Rewind to 2006: The Two-Headed Quarterback Monster

[Escambia94]

There has been a lot of talk about what 2011 will look like. Most of us were around for the Timmy Tebow Era, and we are disappointed for what happened and what is continuing to happen in 2010. We are also unsure as to what will happen in 2011. I am not saying I have all the answers, but we can all look at 2006 starting with the Orange and Blue Debut for some clues to help us manage our expectations for next year. I will be citing this article from scout.com.

First of all, how many of you remember when we recruited Timmy? We did not know if he was going to choose Alabama or Florida. When we figured that we got him, we questioned his throwing mechanics. We questioned the head coach, we were all uneasy with a pure passer running this run-based offense and a lot of us did not trust the offensive coordinator. Sound familiar?

...speculation has surrounded quarterback Tim Tebow since his meteoric rise at Nease High School. Can he improve his mechanics? Can he be a quarterback at the next level? Will he sign with Florida or Alabama? Is he going to enroll early? Will he play as a true freshman? Those questions answered- again many were inquiring aloud as to how much he’ll play?

The answer is simple. If Tebow stays healthy -- he’ll play a significant role next September.

I cannot believe I forgot about this, but in 2005 Chris Leak was not the only QB that took snaps at QB. We had another QB that was the team's 4th leading rusher. That kid transferred to MD because he could not switch to TE or WR (Meyer had not refined the concept of a TE, or a Harvin-Position, or a Reed/Burton split-role).

Regardless, Florida will have a two-headed monster of sorts at quarterback next season. That’s not to say that quarterback Chris Leak will be shuffled in one series and out another. Nor should we expect one guy getting a quarter, while the other waits on deck for the following quarter. Tebow obviously still has some decision making skills to work on with offensive coordinator Dan Mullen. But, by and large he was on target today [in the '06 Orange and Blue Debut]. And you can bet that Mullen and Coach Urban Meyer want him ready to challenge from that first kickoff. It may be that he starts the season in a similar fashion to that of Josh Portis, one year ago. And why not?

The Florida coaches have just what they had hoped to have last season when Portis backed Leak up. After just four weeks, Tebow is light years ahead of Portis. He’s a better leader. A better pure passer. More decisive. A total team player. Tim Tebow will play football next season.

This next part about Tebow's high school play sounds eerily like Jeff Driskel. Let's not get our hopes up yet, but maybe we are not giving enough credit to Urban Meyer and his ability to recruit dual-threat, playmaker quarterbacks. Or, if Addazio recruited both, we are not giving him enough credit.

Tebow’s presence forces defensive coordinators’ to prepare for an offense that Meyer and company have wanted to unleash on the Southeastern Conference since their arrival at Florida. Tebow can run...and pass. He’s even proven this spring that he can make decisions. This spring he successfully added another dangerous element to the Florida offense, which culminated with a fine showing in the Orange and Blue game.

... He finished the first half 9 of 13 for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Perhaps his greatest asset was his ability to step up and make plays on the fly. Just as he did in high school, Tebow demonstrated an uncanny ability to eat up yardage running the football or stepping up, forcing defenders to keep an eye on him as he deposits the ball to a receiver who has found open space. That’s not just something he was able to do today, but something he proved pretty consistently this spring.

By the way, Tebow (75 yards on 9-of-13) beat out Leak (145 yards on 17-of-33) in this O & B Debut. One had better stats, but one had the win. Leak and Tebow shared the backfield in '06 and we all waited to see the true freshman unleashed. And the rest is history.

Let's sit back and watch the development of Jeff Driskel. He has large shoes to fill, since Brantley was not able to fulfill the task. Whether by accident or by design, we may be re-living the '05-'06 era, with some differences. In '05 we lost to Alabama in a blowout, LSU in a close one, and South Carolina. In '10 we lost to Alabama in a blowout, LSU in a close one, South Carolina and somehow to Mississippi State. Close, but not exact. Let's beat the School Out West so that it somewhat looks like '05, please? We also have to sit back and hope that '10 does not degrade any worse. We can use history as a guide, but not everything is going to be identical.

 

[DRU2012]

There are some other important differences--and I know I don't have to go into them all, merely mention their names again: Addazio. And Brantley. We have empirical evidence of their "limitations".
Can the former "change his stripes", to design and adapt both game-plan and in-game play calling to suit this new situation? Can the latter even perform up to the required standards at game time?
Addazio IS one hell of a recruiter, it would seem; he also takes a lot of the responsibility off Coach Meyer's shoulders in terms of time and traveling--some would say too MUCH it, that this has spread to duties for which he is clearly unfit, and to the obvious detriment of the team. Either way, the question remains: how much can anything change from this season to next with Addazio as the OC?
That is an ESPECIALLY valid question if John Brantley also remains the starting QB going into 2011. There ARE those "reports" (read: rumors) of him being angry and ready to move on of his own accord (and the growing excitement around Driskell's pending arrival could be one more thing that pushes him in that direction--if not the outright "straw..."), but if he were to stay it all could very well evolve differently than in '06. I'm not at all sure that JB could cut it in Leak's role on that team. Leak WAS effective, as a passer who could air it out when he saw the chance AND as runner here and there as necessary--and he was a leader (it's easy to forget his skills, especially THAT one, eclipsed as he was by the shining star, the NOVA that was #15)
Then there's the "800 lb. gorilla in the room" that we're ignoring: What are Urban's plans in this regard? What (if anything) will he do about these two? We're back where we started. It all comes down to Urban Meyer, what he has in mind for the future of the Gator Football Program.

 

[sumguy]

2006 eh? The only similarities between the two (that i can remember) would be there was a nice guy quarterback wearing #12 who was heavily criticized and was not a good match for the SO/ZR.
You have a different offensive coordinator than you have now and 06 was a veteran team that needed a spark (Tebow and Harvin). In '11 we will be young all over the place (O-Line and pretty much everywhere on Defense) and will quite frankly be looking for an identity (again).

IMHO, The best hope for next year is if Loeffler (I hope he's back *No I haven't heard anything*) has more input into the offense and the O-Line actually learns to pass block (they weren't exactly great at it last year either). In '06, Mullen let Leak have more input into the offense (like scripting the first series) and called plays that he was comfortable with and allowed him to get into a rhythm. Addazio hasn't shown that he is willing or capable of doing this.

Also will Loeffler be even able to effectivley develop Driskell into the next Tebow without having the playcalling duties?

 

[DRU2012]

2006 eh? The only similarities between the two (that i can remember) would be there was a nice guy quarterback wearing #12 who was heavily criticized and was not a good match for the SO/ZR.
You have a different offensive coordinator than you have now and 06 was a veteran team that needed a spark (Tebow and Harvin). In '11 we will be young all over the place (O-Line and pretty much everywhere on Defense) and will quite frankly be looking for an identity (again).

IMHO, The best hope for next year is if Loeffler (I hope he's back *No I haven't heard anything*) has more input into the offense and the O-Line actually learns to pass block (they weren't exactly great at it last year either). In '06, Mullen let Leak have more input into the offense (like scripting the first series) and called plays that he was comfortable with and allowed him to get into a rhythm. Addazio hasn't shown that he is willing or capable of doing this.

Also will Loeffler be even able to effectivley develop Driskell into the next Tebow without having the playcalling duties?

Good points all--sort of a darker, more pointed going over of the same ground, with some new insights and warnings.
You imply fairly pessimistic answers to the questions I raise; I tend to agree, at least until there are signs of change.

 

[Leakfan12]

Just in case anyone cares Josh Portis after leaving Florida and Maryland, he went to University of Cal of PA and putting up some good numbers (though it be D-2).

 

[Escambia94]

I was thinking more along the lines of big picture. There are obvious differences between '05/'10 and '06/'11 that I did not want to belabor any further. I will summarize the similarities and differences:
- Leak vs Brantley. Similarities: In '05/'10 both struggled with the SO/ZR. Both had another QB or two in the backfield to handle the option plays. Differences: Leak can run the option better than Brantley. Portis could pass better than Burton (or Reed). Leak could evade the blitz better.
- Leak/Tebow vs Brantley/Driskel. Similarities: Passer/Dual threat. Highly touted freshmen. #2 QB is a better fit for the SO/ZR. Differences: We do not know enough about Driskel YET to be certain of anything.
- Mullen/Addazio: Similarities: In '05/'10 NOBODY in SEC believed this offense would work with two QBs alternating roles. Nobody liked the OC. (Yes. It is hard to believe people disliked Mullen then as much as they dislike Addazio today, but I can remember saying the same thing about Mullen in '05.) Differences: Mullen was not as bad as Addazio as an OC, but Addazio may be a better recruiter.
- Meyer/Meyer: Similarities: Obviously, they are same guy. Differences: Obviously, they are NOT the same guy. The bad thing about promoting Addazio to OC is that there is much less creativity, but it is still Meyer's offense.
- Points For and Against:
'05 28.6 PF (49th of 119), 18.8 PA (19th of 119)
'06 29.7 PF (24th of 119), 13.5 PA (6th of 119)
'10 31.3 PF (40th of 120), 20.2 PA (26th of 120)
Similarities: In '05/'10 we were middle-third in NCAA with points fielded, top-third in points against. Check it out, our offense faired better up to this point in '10 than the '05 team. Interesting. Differences: More of those teams in the top 50 offenses are in the SEC than before.

What does this tell us? We sure as heck look bad against the SEC, but in the grand scheme we are not that bad compared to non-SEC teams. We are following a similar cycle of development. Not exact, but similar. We also suffer from memory loss if we forget how much we as a Gator Nation hated Mullen in '05 until we won a NC in '06. Maybe this is just what the SO/ZR looks like when you have a pure passer and no big running backs. '05/'06 had DeShawn Wynn (621 yards, 4.8 YPC in '05, 699 yards, 4.9 YPC). In '10 we have Demps (487 yards, 6.1 YPC). Not to mention Wynn had help in the backfield. Demps does not.

One last thing this tells us is to not get too worried about '11 with JB as the starter as long as
a) Driskel is as good as he needs to be to make up for JB's shortcomings
b) The defense holds up its end of the bargain
c) We have a dependable running back