Nothing teaches like an example...

Oregon offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford uses an innovative method of QB instruction to get huge results from his pupils.
by: Ron Bellamy
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You could call it Jeff Tedford's School for Quarterbacks. Graduates include NFL first-round draft choices Trent Dilfer, now with the Baltimore Ravens, and Akili Smith of the Cincinnati Bengals. The professor's preferred prerequisites for admission are toughness, intelligence, competitiveness, athletic ability and arm strength. In that order. Required supplies are pencils, paper, a VCR and a football. Oh, yes, and a set of checkers.

Class is in session virtually all year at the University of Oregon. Tests are Saturdays in the fall.

Of the many examples of fine work by Tedford's students, consider these numbers: in his two seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Ducks, Tedford's quarterbacks have thrown 807 passes with only 17 interceptions in passing-oriented offenses that were hardly conservative, producing 99 offensive touchdowns (56 through the air) in the same period and ranking 11th in the nation in scoring offense last season.

Or consider that in 1999, after sending Smith to the NFL as the No. 3 pick in the draft, the Ducks had two quarterbacks in the top six in passing efficiency in the Pac-10 Conference - sophomore Joey Harrington, who finished second in the league (84 completions in 158 attempts, 10 touchdowns, three interceptions) yet hadn't taken a college snap prior to last season, and junior A.J. Feeley, who was sixth in the league (136 completions in 259 attempts, 14 touchdowns, six interceptions) and whose career numbers prior to 1999 consisted of 10 passes, period.

At 38 and preparing for his third season at Oregon, former Fresno State and CFL quarterback Jeff Tedford is respected nationally; a year ago, he was one of 28 Division I assistant coaches nominated for the American Football Monthlyes Association coach of the year award, based on coaching expertise, community service and positive impact on student-athletes. Tedford is recognized not only for the game plans he coordinates and plays he calls during games, but for his grooming of quarterbacks, with meticulous attention to detail in both the mental and physical aspects of the position.

Start with the playbook, which Tedford wants quarterbacks to "learn" rather than memorize - akin to thinking in a foreign language rather than simply memorizing the right sentence for ordering dinner in a restaurant.

"So much of the game is the mental part, being prepared scheme-wise, and understanding the game, and understanding the concepts, so they understand on every play where to throw the football," Tedford says. "It's not memorizing; you find a lot of times that kids will memorize, but they have to understand the whole concept, and the whole field. There's a purpose for everything we do with every position, and they need to understand what that purpose is."

For Tedford, teaching an offensive system to a quarterback has three main components, structured like building blocks. First, Tedford teaches offensive formations, and how each different formation will affect the defense - both in terms of what the quarterback can see immediately from his pre-snap read of the defensive alignment, to what coverages the quarterback must learn are possible from such an alignment after the snap.

Tedford teaches his quarterbacks not to look at his receivers - he should know where they are - but at where the defensive players are aligned, to recognize the weaknesses of the coverages, what the defense can't do as well as what it can do. "I'm a firm believer that we're reading defenders," Tedford says.

Secondly, Tedford moves to teaching blocking protections, from the maximum protection offered in a basic two-wideouts set, to the minimal protection of a four- and five-receivers alignment, and what the "hot" reads are when backs are free-released into passing routes without blocking. A college team might have 12 to 15 different blocking protections; Tedford would probably reduce the number if he were coaching high school, but he would still stress the importance of the quarterback understanding where his blocking protection is and when he must quickly get rid of the ball.

Only thirdly does Tedford teach concepts of pass routes. "If they understand all that stuff, it makes for guys who are pretty good at going to the open guy and not throwing interceptions," Tedford says.

It is a Tedford principle that quarterbacks need to be patient; to take what the defense gives, rather than being greedy. It is a philosophy reflected in the low interception rate. "There's nothing good about throwing interceptions," he says. "We talk all the time about giving ourselves a chance to punt the ball."

There is, of course, much to teach a quarterback beyond those basic subject areas. There's huddle management and snap cadence. And there's defensive terminology to go with offensive terminology, so that Tedford and the quarterback can communicate in terms of what the SAM backer is doing, for example, rather than "that guy."

As he teaches understanding of the playbook, Tedford begins by drawing diagrams with pencil and paper. From that, he'll move on to the checkers, a key to Akili Smith's improved understanding of the Oregon offense prior to his senior year. Across a table from his quarterback, Tedford arranges 11 checkers in a defensive formation, against the quarterback's offense and asks the quarterback to show what's happening - what's the formation, what's the pre-snap read, what's the play call, what are the possibilities out of the formation, what are the protections, what are the routes? "I'll make them say the snap count, the whole thing, and what happened," Tedford says.

As the checkers move, uncertainties are unmasked, and understanding grows. The next step is watching video, testing the quarterback on what formation he sees, what the protection is, how many pass rushers he'll need to see before throwing hot. After the film study, Tedford's students go from the classroom to the football field, starting with simulations without defenders present, sometimes focusing on just half of the field, working toward live action at full speed.

Like a basic series of college courses, however, Tedford's seminars on the mental aspects of quarterbacking must be taken in conjunction with his tutorial on the physical aspects of the position. "I'm very big on fundamentals of stance, footwork and efficiency in our steps, whether it's in the running game or the passing game," Tedford says. "We look at every part of the body, from the feet, to the hips, to the spine, to the shoulders, to the head and arms, to balance, the whole thing, to try to make the throwing motion the most efficient it can be, without a lot of wasted motion."

Much like a golf pro, Tedford examines every detail. From videos, he's created still photographs of his quarterbacks in every phase of throwing. "The bottom line is to be an accurate, consistent passer," he says.

Tedford's principles of passing include: the qb maintaining a proper shoulder profile. Tedford teaches a pass drop in which the quarterback keeps his shoulders open to the defense — rather than allowing the non-throwing shoulder to close — to allow a full range of vision downfield. The quarterback's spine must be erect, the upper body relatively still, without a lot of arm swing. Tedford's quarterbacks work often on pass drops, simply practicing getting into proper position, under control, to throw the ball, and it's a point of emphasis for high school quarterbacks who attend Oregon's summer camp.

Tedford also stresses proper ball position. During the pass drop, he teaches the quarterback to hold the football with both hands, both for security and because that promotes another fundamental that Tedford considers vital - keeping the ball "on the shelf," the imaginary line at the top of the numbers, with elbows down, the ball not dropping below the elbow, the point of the ball facing slightly outward, so that the ball is quickly in the throwing position.

"There are so many small things, before we even throw the ball, that we will work on," he says. What Tedford is working toward is the "5 percent of the time" that picture-book mechanics will be the difference between the ball being delivered downfield toward a possible touchdown, rather than the quarterback being sacked.

Tedford believes some aspects of throwing mechanics can be "overcoached." For example, he believes that the football should be held with some air between the ball and the palm, but doesn't teach a certain kind of grip unless a quarterback simply can't throw a spiral with the grip he finds most comfortable. Harrington, for example, has a grip that Tedford describes as "awkward," but Harrington "spins the ball as well as anyone I've ever seen," and Tedford's not inclined to change his grip.

Similarly, Tedford has worked with Harrington to break him of the habit of lowering the ball below the shelf just before loading it into the throwing position - last summer, Harrington even wore an apparatus that reminded him when his elbow dropped.

But to maintain the golf metaphor for a moment, Tedford concurs with the theory that the time to work on your swing isn't in the middle of a round, and so that wasn't a priority last season, when Harrington, who became the starter at mid-season, led the Ducks to six straight wins, throwing the winning touchdown pass against Arizona State with nine seconds remaining and leading the Ducks to a come-from-behind win over Minnesota in the Sun Bowl.

"When you're in the heat of the season, and competing, that's not a time you want your quarterback worrying about throwing mechanics," Tedford says. "He's got a lot of other things to worry about... A lot of quarterbacks have different throwing mechanics, from John Elway to Dan Marino. It's something to coach, but it's not something to overcoach."

In working with Akili Smith, whom Tedford inherited prior to Smith's senior year, Tedford made several mechanical adjustments, starting with the way Smith aligned himself under center - Originally, Smith started with one leg splayed far back. "Akili changed his mechanics quite a bit, from his stance, to his drop, to having two hands on the football, to his pocket movement," Tedford says. "I was very proud, not so much of what I did, but for Akili to lock on to that and be able to put it into action." Tedford stresses that one of Smith's most admirable qualities is his ability to accept coaching, and readily notes that Smith's incredibly quick, compact throwing motion is also a matter of natural talent, contributing to "the most beautiful, efficient motion you could ever ask for."

In mentoring Dilfer at Fresno State, where Tedford coached six seasons, Tedford designed drills to improve the quarterback's pocket presence. "Dilfer's pocket presence was terrible," Tedford says. "He was young, and when things started coming around him in the pocket, his eyes came down.

"You can tell right away when a quarterback is shook up, or they're not ready for the speed of the game, because when bodies start flying around them, their eyes come immediately from down the field on their reads, to down in front to find an escape lane. It means they're uncomfortable in the pocket, or they don't know what they were looking for in the first place," said Tedford.

"With Trent, we did drills, like a blitz pickup drill, where he had to stay in the pocket, no matter what, and keep his eyes downfield and throw the ball. Having pocket presence is a feel. It's almost like you have eyes in the back of your head. You start to feel how much time you have, and sometimes you can't know that until you throw the ball a few times with a guy right underneath your arm."

When he recruits quarterbacks for Oregon, Tedford seeks a variety of qualities, all demanded by such an important, complex position. Interestingly, arm strength isn't at the top of that list. "Number one would be physical and mental toughness," he says. "Without physical and mental toughness, you might as well forget it. Because you have to be physically tough to stand in there and lead your team and be able to take a shot in the pocket. You have to be mentally tough so that when things are going bad you can pull yourself out of it, and be a leader.

"Intelligence would be No. 2, because you have to be able to comprehend what the concepts are, and be able to run the whole offense. Competitiveness would be No. 3; they have to be a guy you can count on in the two-minute drill, who's not going to fold his tent. A guy who is going to play every down, snap to whistle, as hard as he can, all four quarters, no matter what has happened. No. 4, athletic ability, a guy who can move in the pocket and have some sort of escape dimension and be able to make a play when things aren't exactly as they're drawn on the board.

"The last thing would be the arm strength and the throwing motion. They have to have a natural throwing motion, and be able to throw all the balls in your offense. But while that's one of the things that jumps out at you first, that's not the thing that makes a great quarterback. I've seen guys who could throw a ball through a wall, but couldn't get the offense out of the huddle."

And it's clear that to earn a passing grade in Tedford's school, a quarterback needs more than simply a cannon for an arm. "Having played the position, I don't ask these guys to do something that I know can't be done," Tedford says. "I've been in their shoes. I know what they're seeing. More than anything, I think I'm probably proud of their knowledge of the game, and their understanding of where to go with the football."

In Tedford's class, those guys don't get As. They get Ws.

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