PASSING TECHNIQUE

FROM:  Coach Bill Mountjoy
804-716-7038 (Virginia):

I still think Dan Henning was the BEST at developing a passer of any coach I ever knew. I met Dan in 1963 when he did his Practice Teaching at our school. From 1982 thru 1986 I worked at his QB CAMP (his METHOD of coaching QB's was FANTASTIC). Here is a summary of Dan's career (AFTER he played for Sid Gillman with the San Diego Chargers). NOTE: Both Joe Theisman & Dan Marino said he was the BEST QB COACH they ever played under:

Dan didn't believe in a bunch of drills. We did essentially TWO drills, the following drill to TEACH throwing, and the "Goal Post drill" (ATTACHED AT BOTTOM) to develop the high release. The rest of the time he had the QB's THROWING TO RECEIVERS (often with the QB under pressure)!!!


PASSING TECHNIQUE DRILL (BE A "STICKLER" ON THIS TECHNIQUE):

Start at 10 yards apart and progress (in increments of 5 yards) to 30 yards apart. Throw the ball parallel or straight down a line to enable you to see what your particular ball does in flight. The footwork during this throwing should start with the two feet perpendicular to the line about shoulder width apart. The step should be made forward 12 – 14 inches (measured from heel before to heel after) but the step should laterally rotate the left hip opening up the the body to the target. On this step, the weight should begin to shift from right to left. The hip turning should allow the shoulders to turn - the hip turn begins the centrifugal force; the shoulder turn adds to it. The shoulders before this time should be directly parallel to the line of fire. The shoulders turn around the axis of the body and slightly down to put the throwing shoulder in a point of high release. The right side should be straight from the hip to the elbow. The arm should come as close as reasonably possible to the head as it begins the last phase of the throw. In order to get the most out of the form, the entire arm must straighten upon release in order to impart the force and ultimate direction which centrifugal force creates. To do this, the elbow and wrist must lock out simultaneously. The wrist should be pointed directly toward the target at the finish. The arm should follow thru down and not any further across than the median line of the body. At this point the weight should be centered inside of the left foot.


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Dan Henning Coaching career (HC unless noted):

1968–1970
Florida State (assistant)

1971
Virginia Tech (assistant)

1972
Houston Oilers (assistant)

1973
Virginia Tech (assistant)

1974
Florida State (assistant)

1976–1978
New York Jets (WR)

1979–1980
Miami Dolphins (QB/WR)

1981–1982
Washington Redskins (OC)

1983–1986
Atlanta Falcons

1987–1988
Washington Redskins (OC)

1989–1991
San Diego Chargers

1992–1993
Detroit Lions (OC)

1994–1996
Boston College

1997
Buffalo Bills (OC)

1998–1999
New York Jets (QB)

2000
New York Jets (OC)

2002–2006
Carolina Panthers (OC)

2008–2010
Miami Dolphins (OC)


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Dan Henning reveals what he wants in his quarterbacks
by: Ethan J. Skolnick September 3rd, 2010

While coaching the Atlanta Falcons in the early 1980s, Dan Henning shared lunch and stories with two football legends: his aggressive mentor Sid Gillman, and the conservative Bobby Dodd. Henning asked what they wanted in a quarterback.

Gillman wanted a big arm to stretch the field.

Dodd? “He said, ‘I never concerned myself about how much my quarterback could hurt the other team, I concerned myself with how much he could hurt my team,’” recalls Henning, the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator. “And that’s always stuck with me.”

That’s what fans should understand about the Dolphins’ approach, as they try to get Chad Henne to thoughtfully manage a game without thinking too much and playing stiff, as if programmed.

Where’s the line between too aggressive and too passive?
“It’s different with each quarterback because of his skill set, so you might pressure a guy who has the skill set to be more aggressive, and then you might not with a guy who doesn’t have that skill set,” Henning says. “But you still want him to take shots when they’re there. So it starts with the quarterback, but it also goes back to what are we working with here? Can we protect long enough to do that? Are our receivers good enough to get there? Can they get into the open holes deep?”

But that’s not all.

“And then, in the end, once you get going, you know what your team is like and who is going to be out there, it really comes down to the judgment of the individual,” Henning says. “And that’s what separates the men from the boys. The ones who can take the shots safely and the ones who are indiscriminate. That is a big evaluator. You cannot take indiscriminate shots. And when you do take shots, you need to throw on the margin of error side. Give your receiver the chance to make the big play, other than give them a chance to make any play at all.”

While quarterbacks coach David Lee grades quarterbacks in numerous areas on every snap, Henning grades just two: offensive production and efficiency. How many times could they have made a terrible decision but avoided it? How many times did they have a shot at a big play, and hit it?

“The quarterback is responsible to minimize minus plays in the passing game,” Henning says. “Eliminate them, hopefully. But definitely minimize them. Now, if the protection breaks down, he can’t have a minus play, he’s got to get rid of the ball. If the coverage is real close, he’s got to put the ball on the margin of error, so that either our guy gets it or nobody gets it. If his read takes him someplace he’s not comfortable, he’s got to pull it down and run it or else throw it away. He’s in charge of minimizing minus plays in the passing game. We cannot have sacks, interceptions and turnovers. That’s his job.”

So in the quarterback’s head, he should focus first on being careful?
“No, not in his head,” Henning says. “His foremost thing is to be aggressive. But his instincts have to be built in to keep him from making the team have minus plays in the passing game. You have to be consciously aggressive and instinctually conservative.”

To accomplish this, Henning says that the Dolphins “try to put them in the worst situations and then find out how they’re going to react in that worst situation. Because in the game, there’s no time to get it back. You can’t get it back. And we’ve been efficient here in doing that. We were much more efficient the first year, which is natural, we’ve got a guy who has been at it 11 years, and he doesn’t make that many errors. But now, last year, we’ve had a number of games, the first Jet game was a great example for Chad Henne, no errors with a number of chances to make some errors. And that first Buffalo game. When you think about it, that second New England game, he did a great job.”
How’s Henne doing overall?

“I think he’s a work in progress, although I see him making progress, I don’t see him falling back, when he when he makes an error he never makes the same thing twice,” Henning says. “So that’s a good sign".