College football coaches routinely stress the significance of off-season workouts. Their emphasis is no mystery.
Most of the year, every player is basically doing the same thing. He's practicing, running or lifting weights under the watchful eye of coaches.
There's scrutiny in the summer, too, as the players take part in "voluntary" workouts at the behest of conditioning coaches. But there's enough free time in the summer for players to actually outwork or out-study the competition if they're up to it.
That's magnified for quarterbacks.
And it's magnified further at Tennessee, where the leading quarterback candidates - true freshman Tyler Bray and junior college transfer Matt Simms - have no SEC experience. Studying tape and passing to receivers has to be part of their daily summer routine.
Summers were more casual in the old days when former quarterback Steve Spurrier was playing, rather than coaching.
"We didn't even have (mandatory) weightlifting," Spurrier said at least week's spring meetings. "We had volunteer weightlifting in the (mid-1960s). Summer workouts were strictly on your own."
But initiative still mattered.
Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy his senior year at Florida, would throw to anyone who was available. Sometimes it was a teammate. More often, it was Dr. Smiley Hill.
"He'd be in the stadium running around about 6 o'clock at night," Spurrier said. "He'd go down there and catch passes in the stadium.
It was altogether different in the early 1990s when Spurrier was coaching the Gators to the top of the SEC. His first Florida quarterback, Shane Matthews, is a great example of a player who made the most of the summer regimen.
Matthews began the summer as a fifth-string quarterback. He became the SEC offensive player of the year.
"He followed the summer plan we gave him and did a great job with it," Spurrier said.
Another Florida quarterback had a different plan.
"Doug Johnson was out playing (minor league) baseball and drinking beer all summer," Spurrier said. "That was his summer trying (to replace four-year starter Danny Wuerffel). "He couldn't even run the 12-minute run in preseason camp."
You don't have to be a quarterback to benefit from a productive summer. Georgia coach Mark Richt cites former All-American defensive end David Pollack as an example.
"We signed him as a fullback," Richt said. "He moved to the d-line his freshman year. Then, he moved to defensive end that first spring.
"He wasn't much of a factor at all. (Offensive lineman) Jon Stinchcomb was slinging him around in practice. He just wasn't very good.
Richt hardly recognized Pollack the next time he lined up at defensive end, in preseason practice.
"There was an unbelievable difference," Richt said. "He actually became the Southeastern Conference player of the year his first time ever playing defensive end.
"So you can get better in the summer."
Improving physically is only part of the summertime challenge for quarterbacks. For inexperienced quarterbacks like Bray and Simms, it's an opportunity to become a leader and gain the confidence of their teammates.
And if one of them turns into the next Shane Matthews, so much the better.
John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 26
Bogus writes:
Seriously? You just HAD to use Gator qb's as an example, didn't you Adams? What's wrong with talking about Peyton? He works harder than anyone in the off-season, and it shows. Has for 15 years. This is getting rediculous.
FWBVol writes:
I'll give John a break on this column. He was using Matthews as an example because nobody expect Matthews to start much less be the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
Yes, Peyton outworked everybody, and still does, but by the end of his freshman year when Brandon Stewart left for Texas A&M, it was clear that Peyton would be the guy as long as he was healthy. Peyton's summer workouts helped him and the team, but didn't elevate him from someone deep on the depth chart to a surprise starter.
Bogus writes:
I agree with what you're saying, but he started off talking about Bray and Simms. Whoever starts, neither will be a surprise. This article seemed, to me, to be about the merits of diligence in the offseason leading to on-field success. IMO, Stewart was the better player, but Manning beat him with his work ethic. If Adams is gonna compare two qb's from a school in reference to offseason workouts to show an example to Bray and Simms, why not Manning and Stewart? Granted, they both weren't at UT for a spring or full summer, it's just that Adams' love affair with all things Gator is getting old.
CroKev writes:
They were both good college QB's but pretty much served as backups in the NFL. Peyton certainly is a workhorse when it comes to off-season workouts. From what I hear, another NFL great, Walter Payton, was the model for what could be done in the off-season. When he was nearing the end of his career, he would take rookie running backs out with him to the "hill" where he would run up and down while carrying weights. None of the rookies could keep up with him. The story about Pollack was truly inspiring also and I hope our guys are reading that. With the amount of money we're talking about these days, I hope our guys are taking it seriously.
halloffamebowler writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Glad to learn how UF QBs done it.
Bogus writes:
Wow. Dude, take your Prozac and chill.
V_O_L_S_GO_VOLS_GO writes:
RRREEEEEOOOOOWWWRRRR!!!!! Bring back the claws, Muffin.
TommyJack writes:
Not a bad piece. Then he brought up David Pollack, A-Hole Royale.
orangeman1 writes:
There were plenty of UT Qb's he couldve used as examples. What about Rick Clausen?. All he did was work hard and the result is one of the best storylines in recent history. He was told by Saban at LSU that he would never play in the SEC so he transferred to UT, then after all his hard work , he got the chance to come in and lead UT to a comeback win over # 5 LSU in Baton Rouge. Now thats a story I would like to read about.
tsaecesnitsebhtruof writes:
Apparently Peyton's hard work never paid off in college. At least not in the SEC East.
99gator writes:
the KNS is slipping.
the word "florida" was used three times in this article.
the word "gators" was only used once in the article.
the word "tennessee" was used once in the article.
the word "volunteers (or its nickname, vols)" was not used in the article.
you guys at the KNS better stick to the KNS fairness doctrine.
"florida" has to be mentioned five times to every one time "tennessee" is mentioned.
"gators" is to be used a minimum of five times per article regardless of whether "volunteers or vols" is used in the article or not.
i thought this was made clear at the last meeting.
also, there was not enough use of the the words "alabama", "bama", "crimson tide", or "tide" in this article.
orangeman1 writes:
Did you forget about the 97 SEC championship Peyton was involved in? Granted they never won a NT, but did quite well. UT finished top 25 all 4 years Peyton played. (Top 10 the last three years and #2 in 95). I would be happy if Bray turns out to do as good.
crimsonviper writes:
That's what I thought too,Big.
But we did get a dose of Spurrier....I feel complete now.
GerryOP writes:
Doldrums ... extreme doldrums.
89 -- Fear The Dooley Dude...
hueypilot writes:
Wow John. This is a tough room. I thought it was a fair column, and you had just been to Destin where all the coaches were and you picked up some background with Spurrier and Richt and made a column in the middle of June that had relevance to what a summer of work can do (Matthews and Pollack) or what a summer of non-work can do (Doug Johnson who lost to Tennessee, and if he would have followed Spurrier's advice Johnson would have won, not like Danny Wurffel who if Spurrier told him to run down in a volcano, he would have done it)
Do this. Next time ask Spurrier just how much he is willing to debase himself to get in that members only locker room at Augusta with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Granny Clampett.
That's a comment from Steve Superior that I'd like to see.
riversetvol writes:
You yokels who have never been out of Knox County just amaze me. What's wrong or incorrect in the column? Geez it's still 90 days until our first game, no way there is enough info to write about the Vols every one of those 90 days.
Maybe he quoted Spurrier because he was the only former SEC qb who is now a head coach and was discussing the issue at the League meetings, ever think about that?
easleychuck writes:
So that really does confirm that Coach Dooley is very, very wise indeed. Silly Adams.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Good article despite slow summer; I wouldn't want to write this column with pretty much all college sports inactive
RockHillVol writes:
Looks like John and Joe Pearson at The State in Columbia SC shared ideas, but Joe's article posted first. Honestly, Joe's article was more in depth and highlighted Spurrier continuing to publicly push Stephen Garcia to be involved this summer in off field workouts. Adams seemed to be reaching to tie this in to UT's QB situation.
Stay accountable to the readers. John Now get back to your laptop and start "working like heck" on your next piece of work.
DarthWilson writes:
I agree with you Huey. I read the article and thought not bad for the bginning of June. I thought a pretty fair comparison on how a summer can prepare you for fall or not. Then I started reading the comments. I had to go back and reread the article because I thought I had surely missed something. The only thing I can figure is some of my fellow Vol fans just can't stand any article that is not all vol all the time. Not saying that is a bad thing, but you need more than just yourself to compare things. I believe as a poster above me said the Matthews and Pollock references were about nobodys becoming somebodys. Peyton was already a somebody the day he signed with us. Not a good comparison to Simms or to Bray. Unless your talking about famous dads as it relates to Simms. Having written all this, it really does not mean a thing until we kick it off in the fall. I hope all of the Vols have worked their britches off.
GO VOLS!
196SVol writes:
Here is a great link to be enjoyed by all.
http://www.nautiques.com/videos/index...
leedsvol2007 writes:
We can only hope that one of ours emerges like Matthews did for Florida.
Looking at the situation Simms has potential but did not show much in the spring, Bray is raw and needs to beef up to be able to stand up to SEC defenses, and Nance is an unknown commodity.
Even had Stephens stayed the situation would not have been any better.
I think you have to go back to 1977 to find this uncertain a situation with our quarterbacking and offensive line.
Regardless of Adams use of Spurrier and Matthews as the shoe for his comparison it fits.
GoVols!
Ringside writes:
Work'em til they drop and then work'em some more.
DannyVol writes:
Another poorly written story by Adams with no regard for his audience. By now, no one should be surprised. By now, everyone should realize he despises the program most of us love.
hueypilot writes:
Not sure you've got to be a Tebow-like specimen to play qb in college. Bray will put on a few pounds. Hollingsworth at Alabama a lot of years back, Peyton his first couple of years, Ken Dorsey at Miami, were all pretty skinny and they all did okay. And I'm sure you guys can think of other qb's similar. Gotta be tall to see over his own O line these days, so tall and skinny is better than short and ripped, IMO. You can always put on weight. It's hard to grow much taller past your 20th birthday.
Can he hum that tater, and is he cool under pressure. Those are the key ingredients.
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