Quarterback

“ Regardless, however, a good quarterback must be a natural leader, be smart, have initiative and resourcefulness, be unselfish, have a good voice, and good mechanical ability. If your quarterback either lacks the ability to select the proper plays, or does not have the natural ability to inspire your team to do its best on every play, it is not likely you will have a winner. ”

“ When employing the T formation, the quarterback is required to fake with the football, and then set up to pass. Therefore, he must always bring the football back into his stomach after every fake. When the quarterback’s forearms are touching his hips in a relaxed position, he is able to keep the football closer to his body and it is easier to hide. During the faking of the ball, the quarterback should shift his entire weight toward the back, rather than toward the extension of the arms and the extended football. ”

“ If the quarterback is faking the ball to the fullback, the 9 man must “search” the fullback for the ball first. The 9 technique man never crosses the line of scrimmage. If the offensive play is a straight back pass, the 9 man delivers a blow to the end, and drops back two or three yards looking for the screen or short pass. He is in a position to come up and make the tackle if the quarterback gets outside of your outside rusher and the quarterback decides to run with the football. ”

“ When working with our quarterbacks “picking” a defense, we never tell them to attack the opposition’s weakness but merely to run away from their strength. The only time your quarterback really needs to know how to recognize a defense and its strengths and weaknesses is when he is changing plays at the line of scrimmage. Otherwise your quarterback will call specific plays in certain zones or areas according to your scouting report and game plans. ”

“ He should be forceful, and above all he must be confident. The team will run the play the way the quarterback calls it. Occasionally he should single out the man called on to make the key block and inform him the team is depending upon him. After the quarterback has called the play, and someone wants to check the signal, the quarterback should not merely repeat the signal but the entire play over again.
The quarterback must know the tactical situation at all times. If a substitute comes into the game, the quarterback should always ask if there are any instructions from the coach. ”

“ All outstanding football teams have two distinct characteristics in common—a great fighting spirit and a great quarterback. A smart, capable quarterback is the greatest single asset a football team can possess. Success in a football game is determined mainly by the selection of plays. Poor selection of plays will destroy team morale and nullify the finest of teamwork. ”

“ First, the quarterback must know the defensive alignment as this will determine how far he should pivot, or if he needs to take a position step. After he has recognized the defense and he has taken the first short jab step or pivot step, he should have the ball in close to his body until he is ready to hand-off. ”

“ The quarterback must always be cognizant of the fact he cannot score without the ball; consequently, he wants to make certain he has possession of it before pulling out of there. If he gets in a big hurry, he is likely to drop the ball to the ground. ”

“ Quarterback generalship is simply the application of good common sense. It consists of two parts—knowing what to do and making the team do it. If a team has confidence in its quarterback, it is likely the plays selected will be successful. If a team does not have confidence in its quarterback, it is likely the plays will not be successful. The “right” quarterback inspires confidence. One manner in which the quarterback builds confidence is through the selection of proper plays. ”

“ The quarterback wants to run at the man who is isolated in the defense, and in most cases it is the defensive man over the offensive center’s area. The attack can go wide, too, but the offensive team must do an intelligent job of splitting in order [193] to draw the defense in tight. If the offensive guards take wide splits and the defensive men move out with them, the defensive man over the center will be isolated and the quarterback can direct his attack toward the middle. ”

“ The quarterback must always be conscious of the 25 seconds between plays, and he should use it to his advantage, whether to speed up or slow down the game. Training the quarterback will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 9. ”

“ The quarterback is coached to get into a football position with the feet slightly wider than the shoulders, weight on the balls of the feet, heels and knees turned slightly in, knees bent slightly, and a natural bend at the waist in order to be in a good position to receive the ball from the center as he snaps the ball on the hand-back. The elbows must be bent and in close to the body. ”

“ Tom conceded at last, “but he’s better than Houston, isn’t he?”
“I think so,” answered Loring, “but neither of them is my idea of a corking quarter. But then, I’m not keen on their style, anyway.”
“How do you mean, Loring?” Clif asked.
“I mean that if I were a football coach I wouldn’t [147] ask my quarterback to carry the ball much. Football’s a lot like war, Clif. The coach is the commander-in-chief who lays out the plan of the battle. The quarterback is the general who carries out his orders. ”

“ When the kicker approaching the football gets to a point where the men covering the kick-off cannot get off-side, the quarterback will drop his arms as a signal for the men to start forward together. We want everyone but the safeties to cover the kick quickly. Each man is to protect his own area, and then go to the cut-off point. ”

“ Every one then sinks back and says, "They ought not to have tried that." If the quarterback could hear the graduates' do-or-die backing of their team at this juncture he would trot into the locker building then and there. ”

“ After your quarterback is thoroughly familiar with the zones and their relationship to each other, then you can do an intelligent job of instructing and teaching him which plays should be run in the various zones. ”

“ Rushing the passer is a good element of surprise, especially with an 8- or 9-man line. Overloading one side of the line is a sound tactic, too, because you have more men rushing than the offense has blocking, and the quarterback must get rid of the ball quickly. If the quarterback has sufficient time to spot his receivers, then throw to one of them when he breaks to get open, it is difficult for the defense to cover the pass properly.
The men rushing the passer must have their hands up high, forcing the passer to release the ball higher than he does normally. ”

“ That’s where the quarter is called on for generalship. There’s no chance to confer with the coach. He’s got to size up each situation as it arrives and decide what to do. It’s up to him to move his forces so as to win. I’ve never played quarterback, but I think I know pretty well what a quarter’s up against. He’s got to consider a lot of things, such as the situation of the ball in regard to the goals and the side lines, the number of the down, the distance to be gained, the strength and weakness of the enemy, the ability and condition of his backs, a dozen more things. ”

“ Fudge, so the story went, reported for football in his sophomore year and, on being asked by Coach Farrell what position he was after, replied, “Oh, captain or quarterback, I guess!”
Dick liked Perry Hull’s looks at once and watched him carefully for a week. His lack of size was [126] against him as a lineman and, in fact, left few positions open to him. He might have developed into a satisfactory substitute end had not Dick been quietly looking for a quarterback with more powers of initiative than Orson Kirke showed. ”

“ Several times you were woefully slow with your signals, and you know that the swift aggression of a team depends mainly upon the quarterback. No matter how prompt and ready the players may be, they can’t play fast when a quarter dawdles over his signals. It’s not like you to be slow, and I fail to understand it. You missed a fine chance to take advantage of a Barville fumble, and, only for Nelson, those chaps would have obtained possession of the ball after losing it on a bungling pass and letting it bound to your very feet. ”

“ He does not know his offense, and has little understanding and knowledge why his plays are not effective. He is unaware of what the defense is doing. Generally he calls plays quickly—any play to get the team out of the huddle. He destroys team morale and spirit. His team generally loses badly. He is not coachable. I cannot build [187] a winner with this type of quarterback, and I consider him highly undesirable.
The quarterback who works to avoid mistakes is a second type of individual. ”

“ Safety—The safety man lines up a little deeper than the other backs. He should face slightly the wide side of the field or the strong side of the offensive backfield. He has his outside foot back, and he is permitted to stand a little straighter than the other deep backs. He, too, is in a good football position watching the quarterback. His first step is backward and outward, and he must be able to cover a pass from sideline to sideline. ”

“ There are several kinds of option plays, but the one designed to get wide is the two-way option, in which the quarterback either keeps or pitches to the far halfback, depending upon the reaction of the defensive man from whom he is optioning. ”

“ The left defensive halfback, who ordinarily would cover the deep area on this particular type pass, will come forward and outside and cover the short area the corner man would ordinarily cover. Not only have we given the quarterback an entirely new picture to look at, but we have strengthened our coverage by having our halfback come forward through the hook zone, going to the flat area. ”

“ The only time we kick from a tight punt formation is when we are backed up inside of our own 3-yard line and it is impossible for us to kick from a spread formation since our kicker cannot get the sufficient depth of 13 yards which we think is necessary. Therefore, we always tell our quarterback we should never kick the ball from behind our own 3-yard line. ”

“ He could fumble a punt now and then and I’d still call him a corking quarter!”
“Yes, that’s so,” said Tom. “Still, lots of fellows [148] can run the team and carry the ball, too. Some of the finest quarterbacks have been all-around men.”
“I know, but they aren’t so numerous, Tom. The average fellow, especially if he is prep school age, can’t do a lot of things at once and do them all well. Any quarter, I don’t care who he is, will be of more value to his team if he just has to run it and isn’t expected to carry the ball himself.” ”

“ It’s a game of young men with big shoulders and hard muscles. It’s also a game of old pros, such as, 38-year-old Charlie Conerly quarterbacking the New York Giants to a football championship.
Football is popcorn, cokes, banners and cigaret smoke. It’s people standing for the kick-off, lap blankets, pacing coaches, penalties and melodious alma maters.
Football is a game of surprises. The big guy everybody picks in pre-season as All-American fizzles out. But a kid nobody ever heard of scores the winning touchdown and a star is born. ”

“ Cotting was hammering speed into his teams. The formation used this year for the backfield differed somewhat from that of the previous season and the players were having difficulty with it, simple though it was. The left half, fullback and right half lined up behind quarter in a slanting tandem in the order named, left half being to the left of quarter, the fullback behind him and the right half at his right. From this formation the order to shift—which became “Hep!” in the quarterback’s vernacular—was followed by one or two quick jumps to the right or left as the signal demanded. ”