Monday March 29, 2010

Mr. Popular

Mr. Popular
A football cliché says the most popular man on campus is the second team quarterback. At Clemson we have fallen into that scenario many times in my days of following Tiger football.

I can remember in the 1975 and 76 seasons where it was the major topic of discussion on the stands at Death Valley. There was a three headed monster at quarterback in those two seasons so one of my first memories of Clemson football was quarterback controversy. Some fans wanted Willie Jordan. Some casts their lot with Mike O’Cain. Others were Steve Fuller fans. As it turns out Fuller won the job as a junior and senior in 1977 and 78 and led the Tigers to two of the best seasons on school history. He was a Heisman candidate as a senior in 1978 but the 75 and 76 seasons were filled with Tiger fans disagreeing on the subject of the starting quarterback.

In 1980 Mike Gasque had his fans that supported him over Homer Jordan. In 1985 Randy Anderson and Rodney Williams had their supporters in their battle. Even after Williams won the job and won a bunch of games in his first three years, there were some fans that thought freshman hot-shot Michael Carr would beat him out.

The 1989 season saw DeChane Cameron as the popular guy even though Chris Morocco had a great season. Patrick Sapp had to hear about Dexter McCleon and Louis Solomon.

Woody Dantzler was much more popular with some when he was Brandon Streeter’s back-up and he was when he was fighting off Willie Simmons when Dantzler was the starter. Simmons was more popular with some as the back-up than he was as the starter when he was trying to hold off the popular Charlie Whitehurst.

Whitehurst had Proctor. Proctor had Harper. Harper had Korn. Now Kyle Parker has Tajh Boyd.

The starting quarterback position in college football is about a multitude of attributes and it is extremely difficult for someone who has never taken a snap in college to know what is required. Many of the great ones had some physical tools that helped set them apart. It may be arm strength. It may be accuracy. It may be athletic ability or the ability to make plays with the feet. But most have some physical tool or tools that allow them to be a good player.

It is the attributes other than physical ability that sets the great ones apart though. Some of the great ones were just terrific leaders. Other had toughness. For some it might have been decision making skills. But most of the great ones did something outside of their physical skills that set them apart.

Boyd has many of the physical tools. He is a good athlete with a live arm. He is also an accurate passer who is dangerous because he can hurt you with his feet as well. I think Boyd is a natural leader as well. I also think he is a hard worker who is willing to do what it takes to become a great quarterback one day.

However, that day is not Monday, March 29, 2010. The main reason he is not a great one today is due to the lack of something he has no control over and that is experience. With his shot at experience will come his shot at greatness.

Kyle Parker has a stronger arm than Boyd and may be a little more of an accurate passer at this point. Boyd may be more athletic and may move better. But the main separation between Parker and Boyd right now is experience.

Parker has gone into a season as the starter and few things can substitute for that. Parker has been the man. He knows how to prepare for a road game. He has taken his team down the field for the game-winning touchdown drive. Parker has thrown the third-down pass to beat Miami in South Florida. He knows what it is like to win a bowl game.

I see a lot of Kyle Parker in Tajh Boyd but the one thing I see in Parker that Boyd does not have yet is true confidence. Boyd thinks he can lead this team to wins but Parker KNOWS he can because he already has done it.

I learned a long time ago was that the starting quarterback position is a development and requires a process. You can’t be the starting quarterback with going through the process that prepares you for success. That process is longer for some but it is still a process. The process is important because you have to go through it to gain the confidence needed be THE guy. This is especially the case at this position. True freshmen can start at cornerback or running back or wide receiver because it is more about the physical abilities. At quarterback it is about so much more than physical abilities.

Boyd got his first taste of the being the starting quarterback Saturday when Parker was away for a baseball series at Virginia. Boyd did some things well but struggled at times. He got ripped a time or two from the coaches for a bad decision. But he also got his first shot at experience in the stadium and with it he got a valuable lesson.

"He has a great approach to it, but I do think he's got to get to the point where he understands that there is a whole other level out there in terms of attention to detail," Clemson offensive coordinator Billy Napier said. "We can do a lot of the main things right on offense and be very average. We have got to do those things right, and we've got to continue to do the little things right at each and every opportunity. Right now, that’s where Tajh is at. He's figuring out: 'Hey, there's a lot more to this crap than I thought.' He is in that phase now where he's learning what to do. You need repetition. It's the foundation of learning. So the good thing is, he's getting a lot of reps."

There are other good things. First, I am still convinced Parker will be back in the fall so Boyd will have more time to build his foundation. Also, Boyd has so many of the things you can’t teach and the physical tools to be the guy one day but not today.

There is other good news for the quarterbacks at Clemson. They have a very good quarterback coach in Napier that will assist in their development. I think the offensive line will continue to improve. I think they have good running backs to take pressure off of the passing game.

Until he takes over as the starter then Boyd will have to settle for being the most popular man on campus.

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We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
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Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, Larry in Naples, FL, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Frank Taylor, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, Jack Huffman, Nancy Winkler, Dr. Nancy Strom Morgan, John Reeve, Eileen Woodrum, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Eric Boessneck, John Bowers, Jimmy Ness, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, John Petrey, Chalmers Carr, Drayton Melton, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs, Mike Kingsmore,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Candace Fallaw, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee.