York Giants, when Luck flung an underhanded pass into the teeth of the defense to avoid taking a sack that would not have been consequential. How the ball wasn't intercepted remains a mystery.

Since he knows he's dealing with a player of extremely high intellect, one who on and off the field is as sharp as they come, Christensen responds to those sort of stunningly poor decisions with a certain level of indignation.

"My thoughts were, 'I sure am glad they don't let coaches go on the field where you could strangle somebody,'" Christensen said, perhaps only half-jokingly.

"My thoughts were to kill him. So yeah, they're extreme thoughts that go through my mind when that happens."

 

The parts that follow should boggle your mind (or blow your stack)...

 

Those honest sentiments reveal something important: The culture Luck is surrounded by.

That culture is one where mistakes are not tolerated, where infinite preparation is not only encouraged, but expected.

It's a culture created by Christensen, who applies much of what he learned from watching Peyton Manning work during the coach's time on the Colts staff, dating to 2002. Backup Matt Hasselbeck has a huge hand in creating the environment, too, bringing with him to the quarterbacks meeting room lessons he's learned and applied during 16 NFL seasons.

Together, they turn over every stone in their dual efforts to help Luck become what they know he can.

During the offseason, Christensen traveled to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to spend time with faculty members at an elite fighter-pilot training facility there. His intent was to apply techniques used in teaching the pilots to his quarterbacks because the speed at which their decisions are made – in split seconds – is similar.

Christensen also has stressed to Luck to continue building his critical book of notes on each defensive coordinator he faces.

"So when you go up against a coordinator, you know that last time, here's what we talked about after that game, this is what we saw, this is his style, this is how they attacked us, here's what was successful," Luck said.

 

Hasselbeck, who is consistently and constructively critical of Luck, forces him to go even deeper.

"He asks, 'What's this guy's coaching tree? Where did he come from? What are his roots?'" Luck said of his elder teammate. "He's seen everything multiple, multiple, multiple times, so he's got a great way of contributing a little snippet, maybe a historical footnote to every coordinator that helps put the pieces together. We write stuff on the white board. It might be, 'This guy is an old Jimmy Johnson guy, so be ready for the Double A blitz.' It's good stuff."

Hasselbeck explained further.

"You come to understand that some guys are riverboat gambler types, other guys are really straight-laced, rule-follower types," he said. "And then sometimes you don't see all the blitzes you're going to see in a six-game (tape) breakdown. But if you know a guy studied under Monte Kiffin for eight years of his career, well, then you know what blitzes might show up and what coverages might show up.

"I think as a quarterback you study film more like a coach studies film. Other position players get to study a one-on-one matchup. … As a quarterback, you don't have a one-on-one matchup. You have to try to get in the mind of their play caller and make your play caller's stuff work."

 

This phenomenon of Luck growing out of his mistakes is one seen in every great player, including one the Colts will face on Sunday.

"I think Tom (Brady), one of his real strengths as a player, is his ability to take experiences that he had in practice and on the field and utilize them going forward," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, reflecting on his quarterback's early days.

It's a process that continues to this day.

"That's what a good, competitive player does in the beginning, and I think that's what he does all the way through his career," Belichick said.

Luck is doing that, sure, but then there's another step the Colts want him to take.

"What we need is to not just say, 'There's Cover 2,' but 'There's Cover 2 and here's a big play to be had,'" Christensen said. "As he gets more and more of a feel for the offense and how this thing works and you sort of learn all the pitchers around the league, you say, 'Boom! I know what that is.'

"That's the first step. But the grand slam is when you say, 'I know what that is, and I know what to do to that.' Then you beat it and it turns into seven points. He's working toward that. That's a slow process. But when you get that, now you've really got something."

 

Now that's some smart coaching.

 

So tell me, have you seen anything, anything at all, that makes you think Cam Newton is receiving coaching on this level?

 

Imagine if he were

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we need an offensive head coach.  And more than that, one who'll pick a quarterback coach that would give Newton this kind of education.

 

Heck, as much as I can't stand Matt Hasselbeck (he's known to be a colossal prick) I wouldn't mind seeing him as a QB coach.  Were we to hire Darrell Bevell, for example, Bevell was QB coach in Green Bay the last year Hasselback was there.

 

Oh and as a side note, if you feel like depressing yourself further, look up Colts QB coach Clyde Christensen's resume' and check out where he used to work (and who he used to work with)

[pstall]

Good stuff man.

[AceBoogie]

You mean we should let go of the great Ken Dorsey?

[panthers55]

So how many offensive head coaches have we hired?  Seifert?  And why does JR prefer a defensive guy even though he played offense all of his career. I wonder why?

 

How many head coaches come from the offensive side versus defensive side and which have been more successful? I would be interested to know..

[TheRed]

No, apparently we would rather hire guys who have never coached before to oversee the development of our #1 overall pick.

 

Step 1 would be to stop dumpster diving, and start taking chances on guys with actual resumes and success.

 

Not guys who have been passed over numerous times, fired, demoted, or otherwise ran out of their previous jobs by people with pitch forks.

[AceBoogie]

The truth is Ken Dorsey is like a 16 year old being given a Lamborghini. What could go wrong?

[Mr. Scot]

So how many offensive head coaches have we hired?  Seifert?  And why does JR prefer a defensive guy even though he played offense all of his career. I wonder why?

 

How many head coaches come from the offensive side versus defensive side and which have been more successful? I would be interested to know..

 

Seifert was a defensive coordinator and a DB coach before getting the 49ers HC job.

 

I'd have to look but I'm honestly not sure the Panthers have ever even interviewed an offensive coach other than Steve Spurrier (an interview which was reportedly an unmitigated disaster).

 

Bill Polian originally wanted Rich Kotite to be our first head coach but I don't think that ever got to the interview stage.  Likewise, Richardson's first choice was Joe Gibbs, but from when he reached out to him, Gibbs declined.

 

I often wonder how different our franchise might have been had Gibbs said yes.

[pstall]

Mike Holmgren should be considered.

But a high level qb friendly coach is needed.

[Mr. Scot]

No, apparently we would rather hire guys who have never coached before to oversee the development of our #1 overall pick.

 

Step 1 would be to stop dumpster diving, and start taking chances on guys with actual resumes and success.

 

Not guys who have been passed over numerous times, fired, demoted, or otherwise ran out of their previous jobs by people with pitch forks.

 

Look up where Clyde Christensen used to work, and when.

 

You'll probably pop a blood vessel

 

[Guest]

Look up where Clyde Christensen used to work, and when.

 

You'll probably pop a blood vessel

 

 

 

You mean where he was OC in Tampa after Shula got fired??

[Mr. Scot]

You mean where he was OC in Tampa after Shula got fired??

 

He was also the QB coach prior to that and the TE coach while Shula was the OC.

 

He's gone on to success.  Shula, not so much

 

[prowler2k8]

Ran across this story this morning...

 

Andrew Luck is good, but he can be so much better

 

Excerpts:

 

 

 

The parts that follow should boggle your mind (or blow your stack)...

 

 

 

 

Now that's some smart coaching.

 

So tell me, have you seen anything, anything at all, that makes you think Cam Newton is receiving coaching on this level?

 

Imagine if he were

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we need an offensive head coach.  And more than that, one who'll pick a quarterback coach that would give Newton this kind of education.

 

Heck, as much as I can't stand Matt Hasselbeck (he's known to be a colossal prick) I wouldn't mind seeing him as a QB coach.  Were we to hire Darrell Bevell, for example, Bevell was QB coach in Green Bay the last year Hasselback was there.

 

Oh and as a side note, if you feel like depressing yourself further, look up Colts QB coach Clyde Christensen's resume' and check out where he used to work (and who he used to work with)

 

Awesome stuff, Mr. Scott. Depressing b/c this organization is "square peg meet round hole" and not the forward, innovative thinking type to bring in a coach like this...but awesome nonetheless.

 

Oh, and the answer to your question: HELL 2 THE NO!!! (sorry, I just had to let that out)

 

We can only hope and pray someday JR et al will get a clue someday.

[panthers55]

Ran across this story this morning...

 

Andrew Luck is good, but he can be so much better

 

Excerpts:

 

 

 

The parts that follow should boggle your mind (or blow your stack)...

 

 

 

 

Now that's some smart coaching.

 

So tell me, have you seen anything, anything at all, that makes you think Cam Newton is receiving coaching on this level?

 

Imagine if he were

 

Ladies and gentlemen, we need an offensive head coach.  And more than that, one who'll pick a quarterback coach that would give Newton this kind of education.

 

Heck, as much as I can't stand Matt Hasselbeck (he's known to be a colossal prick) I wouldn't mind seeing him as a QB coach.  Were we to hire Darrell Bevell, for example, Bevell was QB coach in Green Bay the last year Hasselback was there.

 

Oh and as a side note, if you feel like depressing yourself further, look up Colts QB coach Clyde Christensen's resume' and check out where he used to work (and who he used to work with)

I would have no problem hiring Christensen or Clement or Bevell as OC but none of them have had any head coaching experience at any level.  Christensen at least had a role as an assistant head coach but otherwise they have never been in that role.  Seems to me you would be replacing one guy who had to learn as he went with another guy just like him except from the offensive side of the ball.

 

I was someone with a proven track record as a head coach instead of being a training ground for guys to learn at our expense. 

[panthers55]

He was also the QB coach prior to that and the TE coach while Shula was the OC.

 

He's gone on to success.  Shula, not so much

 

If you are talking OC then it is a no brainer but if it for head coach, he has no expereince as a head coach in college or the pros.  I don't want another head coach project.