CHARLOTTE, NC — Carolina Panthers head coach Josh McCown was demonstrating the art of the pocket movement to rookie quarterback Bryce Young early during offseason practices when head coach Frank Reich stopped by.
Reich showed the #1 overall pick in the draft that if he slips off the side of his arm, he must additionally zip the ball in order for the pass to arrive on time. He explained it in clear and concise language that few of the former quarterback know.
“You can tell almost instantly when someone has played the position,” Young said of Reich, who played 118 games over a 14-year career in the NFL (1985-1992). There are some nuances that only a quarterback can tell.
“There is language sometimes you have to experience it.”
Young believed that the language and his relationship with Reich would speed his transition to the NFL. It had already helped him pass veteran Andy Dalton to No. 1 on the depth chart two weeks before the players took a break in June.
Of how much Reich’s guidance accelerated his growth, Young said: “I don’t know if I can put a number on it. But it’s great to have — from my position as coach to the top in coach — people who understand the situation. There’s just this continuity. Everyone gets it.”
If Young continues to become a Week 1 starter as expected, Reich will be the tenth coach to start at least two games as an NFL quarterback to coach a rookie starting quarterback since the 1970 merger.
Does it give Young an advantage?
The track record isn’t great. Two of the 15 rookie quarterbacks coached by the former quarterback had winning records in their first season. Dak Prescott went 13-3 for the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 when he was coached by Jason Jarrett. Boomer Esiason went 3-1 with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1984 when he was coached by Sam Witchie.
Of note, six of those fifteen were selected in the first round and a handful of notables were selected as Young: Carson Wentz (No. 2, 2016), Ryan Leaf (No. 2, 1998) and Rick Mirer (No. 6, 1993).
But the consensus among those involved in pairing the former quarterback coaching the rookie quarterback is that it speeds up development, regardless of whether he shows up on a win-loss record.
The biggest reason? The coach speaks the language and understands the patience needed to succeed.
McCown, who played quarterback in the NFL for 19 seasons, sees it every day with moments like Raich Young’s movement coaching in the pocket.
McCown said, “If he hadn’t played the position, he wouldn’t have been able to say it with the authority and confidence that can be had. You’d think because he got back there with the ball, he knows how that feels.”
Confidence is The number one thing that accelerates a rookie quarterback’s development, according to those interviewed for this story. Everyone agreed that it’s more difficult with a defensive-minded coach, who may be quicker to make a difference when a rookie is struggling.
“That trust between the coach and the quarterback – that’s what allows them to play freely and play at a high level,” said Jon Jones, who coached Leaf during his rookie season with the San Diego Chargers.
Leaf is the best example of a quarterback who never lives up to expectations despite having the former NFL quarterback as his head coach. But even Leaf believes having Jones as his interim coach in 1998, and attack-minded Kevin Gilbride as his head coach before he was fired after a 2-4 start to his development.
“Having experience in the middle at the highest level can only be beneficial for these young players,” Leaf said. “When you have a coach who plays that position and can take on that role a little bit as a centre-back, that can be incredibly beneficial.”
McCown understands. He began his NFL career in 2002 playing for the defensive-minded Dave McGuinness with the Arizona Cardinals. McCown played in eight games in his first two seasons with three starts, going 1-2 for teams that went 9-23.
“Dave has worked so hard to build confidence,” said McCown, “but there’s just a difference.” He added that he loved playing with McGuinness. “Conversations are not frequent because he doesn’t move around and talk to me about a certain throw or drop because he’s never done that before.
“He doesn’t want to overstep his bounds and point his quarterback in the wrong direction.”
Former NFL quarterback Jim Zorn never coached a rookie starting quarterback during his two years as head coach at Washington (2008-2009). But he worked with young quarterback Jason Campbell and accepted defensive-minded coaches.
“Suppose a QB throws insane,” Zorn said, “a defensive coach might say, ‘Oh my God, he’s a savage. Let’s pull him up.'” ‘.” But what I saw was a defender in the face, so I wouldn’t pull him because I saw he was pressured and couldn’t really get close to the goal. ‘
Young admitted that Reich’s presence helped him develop confidence faster. It also helped him play more freely in practice without fear of making a mistake.
Young said of Reich: “He knows what it takes, he’s done it, he’s seen it, he’s coached it at all levels. The ability to cover all sides of the quarterback position was huge.”
Patience from playing the position is a factor.
“I don’t want to talk about defensive coaches, but I know, as an offensive coach and as a former quarterback, and I have an understanding of how difficult the situation can be, offensive coaches in general have no problem with being patient with a quarterback,” said Reich.
During DAK PRESCOTT’S Rookie season (2016), the Cowboys were playing the Seattle Seahawks in their third preseason game when fourth round Mississippi State fell to third place.
Garrett recalled: “He’s got people all over the place looking here. The guy’s covered. Duck’s back and he hits, first down, there we go. And so we’re all looking at each other like, ‘Wow, he didn’t even blink.'” ‘
Prescott is the most successful example of how having a head coach who played quarterback accelerated his progress.
Playing with Jarrett, who had a 6-3 record in games started with Dallas from 1993 to 2000, Prescott became a first-day starter due to injuries that missed Tony Romo and Kellen Moore. He went 13-3, completing 67.8% of his passes for 3,667 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions.
He also had Romo’s veteran quarterback give tips much like Dalton Leung. And he had veteran quarterbacks coach in Wade Wilson, who like McCown had a long NFL career in that position.
“Yes, they are very helpful,” said Prescott. “I probably can’t even put them into exact words, but I know all these guys have served a huge deal in my success.”
But Garrett has played a major role as well, starting in rookie camp when he took personal responsibility for helping Prescott transition to picking under center after being almost exclusively at the gun during college.
“I moved into the first drill with the running backs and the quarterbacks together to do a ball-handling exercise,” Garrett said. “He got up under center and drove the ball back, but off center, you could tell he didn’t have a lot of experience doing that.”
That’s when Garrett stepped into the crowd like Reich did to Young, as only the former quarterback could do with confidence.
“I said, ‘Hey, put it down [more] Your weight is on your left foot as you approach that ball [on the snap]Go from there and you’ll give him a lot of pressure and you’ll have some confidence that the ball will be there, and then push from there and push the ball back,” Jarrett said.
“He looks at me and says, ‘Okay. ‘ So the next one is better. Then we make a play on the other side and he pushes off with his right foot, drives it back, and I say, ‘That’s better. ‘”
Right away, Prescott knew Garrett was speaking his language.
It’s a point of view,” Garrett said. “When you’re playing the game, you can just speak the language that the quarterbacks can relate to. Then when you’re evaluating things, whether it’s a movie after training or nailing down a game plan or watching the game afterward, there’s a connection you can make because of the different experiences you’ve had.”
Young Jarrett thought He has a chance to succeed right away for many of the same reasons Prescott did, from his ability to lead to having a strong team around him to having a seasoned staff led by Reich, who understands what a quarterback needs to succeed.
“When you’re creating an environment for a quarterback, it helps to have an offensive coach and a playing coach and he’s been right next to the quarterbacks. You can help develop him. You know what he needs and it’s not at the expense of the team,” Garrett said.
Of Reich, Jones said, “The choice of play he’s going to make is not going to be discreet. He’s going to call out plays as if he were calling plays.” [Philip] Rivers or maven. I don’t think he’d be careful about calling his game not a Price game.”
Dalton agrees that Reich’s experience as the quarterback has been “huge” for Young and the entire offense.
“You think about the little things that you might not understand if you’ve never played it,” he said.
It shows up everywhere, from teaching Young how to get in and out of the huddle to how to convey the play to his teammates, McCown said.
Do not underestimate the value of the latter.
Zorn said: “I’ve had that experience where a young midfielder walks into the huddle nervous. As a former midfielder, you can feel that. If he’s negative or afraid, it’s going to be hard to improve.
Rich too Help Jung understand what is expected of him, not only from the outside but from the inside.
Young said, “We talk about it all the time. Whether we’re talking about situational football or our philosophy, what’s expected of us, it plays a huge part in determining that.”
Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson, a former NFL quarterback who served with two rookie teams as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in Wentz (2016) and Galen Hurts (2020), believes his experience as a player has helped the growth of NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the starting quarterback in 2021.
Lawrence appeared as a Pro Bowl player in 2022 under Pederson after struggling as a starter in 2021 under Urban Meyer. Pederson believes Reich will do the same for Young.
“Having played that, yeah, it can help,” Pederson said.
Steve Spurrier, the former NFL quarterback who coached Patrick Ramsey (No. 32, 2002) during his rookie season with Washington, mentioned that it helps when the rookie has a good team around him.
“We weren’t a very good team. We didn’t have very good coaches either. But my college teams were very good, and our quarterbacks played very well,” said Spurrier, who had a 12-20 record in two seasons as Washington’s coach.
Spurrier believed Young would do well under the Reich for the same reason that Jones and the others do.
Jones said, “Because he’s a QB, he speaks the language and I guarantee there’s a confidence that’s really developed. I think he might be one of the most special players in the league for the next 10 years that he’s ever played.”