Intro
During my 20+ years of coaching QB’s at various levels, ranging from 14 year old rookies to national team starters of top European quality, I’ve found a lot of challenges and also a lot of talent. Over the years I’ve used a bunch of different approaches and methods to get the most out of each player. Although I’ve been quite successful, I’ve never had a defined system and philosophy that I felt applied to all QB’s. Instead, I’ve been a “common sense”-guy with the goal of maximizing each player based on his individual skill-set and talent. That has worked well for some guys and not so well for others, since success has been based on my opinion on what needs to be taught and how.
The last few years I’ve been running a quarterback academy and that has made me re-think how to teach the position. The reason I had to start from scratch was that I’ve had players from many different teams, with different schemes and different coaching. So I had to come up with very generic and broad solutions, things that would translate to any system and regardless of age, experience and talent. My goal was to create a system that would ensure that each and every player got better each time we had an academy (we met for three-day camps four times in the offseason).
So, in order to get the most out of these academies, I’ve really analyzed what makes a QB efficient and productive. This short article is a brief overview of the answers I got investigating this. I based my research on statistics, a lot of literature on QB-play and my 20-plus years coaching this position.
QB-play in general, the hard part about playing QB
The hard part about playing QB is not throwing the football – that’s just a prerequisite to even have a chance to master the position. The focus on arm strength and throwing skills is the very reason we see NFL-busts, it’s so easy to fall in love with a great showing at a combine or pro day without taking into account what really makes a QB successful; decision making, coolness under pressure, gauging situations, reading a defense etc. That’s why a great specimen like Ryan Leaf is a bust and an average physical talent like Drew Brees is one of the best in the NFL. This is tricky, since the stuff that makes a player great is not things that are easy to measure or quantify.
For this very reason it’s paramount that you teach your QB’s a lot more than just plays and throwing the football. To be a successful QB you must constantly work on all aspects of the position.
Approaching the challenges of QB-play step by step
I feel there are three major areas of knowledge needed to play QB successfully:
The first thing I teach young or inexperienced QB’s is that going up to the LOS looking at eleven defenders without having a plan is a sure recipe for failure. That is way too much information to process and will only confuse a QB. Instead, there must be a structure and a method that the QB can use every play, regardless of situation and play call. That structure can differ from system to system, and be more complex or simple, depending on what level we are talking about. But the key is to have a plan for WHAT to look for and WHEN to look for it. That gives the QB a comfort zone and a structure to use in pressure situations.
Once we’ve established that we need a structure, you must also of course make sure that the QB has an understanding of defensive football (coverages, fronts, blitzes et cetera). This is something that a coach can go crazy with, defining every detail and over-working how much information needs to be communicated. Make sure you define what defensive information is vital for the QB to make appropriate reads and checks. Any information not vital to the actual decision process will only confuse or slow down the QB and his ability to make the correct decisions.
Knowledge of the offensive system, in detail and by hart. Much like the physical skills and techniques, the execution of plays and the use of a specific play must be automatic. There should never be a need to think about, or to try and remember, any part of the offense. It must be just as thought-free as speaking your native language. Also, the needed techniques for a specific play must be automatic.
Defining the physical skills and techniques needed to play QB
Without defining how to do these things, since there are a lot of philosophies depending on what system you might be using, let’s just clarify what skills your QB needs in order to execute an offense:
*Stance
The stance must be functional regardless of play, and should be the same for all plays.
Center – QB exchange. The snap must always be a clean exchange, regardless of it being in the shotgun or under Center.
*Drop
There are many drops and they must all be in synch with the depth of the called routes/pass concept.
*Play action
In order to be successful at play action, you must make sure that a run-action looks the same to the defense regardless if it is an actual run, or a run-fake.
*Eye discipline
A good defensive player will pick up when a QB “telegraphs” where he wants to throw, or what player he’s reading.
*Pocket movement
Moving away from pressure in the pocket (without being flushed) to find windows to throw through, and to create extra time against a heavy rush is a key to a successful passing game.
*Ball security
To always use proper technique in regards to ball security prevents fumbles that can be very costly.
*Extending plays
The ability to extend a play will create an opportunity for a transformation of negative plays into positive yards.
*Running the football
The QB’s ability to run the ball on designed runs will put more pressure on a defense and will usually take a bit of the sting away from the pass rush.
Defining what information you must process during a play at the QB position
Before you can create your “flow-chart” of mental processes needed for a play (pre- and post-snap), we must dissect what there is to process:
*Play call
We must always make sure that the QB calls the actual play that is sent in from the coordinator, and that it is communicated to the rest of the offense in a way that has everybody on the same page.
*Formation
It’s not enough to call the correct formation in the play call, it’s also a must to understand what strengths and weaknesses a specific formation has. And what impact the formation has on the execution of a specific play.
*Cadence
The QB must understand that the cadence is a powerful weapon for the offense. We as an offense know when the ball is snapped, the defense has to react to the ball being snapped. It’s also paramount that the QB uses his cadence in a way that the defense can’t figure out what calls are “live” and “dummy”.
*Audible
Some calls and systems have built-in checks or audibles in certain situations. The QB must have a crystal clear understanding of when and against what looks these shall be used.
*Pre-snap defense
This can differ in how and what you look at, but it must be a process that is the same from before each play.
*Protection checks
Some offenses lets the QB call protections, other let the Center call it. Regardless, the QB must understand what fronts and looks against what formations poses problems for the offense.
*Hot defenders
Not every offense uses this, but most semi-advanced do. The QB must understand what potential blitzers the protection can’t pick up.
*Post snap rotations
A lot of defenses will show one coverage pre-snap and then rotate to something different. Failing to see that will lead to bad reads and turnovers.
*Blitzes
Learning to detect what defenders are looking to blitz is a key-skill for all QB’s.
*Coverage
Being able to see what cover a defense is running is a basic skill for any QB.
*Read Progression
This will vary from system to system, but a lot of times one or two defenders will be the one(s) that decide where the QB should throw the football. In other systems (and usually on play-action) the QB will use a route-progression and read his receivers in a pre-determined order.
The plan for success: To have a method that never changes, regardless of situation and play
Looking at the lists of techniques, physical and mental processes a QB needs to master during a single play, it’s quite easy to understand why even the most talented and smartest QB’s in the world sometimes makes mistakes. There is so much that needs to be done right, and at the right time, in order for a play to work. Going in to a game, drive or even a single play without a plan and a structured ”MO” is a recipe for failure.
So, how should one approach the challenge of playing QB? In my opinion, it’s a question of “right here right now” and “eliminate as many distractions as possible”. You should compartmentalize all your actions in order to never have more than one physical and one mental process running at the same time. You create a mental “flow chart” in your head for each play (most of it being the same regardless of what play it is, although the reactions differ), and make sure it’s set up in the order needed for a play to succeed.
At the same time as you have one mental process going, you’ll have one physical process running. The key here is the word ONE – any time a QB tries to cut a corner (for instance; starting his throwing motion before his feet are set) bad things tend to happen. The ideal QB is therefore mechanic by philosophy, but fluent in execution. The physical part of playing QB can and should be something every QB knows by hart. He should never have to think consciously about how to drop, fake, run or throw. This will be worked on at every practice and will be the foundation on witch to build your play as a QB. But all the skills in the world have little value if you don’t have your mental processes in check as well. And those are a lot tougher to perfect.
Learning curve at the QB-position
It is important to emphasize that these processes can and will be very short, just a fraction of a second. But the key to success is to never cut a corner and cheat the process. The way you teach this philosophy is to start with just the physical part to “sell” the feeling of compartmentalizing. This is easy for the player to understand and get a feel for, once this part is worked on enough you add on the mental processes.
Example, step one (Offense vs air)…
Process #
1: Stance
2: Snap
3: 5-step drop
4: Hitch-up
5: Throw
Steep two (vs. Defense)
Process #:
Physical Mental
1: Stance – Define Box, potential blitzers and cover
2: Snap – Locate read defender(s)
3: Drop – Find Cover rotation
4: Hitch-up – Locate receiver
5: Throw
This is a simple example, in a game there are processes going on from huddle to release – but this is a simple way to practice the philosophy.
Summary
The philosophy of compartmentalizing will work regardless of your level of competition. All you need to do is to tweak how complex you need to be – with emphasis on the word “need” – and how many processes you need to include in your QB’s routine. The key is to define what needs to be done, and when to do it, to make your offense work. This philosophy will make sure your QB has a “what’s important now”-focus, and will never try and do two things at one time.
The great benifit you gain by this approach is that the Qb will be taught to always finish a process before moving on to the next – in my experience most mistakes happen when the QB is trying to cut a corner to either gain an advatage (or so he thinks) or to speed up the process due to him feeling or expecting pressure. The key here is to understand that the way to be quicker from snap to release is not to skip processes, or to try and do two things at a time – instead it’s having to spend less time to finish a process and then move on to the next.
Example:
The way to speed up the physical process-chain of droping back, setting up and throwing is not to start your windup during your drop, it’s to make each compartment done faster.
And the same is of course true for the mental processes. If the QB can speed up the amount of time he needs to decide where to throw, he will be able to play at a faster tempo. But you must also understand that you must work the QB to be in synch mentally and physically – it’s not enough to be great at getting physically to ”ready to throw” if you are not also mentally ready at that point. When a QB is quick both physically and mentaly you’ll have a QB that can play at a fast tempo from snap to release.
Finally, I’d like to add that of course one physical process can include more than one thing, on a detail-level. You will be dropping back and looking off the safety at the same time, but that’s two different bodyparts doing seperate things that combine into one process, the way I define it.
Coachen talar 