Second Spring Practice - 2012

[HuskerShark]

there is a lot to foot work and throwing motion, i am just not sure we have anyone coaching here that can really improve our qbs in this regard, otherwise they would have started on Taylor's development in 2010 or at least last summer.......remember, no one recruited this kid as a qb out of high school, they all saw the horrible throwing style and did not opt for a project.....not bashing the kid, just reviewing the facts.....he is still playing the wrong position on the field.

 

Hunter, you have to remember that Martinez wasn't going to be our QB until late summer, 2010. So working on his footwork in early summer that year wasn't much of a concern, with Zac Lee and Cody Green ahead of him on the depth chart. It wasn't until his legs propelled him to the forefront that his passing was anything more than an afterthought.

 

Last year they did send him to get some learnin' about throwing. It takes more than one year to fix what ails Martinez, though.

 

So they're working on it. Is Beck the guy to get that done? Maybe not, but even really good surgeons need to accede to specialists in extreme cases. This may be one of those cases.

 

I think you could credit Beck for at least some of Todd Reesing's success. I don't know how involved he was with Reesing, but since Beck took over, Taylor has adopted some Reesing-esque craftiness at times. Hopefully that keeps going.

[Hunter94]

there is a lot to foot work and throwing motion, i am just not sure we have anyone coaching here that can really improve our qbs in this regard, otherwise they would have started on Taylor's development in 2010 or at least last summer.......remember, no one recruited this kid as a qb out of high school, they all saw the horrible throwing style and did not opt for a project.....not bashing the kid, just reviewing the facts.....he is still playing the wrong position on the field.

 

Hunter, you have to remember that Martinez wasn't going to be our QB until late summer, 2010. So working on his footwork in early summer that year wasn't much of a concern, with Zac Lee and Cody Green ahead of him on the depth chart. It wasn't until his legs propelled him to the forefront that his passing was anything more than an afterthought.

 

Last year they did send him to get some learnin' about throwing. It takes more than one year to fix what ails Martinez, though.

 

So they're working on it. Is Beck the guy to get that done? Maybe not, but even really good surgeons need to accede to specialists in extreme cases. This may be one of those cases.

 

I think you could credit Beck for at least some of Todd Reesing's success. I don't know how involved he was with Reesing, but since Beck took over, Taylor has adopted some Reesing-esque craftiness at times. Hopefully that keeps going.

 

i agree with both comments, but i just feel like a really good qb only coach could help this team.....guess that's not feasible for now....wondering if any of the top programs in the nation use a qb specialist or camp their qbs somewhere during the summers?...i am talking technique gurus........

[Hercules]

For the people wondering why they wouldn't have worked on Taylor's mechanics earlier, you have to remember that these guys are just kids, they're not computers - they can't learn everything at once. I think it's just a matter of having to be patient with the learning process. Until now, Taylor's always been learning a new offensive system, so I'm guessing all of his focus was on that. I'm sure they tried to instruct him on his mechanics every now and then, but when you're focused on something else, you're going to revert back to old habits until you can focus on those completely.

 

It just seems to me that before now, learning the offense has always been the priority. Now that he's more comfortable with that aspect of things, they can work on some of his mechanics - it sounds like they're really focusing on footwork right now, and that he's showing progress.

 

This is the first time since 2007 that we've really run the same offensive system two years in a row. I think we're going to see a significant jump on offense as a result of that continuity.

[bshirt]

For the people wondering why they wouldn't have worked on Taylor's mechanics earlier, you have to remember that these guys are just kids, they're not computers - they can't learn everything at once. I think it's just a matter of having to be patient with the learning process. Until now, Taylor's always been learning a new offensive system, so I'm guessing all of his focus was on that. I'm sure they tried to instruct him on his mechanics every now and then, but when you're focused on something else, you're going to revert back to old habits until you can focus on those completely.

 

It just seems to me that before now, learning the offense has always been the priority. Now that he's more comfortable with that aspect of things, they can work on some of his mechanics - it sounds like they're really focusing on footwork right now, and that he's showing progress.

 

This is the first time since 2007 that we've really run the same offensive system two years in a row. I think we're going to see a significant jump on offense as a result of that continuity.

 

That's a good point and something that certainly could happen. Especially with the young but talented Olinemen coming around the bend. We might be handful......

[zoogs]

For the people wondering why they wouldn't have worked on Taylor's mechanics earlier,

 

Okay, this made me think "back up..."

 

Why is there an assertion that they didn't work on Taylor's mechanics before this year? If that is what is being stated.

 

You make solid points, but his mechanics have always been worked on. You are right, though, in that when you are talking about a starter, during the season, you just can't go in and tweak things. There is too much other stuff to do, same offensive system or not.

 

IIRC, his freshman year starting, he was making good progress with his footwork, but it was all derailed following his injury and trying to play on that.

 

It isn't as if this is the first time that Taylor's mechanics have been addressed.

[huskered17]

Sounds like you might be right Dude:

 

Huskerextra:

 

QVALE'S MOVE: At 6-foot-7, 320 pounds, Brent Qvale is one of Nebraska's most physically imposing players. However, he's seen only limited action as a regular-downs player during his NU career.

 

Maybe a change of scenery will help matters.

 

Qvale, a junior from Williston, N.D., is practicing at tackle after spending most of his time at guard the past two seasons.

 

"He feels more natural (at tackle), being a bigger body out in space and not asking him to pull and do some of the things our guards have to do," Beck said. "He just seems to be playing better."

 

Junior Jeremiah Sirles leads the way at right tackle, with sophomore Tyler Moore at No. 1 on the left side — at this point, anyway.

 

"We're kind of flopping still," Sirles said. "We're still just trying it out and seeing where we fit better."

 

With Jake Cotton sidelined by a knee injury, walk-on tackles Brandon Chapek of Wahoo and Brodrick Nickens of Alliance are getting long looks, Beck said.

 

Whatever happened to Nick Ash?

 

 

 

 

GBR!!!

[Saunders]

Two things I'd like to add.

 

First, we can't hire a QB coach unless we fire someone. OC's are normally your QB Coach, so unless we want to can a position coach, that's not happening.

 

Second, the reason nobody worked on Taylor's mechanics over the summer of 2010, is probably because our QB coach was Shawn Watson. Who did Watson develop when he was the OC here? Ganz? No. Lee? I guess? Green? N/A. Watson was considered a mediocre OC, and he didn't have a track record of developing QB's. Lee was indecisive, and Green looked lost. TM came on the scene, and at least showed some semblance of game breaking ability. He was raw, and needed alot of work, but he showed upside that the others didn't. Problem was, Watson had never developed a mobile/running QB. He didn't want anything to do with TM at quarterback. That was Bo's decision.

[zoogs]

Cody Green came a long, long way in his development. The problem is that he had so far to go. When you recruit project guys, that is what you expect. They'll work and work and work and fix a bunch of stuff -- and then they are still marginal QBs at the end of it who have a ton more to work on.

 

The best QBs coach in the world doesn't produce polish out of that.

 

Watson is solid as a QBs coach, and laying Green at his feet is sort of like saying "Why doesn't Taylor have great mechanics by now? That dang Watson." It's illogical, and when Taylor still doesn't have everything together this year or next, it won't be because of Beck. It'll be because Taylor is a speed and burst guy, not a perfect form thrower.

 

Watson was coaching quarterbacks since 2007, which coincidence or not, coincided with Ganz's leap that he made in his final two years. Lee had his season derailed very early on in 2009 by an injury in his throwing arm (or was it hand? one or both of those), and it derailed him at least as much as Taylor's ankle injury derailed his progress as well.

 

Lastly, where is anybody getting the idea that nobody worked on Taylor's mechanics in the summer of 2010??!?!

 

I took a quick glance through this thread and the logic flow seems to be this: Beck talks about working on Taylor's footwork in 2012->Ergo, nobody has ever worked on Taylor's footwork before. What?!

[kchusker_chris]

^ because it's assumed that Taylor was the #3 guy and still possibly going to be playing WR in summer of 2010. (even though da'skers mentioned in another thread that Taylor was identified as the #1 guy almost the entire time the media was making it out to be a Green/Lee race).

 

Also, last summer there wasn't a lot of discussion about his mechanics either. I actually think they became worse between his 2010 season and 2011. That shoulder dropped, floater of ball he was throwing wasn't there during the 2010 season...that was new to 2011 so they must have changed something - just maybe for the worse.

 

Frankly I'm surprised we didn't read about Taylor living at a QB clinic during last summer. I'll be disappointed if we don't this summer.

[Saunders]

Cody Green came a long, long way in his development. The problem is that he had so far to go. When you recruit project guys, that is what you expect. They'll work and work and work and fix a bunch of stuff -- and then they are still marginal QBs at the end of it who have a ton more to work on.

 

The best QBs coach in the world doesn't produce polish out of that.

 

Watson is solid as a QBs coach, and laying Green at his feet is sort of like saying "Why doesn't Taylor have great mechanics by now? That dang Watson." It's illogical, and when Taylor still doesn't have everything together this year or next, it won't be because of Beck. It'll be because Taylor is a speed and burst guy, not a perfect form thrower.

 

Watson was coaching quarterbacks since 2007, which coincidence or not, coincided with Ganz's leap that he made in his final two years. Lee had his season derailed very early on in 2009 by an injury in his throwing arm (or was it hand? one or both of those), and it derailed him at least as much as Taylor's ankle injury derailed his progress as well.

 

Lastly, where is anybody getting the idea that nobody worked on Taylor's mechanics in the summer of 2010??!?!

 

I took a quick glance through this thread and the logic flow seems to be this: Beck talks about working on Taylor's footwork in 2012->Ergo, nobody has ever worked on Taylor's footwork before. What?!

Green came a long way? I'd almost argue he got worse. His best game as a husker was against Baylor, and he threw for 130 and rushed for 40. His best game as a sophomore was against CU, and he ran for 20, and threw for 80. He still was throwing the ball in the dirt, and was timid running the ball. We had to Rexcat our way through the ISU game so we didn't lose. In 2007, it was BC teaching the QB's, and in 2008, Ganz probably knew as much about the system as Watson. Ganz "leap" was made possible because Sam Keller got hurt. Players on the team thought he should have started ahead of the cup thrower, but BC had made a promise. Ganz was smart, and knew the system. Which is why he's coaching, and Keller is a bartender.

 

I'm not throwing all the lack of development on Watson though. He never was more than an average OC and QB coach, we haven't had great talent at QB in a decade. He's not a miracle worker. Hard to make a silk purse from a sow's ear...

[Enhance]

Cody Green came a long, long way in his development. The problem is that he had so far to go. When you recruit project guys, that is what you expect. They'll work and work and work and fix a bunch of stuff -- and then they are still marginal QBs at the end of it who have a ton more to work on.

 

The best QBs coach in the world doesn't produce polish out of that.

 

Watson is solid as a QBs coach, and laying Green at his feet is sort of like saying "Why doesn't Taylor have great mechanics by now? That dang Watson." It's illogical, and when Taylor still doesn't have everything together this year or next, it won't be because of Beck. It'll be because Taylor is a speed and burst guy, not a perfect form thrower.

 

Watson was coaching quarterbacks since 2007, which coincidence or not, coincided with Ganz's leap that he made in his final two years. Lee had his season derailed very early on in 2009 by an injury in his throwing arm (or was it hand? one or both of those), and it derailed him at least as much as Taylor's ankle injury derailed his progress as well.

 

Lastly, where is anybody getting the idea that nobody worked on Taylor's mechanics in the summer of 2010??!?!

 

I took a quick glance through this thread and the logic flow seems to be this: Beck talks about working on Taylor's footwork in 2012->Ergo, nobody has ever worked on Taylor's footwork before. What?!

Green came a long way? I'd almost argue he got worse. His best game as a husker was against Baylor, and he threw for 130 and rushed for 40. His best game as a sophomore was against CU, and he ran for 20, and threw for 80. He still was throwing the ball in the dirt, and was timid running the ball. We had to Rexcat our way through the ISU game so we didn't lose. In 2007, it was BC teaching the QB's, and in 2008, Ganz probably knew as much about the system as Watson. Ganz "leap" was made possible because Sam Keller got hurt. Players on the team thought he should have started ahead of the cup thrower, but BC had made a promise. Ganz was smart, and knew the system. Which is why he's coaching, and Keller is a bartender.

 

I'm not throwing all the lack of development on Watson though. He never was more than an average OC and QB coach, we haven't had great talent at QB in a decade. He's not a miracle worker. Hard to make a silk purse from a sow's ear...

I agree with everything you said except the part about Keller. Keller might not have been a better person than Ganz, but there's little doubt in my mind that he was the better quarterback heading into the season. I don't think Callahan played favorites in this situation. The fact of the matter is Callahan brought Keller to play that position - just like any NFL team will bring in Manning to start at QB for their team.

 

And, I don't think you meant this, but just because somebody doesn't go onto coaching, it doesn't mean they're less of a football player.

[Scratchtown]

Sipple asked "Why is footwork important" and Beck said "If you control your feet you control your body" or something that didn't go into a whole lot of detail, I thought. I'm surprised that Sipple didn't seem to know that footwork is critical as part of a QB's throwing mechanics, or at least, Beck answered as if that were the case.

 

Also not a real big fan of "getting out of a game", after starting the season running plays "just to put things on tape".

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you understand what he's doing. Journalists aren't dumb - they know the answers to a lot of questions they're about to ask, but nobody wants to hear a reporter blather on and on - they want to hear the subject talk, because subjects give emotion and character to what you're doing.

 

I'm sure Sipple knows why footwork is important, but he wanted to hear Beck talk about it in his own words.

 

Furthermore, I'm sure there are some fans out there who don't know. That kind of information is interesting to them.

 

Lastly, I completely agree with your last part. Not a big fan of "getting out of a game" mentality - I think it breeds lacked focus.

 

 

i thought some of Beck's answers were a bit lame and non specific......not sure how much he really knows about qb techniques.

 

Quite a statement from someone hiding behind a computer screen. I'd like to see you go tell Beck. "Hey Tim, why don't you elaborate on some QB techniques for us, because in your answers you don't sound like you do at all"

 

Sheesh, come on, really?

[Saunders]

Cody Green came a long, long way in his development. The problem is that he had so far to go. When you recruit project guys, that is what you expect. They'll work and work and work and fix a bunch of stuff -- and then they are still marginal QBs at the end of it who have a ton more to work on.

 

The best QBs coach in the world doesn't produce polish out of that.

 

Watson is solid as a QBs coach, and laying Green at his feet is sort of like saying "Why doesn't Taylor have great mechanics by now? That dang Watson." It's illogical, and when Taylor still doesn't have everything together this year or next, it won't be because of Beck. It'll be because Taylor is a speed and burst guy, not a perfect form thrower.

 

Watson was coaching quarterbacks since 2007, which coincidence or not, coincided with Ganz's leap that he made in his final two years. Lee had his season derailed very early on in 2009 by an injury in his throwing arm (or was it hand? one or both of those), and it derailed him at least as much as Taylor's ankle injury derailed his progress as well.

 

Lastly, where is anybody getting the idea that nobody worked on Taylor's mechanics in the summer of 2010??!?!

 

I took a quick glance through this thread and the logic flow seems to be this: Beck talks about working on Taylor's footwork in 2012->Ergo, nobody has ever worked on Taylor's footwork before. What?!

Green came a long way? I'd almost argue he got worse. His best game as a husker was against Baylor, and he threw for 130 and rushed for 40. His best game as a sophomore was against CU, and he ran for 20, and threw for 80. He still was throwing the ball in the dirt, and was timid running the ball. We had to Rexcat our way through the ISU game so we didn't lose. In 2007, it was BC teaching the QB's, and in 2008, Ganz probably knew as much about the system as Watson. Ganz "leap" was made possible because Sam Keller got hurt. Players on the team thought he should have started ahead of the cup thrower, but BC had made a promise. Ganz was smart, and knew the system. Which is why he's coaching, and Keller is a bartender.

 

I'm not throwing all the lack of development on Watson though. He never was more than an average OC and QB coach, we haven't had great talent at QB in a decade. He's not a miracle worker. Hard to make a silk purse from a sow's ear...

I agree with everything you said except the part about Keller. Keller might not have been a better person than Ganz, but there's little doubt in my mind that he was the better quarterback heading into the season. I don't think Callahan played favorites in this situation. The fact of the matter is Callahan brought Keller to play that position - just like any NFL team will bring in Manning to start at QB for their team.

 

And, I don't think you meant this, but just because somebody doesn't go onto coaching, it doesn't mean they're less of a football player.

No, that's not really what I meant. I made that statement as a reference to Joe's football knowledge, and how the fact that he's coaching now is part of the reason why I feel Watson had little to do with his growth.

 

I think Keller had more physical skill and talent than Ganz. Threw a tighter ball, better arm, etc. But Joe knew the offense inside and out, and was a coach on the field. There was word out of the locker room that Ganz should have been the guy. All he did was sit on the bench for 3 years, and learn the playbook and system, and there seemed to be some dissension because he didn't appear to get a fair shake. Keller was the checkdown king, and after the Mizzou loss, I think the team was done with him.

[zoogs]

Zac Taylor has been coaching for longer -- I guess that means BC wasn't much of a coach, either.

 

I find the argument that in 2008, Ganz knew about as much of the system as did Watson -- who had been on the offensive staff since 2006, held the title of coordinator and QBs coach since 2007 -- to be extremely suspect, at best.

 

Green's performance didn't get anywhere, but his mechanics and footwork came a long way.

 

The leap I'm talking about with Ganz isn't his production; he supposedly really got after it in his last two years. Wasn't the same guy he was before. Now, to be fair, that is a major credit to Joe on turning it around.

[Saunders]

Zac Taylor has been coaching for longer -- I guess that means BC wasn't much of a coach, either.

 

I find the argument that in 2008, Ganz knew about as much of the system as did Watson -- who had been on the offensive staff since 2006, held the title of coordinator and QBs coach since 2007 -- to be extremely suspect, at best.

 

Green's performance didn't get anywhere, but his mechanics and footwork came a long way.

 

The leap I'm talking about with Ganz isn't his production; he supposedly really got after it in his last two years. Wasn't the same guy he was before. Now, to be fair, that is a major credit to Joe on turning it around.

Zac Taylor is irrelevant in this discussion. My point about Joe coaching, is that he has the skill to learn and teach football knowledge, and do it well. This greatly helped him at QB, because he wasn't the fastest, strongest, most accurate, etc. He was smart, and knew the system, where everyone was supposed to be, and what to do. Watson had some to do with that, but he was just polishing a near finished product. Callahan and Norvell did most of the work with Joe. He was a field general, and got people to do their jobs. That's what lead to his success.

 

As for Green, watch his last 2 starts, against ISU and CU. He still was throwing balls in the dirt and didn't run with authority. His mechanics "may" have improved, but his overall quarterbacking skills? Not very much.

 

Watson's track record speaks for itself.