Developing a Young QB:

The most important player on an offensive football team. We feel it is IMPORTANT to discuss these things with our QB's:

Some of the elements of successful Quarterbacking are:

LEADERSHIP:

1. You lead by doing.

2. The Quarterbacks are as important to a football team as a pitcher is to a baseball team.

3. A Quarterback can't be a leader unless he does his job.

4. The great doer is the great leader.

5. Actions speak louder than words.

6. Believe in yourself.

7. Be willing to listen to suggestions of others.


GOALS OF A QUARTERBACK:

1. As the Quarterback, you are responsible for moving the team across the goal line.

2. You get an average of 13 attempts to score, and we feel we have to score at least 5 times. This is the most statistic in evaluating a Quarterback. If he can take the team across the goal line or produce some sort of score 1/3 of the time, he is doing his job.


HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL QUARTERBACK:

1. Work hard!

2. Know and accept responsibility:

a. A Quarterback must think like a computer - you only get out of your mind what you put into it.

---b. You have to reduce mistakes and enhance luck.

-------1. Luck can be enhanced by concentration.

---c. Everyone gets an opportunity to do something big - only those that put a lot into it can take advantage of ------the opportunity when the situation presents itself. You have to be prepared.

3. Once you get the job done, you don't care who gets the credit!


TYPES OF QUARTERBACKS:

1. There are winners and there are losers.

2. You can't define what makes a winner or a loser, but you have to be conscious that they do exist.

3. Your reaction to a loss can tell if you are a winner or a loser.

4. You can lose and still be a winner as long as your reaction is correct.

5. Consistency is the key.

6. Football is the greatest form of competition:

----a. The object is winning.

----b. You have to have desire. Want to win.

----c. You must have the determination to win.

----d. Hard work is the catalyst for desire and determination that results in winning.

7. Be realistic in setting your personal goals.

8. You don't quit physically until you quit mentally.

9. The essence of good Quarterbacking is not letting your mental processes allow you to quit!


KNOW DEFENSES: Refer to the 11 lesson guide on "Understanding Defensive Football" that you have been issued.

QB's:

Are they ball watchers? Or a receiver watchers?

One of the things June Jones looks for with quarterbacks when they're throwing the ball vertically is their eyes. Jones' No. 1 criteria for whether he thinks a quarterback can achieve greatness in the NFL is accuracy, and Jones believes that a QB's eye behavior holds a critical key in that.

It's something that started when Jones was backing up Steve Bartkowski in Atlanta, noticing that Bartkowski often would watch the ball during its flight and not the receiver to whom he was throwing. And he was just overthrowing his receivers, sometimes by a foot or less.

After Jones made that suggestion to his teammate, Bartkowski's deep ball became one of the best in the NFL in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And when Jones went on to coach Warren Moon, the same thing kept happening: Moon would barely overthrow his man and miss out on a long gain.

The improvement came when Moon focused on keeping his eyes on the receiver, not the ball.

"The great ones never naturally take their eyes off the receiver," Jones said. "It’s a difficult thing to change. But you can change it. Bart and Moon both said it (helped them), and it was something (run-and-shoot offense pioneer) Mouse (Davis) told me years ago. It just makes a difference."

Jones has tried to watch Trevor Lawrence's eyes to see if that's the issue, noticing that even on his long completions, those throws could be more accurate. Based on what he's seen on tape, it's tough for Jones to say definitively.

"You really need to watch the quarterback up close to tell that," he said. "If I saw that with him, it would be the first thing I work on with him.

"It's such a simple thing, but you almost never hear coaches talk about that. That one thing is more valuable for evaluation on (quarterbacks), and some people hardly are aware of it."