Signal Mountain football coach Bill Price loves quarterback Hogan Whitmire’s ability to make decisions on the fly. Price does wish, however, that Whitmire wouldn’t make those decisions on the run.
Anyone watching football on a Saturday or a Sunday generally will see scrambling quarterbacks sliding or scooting out of bounds to avoid having to absorb a hit. Those moves are intended to ensure that franchise quarterbacks don’t get prematurely knocked out of games.
The high school tradition for most quarterbacks, however, is to put their heads down and try to deliver shots to defenders. Price wishes he could weed that out of Whitmire, as most coaches with top-tier quarterbacks aspire to do.
“I think it’s just a natural instinct, as far as helping the team out,” said Price, a former quarterback. “They think about getting the extra yard – it’s instilled in kids early – but it’s not always a positive thing. I would like for him to get down; there’s no need for him to take an excess of hits. He’s better with his arm than with his legs, but he’s just going to fight – he’s a winner.”
That “winner’s mentality” might be the biggest curse of all. That, plus the thrill of hearing teammates cheer their quarterback when he delivers the big hit.
Bradley Central coach Damon Floyd employs a two-quarterback system, with a natural runner, Chandler Bennett, and a passer, Bryce Copeland. Floyd said the decision of taking the hit or avoiding it depends more on the situation, as well as who’s running.
“For us, it’s totally dependent on the game situation,” Floyd said. “If it’s fourth-and 2, we want them to take the hit, but at the same time, if Chandler is quarterbacking, we don’t want him to avoid anything.”
Floyd noted that some of the reasoning behind why quarterbacks aren’t sliding could be for a simple reason.
“We don’t coach it. I would be surprised if anybody did,” he said. “It’s not going to be in their heads – they’re trying to get every yard they can.
“Being a competitor, you’re always out to prove something.”
Said Price: “I don’t know [University of Florida coach] Urban Meyer, but I bet he wished that Tim Tebow would get down sometimes. But if the kid’s a winner, he’s going to be successful wherever he goes.”