I’ve heard many college coaches wonder aloud if accuracy was a teachable skill for their quarterbacks. Generally speaking, their conclusion was that accuracy was not something they could reasonably improve. If a player was an inaccurate passer, they saw that as a static fact. They either felt that he wasn’t coordinated enough, or wasn’t consistent enough, or some other global skill was missing. In my experience, I vehemently disagree.

In one of my stops as a college coordinator, I had that same conversation with the head coach. We had one quarterback who was very talented, but lacked consistent accuracy. The head coach thought he was going to struggle with accuracy for his entire career, and that it was likely he’d be a backup throughout. I had a working theory that his accuracy was tied to his footwork. Most QB coaches would say the same thing, that good feet make a passer more accurate, but I wanted to make the information more specific and tangible, so I did a study during our Spring ball practices. What I did was apply a grade to every spring practice throw. I would grade whether or not the throw was accurate (regardless of whether the read was correct or the ball was completed) and whether or not the quarterback was in-phase (in-phase meaning his feet, hips and shoulder all aligned down the target line and parallel to each other).

I graded all six of our quarterbacks through the entire Spring. The results were extremely strong - when a quarterback had his feet and body in phase, he was accurate about 85% of the time, and that number was fairly consistent across all six quarterbacks. When the quarterback did not have his feet and body in phase, he was accurate less than 20% of the time, and again, that number was consistent across all six quarterbacks. The only difference between the players was the percentage of the time that they were actually in phase. Our starter, who at the time was already very accurate, was in-phase most of the time, therefore his accuracy was nearly 85%. The other example, our talented quarterback who lacked accuracy, was hardly ever in phase, so his overall accuracy grade was well below 50%.

The conclusion was that being in-phase was directly correlated with accuracy, and if a quarterback could learn to settle his feet and create some structure in how he maneuvered his feet through his progression, he’d develop the foundation needed to be accurate. In a small sample size, this turned out to be true. The starter had one more year left, and had a great year, winning conference player of the year, largely due to his accuracy down the field. For the better part of 18 months, the other quarterback (talented but inaccurate) was taught to get in phase to each part of his progression. The following season, the previous starter had graduated, and we had two quarterbacks competing to be the new starter - the quarterback who had revamped his footwork ended up winning the job one week into the season, and never looked back, serving as the starter for two seasons and setting school records in the process. His footwork corrected, he became a very accurate passer, but even beyond that, his attention to his footwork also helped him structure his mind and system of progressions.

So, when it comes to teaching mechanics and accuracy, make sure you focus on getting the feet and body in phase with the target. And, when it’s time to add footwork and pocket fundamentals, you should ideally work to get in phase there as well. All the off-platform, off-schedule stuff is great and fun and worthy of the highlight reel, but consistent accuracy starts with a consistent platform. Only play off-platform when you have to.

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One of the cliche coaching points bouncing around private quarterback coaching is the idea that the shoulders should be level at the release point. Realistically, there is no real evidence to support this notion. I see some coaches say it makes you more accurate, or is better for a healthy shoulder, or creates better rotational velocity, or all of the above. What I really think is that it’s easy to visualize and simple to understand, so some coaches latch onto it. Now I want to be clear - I am not writing this to bash other quarterback coaches. I love the energy that so many coaches bring to the profession and their care for their quarterbacks. But, that doesn’t change the fact that level shoulders simply aren’t necessary or even correct.

Change in the angular relationship between the shoulders, hips, and ground is normal. In fact, it’s completely necessary. Look at any other throwing sport - baseball pitchers, javelin throwers, etc., in which the throwing arm is higher than the passive arm, and therefore the shoulders aren’t level. This is ok and necessary.

Take it a step further and look at any rotational movement, not just throwing. Look at a hitter in baseball, or a golf swing. The shoulders are not level through the motion or even through the point of the strike. And the reason is that these angular changes actually create speed and leverage.

Now before things get taken out of context, it’s important to two things:

1. It is clearly possible to have too much tilt of the shoulders. Just because I say that level shoulders are a myth doesn’t mean that there isn’t an opposite extreme which is also bad. Excessive tilt to try to falsely create an “over-the-top” motion can be very bad for shoulder health and performance.
   
2. It is possible to throw the ball well with flat shoulders. Many low arm-angle throwers like Mahomes will have pictures frozen at the release, and you will see level shoulders. If you break down a lot of film on those guys, you will also see times when they don’t have level shoulders. Just because there are specific anecdotal examples of someone throwing well with level shoulders doesn’t make it a permanent rule for all. Anecdotal evidence is not a good reason to make large conclusions.
   

So what do I find to be correct? In simplest form, the throwing shoulder will end up slightly higher than the passive shoulder at the release point. To be more specific, the shoulder plane at release should be equal to the angle of the upper arm, meaning the upper arm is an extension of the shoulders, which is best for shoulder health and putting the least amount of stress possible on the rotator cuff.

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ONE OF THE TENDENCIES I FIND THE NEED TO FIGHT IS THE DESIRE TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT THING. MOST KIDS, INCLUDING QUARTERBACKS, ARE HUNGRY FOR MORE - MORE INFORMATION, NEW DRILLS, EXCITING IDEAS. BUT REALISTICALLY, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET GOOD AT SOMETHING, YOU NEED TO PRACTICE IT UNTIL IT BECOMES REDUNDANT. IF YOU KEEP ADDING IN NEW THOUGHTS AND IDEAS BEFORE THE ORIGINAL DRILL OR CONCEPT IS REDUNDANT, THEN CHANCES ARE THAT THE SKILL WILL GET LOST.

SO, THIS OFF-SEASON, I'VE STARTED PROMOTING REDUNDANCY WITH MY QUARTERBACKS. I TELL THEM EVERY SESSION, EVERY LESSON, THAT IF THE DRILLS FEELS REDUNDANT, LIKE YOU CAN ALREADY DO IT AND UNDERSTAND IT, THEN PERFECT, KEEP GOING. WHEN SOMETHING FEELS REDUNDANT, THAT WHEN YOU ARE STARTING TO GET GOOD AT IT, AND CAN REALLY BEGIN INGRAINING THE MOTOR PROGRAM.

THE QUOTE THAT COMES TO MIND IS "DON'T PRACTICE UNTIL YOU CAN DO IT RIGHT; PRACTICE UNTIL YOU CAN'T DO IT WRONG." THAT'S PROBABLY A MUCH MORE ELOQUENT WAY OF EXPLAINING WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY, RATHER THAN CALLING IT REDUNDANT. BUT, I THINK IT'S ALL AMOUNTING TO THE SAME THING - IN OUR EAGERNESS TO MOVE ONTO WHAT'S NEXT, WE OFTEN FAIL TO PERFECT WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW. EMBRACE THE REPETITION, THE MOTOR LEARNING, THE REDUNDANCY, BECAUSE WHEN THAT TURNS INTO SOMETHING THAT WAS ONCE DIFFICULT BEING NATURAL, YOU'LL GET TO REAP THE REWARDS.

With preparation for 2024 well underway for many quarterbacks, let’s take a look at the “phases” of the off-season.

Phase I - Winter
This is the time to make those essential but difficult adjustments to mechanics and fundamentals. It takes time to get used to a change, and even more time to fully ingrain a change and make it natural. That’s why we want to get this done first, when we have the most time until our actual season and can separate our results (read: spiral) from the process. So, spend the winter working on mechanics and ingraining those changes using highly focused, intentional repetitions.

Phase II - Spring
Now it’s time to introduce a lot more footwork, which means adding a variable to our throwing motion. The first question we have to answer in the Spring is whether or not the mechanics we worked on during the winter are ingrained enough that they stay in place when we throw off of drops, deeper into progressions, and eventually off-schedule and off-platform. Beyond that, we need to start with good rhythm throws, throwing on-schedule through a progression, maneuvering the pocket, escaping the pocket, and making off-schedule throws, all of which help us bridge the gap between footwork and reads.

Phase III - Summer
With training camp around the corner, it’s time to try to add in all the variables possible to create game-like simulations. Practice your concepts, applying the footwork and mechanics you’ve developed, and simulate a rush and defensive keys, if possible. By the time you get to training camp, you want to feel like you’re seeing every play, and all the potential outcomes, for the second or third time, not the first.

Now realistically, none of these phases are as cut and dry as this. In the winter, even though the focus is on mechanics, you should still be getting a bit of footwork in. And, in the spring, when we flip over to footwork and progressions, you should still be reinforcing mechanics. Lastly, you should be studying film all off-season. That means learning coverages, breaking down your team’s opponents for next season (at least 5-6 times each), and reviewing your own game tape critically.

Just like anything else in life, you should create a plan for success. Use your off-season to level up your game, so next season will be your best yet. Ambition without action is just a daydream - no daydreams this off-season, just intentional improvement!

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I feel so lucky to do what I do everyday. I get to work with motivated, hard working young people, specifically the quarterbacks, and help them achieve their goals on the field and in life. I am one of the lucky few who gets to truly enjoy his or her career every single day.

Over the last two years or so there has been one consistent battle that I’ve had to fight: de-programming kids from the “instagram era” of quarterback coaching. Obviously we have an instagram account, and we try to share our information, promote our guys, create some fun content, etc. But realistically, social media and instagram have been able to destroy so many quarterbacks’ mechanics and fundamentals, as well as their perspectives on the game. Here’s what I mean:

1 - Anyone is allowed to make an instagram account, meaning anyone can call themselves “QB Master Coach” or whatever they come up with, regardless of their background or credibility. In fact, the credibility of social media accounts is based on how good their posts look, not the content of what they are saying or doing. With that in mind, information has become a wild-wild west of some good tidbits, but mostly bad coaching.

2 - Highlights look cool! I like seeing highlights too. But, so many kids (and young men) are basing their fundamentals on highlight reels instead of sustainable game tape. If all you watch is Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen making unbelievable highlight reel, off-platform, sidearm throws, then you might reason that those motions are the most important to learn. But realistically, that is a horrible starting point for mechanics. Equally important, that’s also a bad way to approach playing the game. Making consistent, on-schedule throws doesn’t seem “cool” anymore, so very few kids try to do it, and they undervalue the essentials, while overvaluing the crazy play.

3 - Quarterback coaching, like any other field, goes through fads, periods where something is the “modern” way of coaching, only to see that technique fall by the wayside as years go by after seeing the side effects. Decades ago, quarterbacks were taught to hold the ball by their ear and point to the target. Twenty years ago, they were teaching guys to drive their lead elbow down. Perhaps fifteen years ago, it was common to hold the football “on the shelf.” All of these things we now look at with humoristic disdain, knowing they were fads better left behind as they didn’t really represent the best method of playing the position. That same thing is happening now, with the no-stride, leave the back-foot-back, drop the arm angle style of throwing. However, the mouthpiece for that current fad is so amplified because of social media. I have had countless quarterbacks start with me over the last 3 years that have come in with elbow pain, and the common thread amongst them is a single, well-followed instagram page that teaches a no-stride, side-arm motion.

So, when I look at the current state of quarterback coaching, I love the energy and publicity that quarterback coaching is able to generate, but I wish the science and common sense would come with it.

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It makes sense that we look to copy the best. It is logical that kids want to look like their favorite players on TV. It stands to reason that the athletes who play at the highest levels make the best models. But, is this really the case?

The answer, from what I can tell, is yes and no. Yes, NFL quarterbacks are the best models, as they are the best players in the game. But no, simply copying an NFL quarterback is not the best method of improvement. There are a few issues with copying guys at the top of the game:

1. No player is perfect, and if you copy even a great player, you could end up copying their faults, not just their best qualities. We’ve discussed this in other posts, but copying a player or even a few players is an example of “anecdotal evidence,” which is not really evidence at all. It’s an incredibly small sample size, and doesn’t prove or disprove a method of playing the position.
   
2. Youth quarterbacks are simply not capable of many of the things an NFL player can do. They have completely different levels of strength and coordination, meaning that their approach to a skill set can be completely different than a youth quarterback, or even a high school quarterback. The same as we have age appropriate exercises, age appropriate educational curriculums, etc, we should have age appropriate quarterback coaching.
   
3. Copying an end product leaves out the basics that so many NFL quarterbacks had to learn. Imagine if you were a basketball player learning to shoot jump shots, and you copied Steph Curry, meaning you went behind the back, did a step back, and shot off a leaning fade away. Obviously, this is not the right starting point. The same is true in football: just copying Pat Mahomes or Josh Allen skips the basics and reinforces more advanced skills that most kids shouldn’t be worried about yet.
   
4. Many NFL quarterbacks, or any professional athlete, are successful in spite of their fundamentals and/or mechanics, not because of them. If we’re really honest, we know that many NFL guys are simply more gifted than those around them, and for their entire athletic careers have been able to get away with errors that others simply couldn’t afford.
   

WIth those things stated, what I’ve seen from young quarterbacks who are being told to copy what they see on TV are guys who lack an understanding of timing and spacing, and guys who try to make too many highlight reel throws. Unfortunately, when you base your theory of the position on highlight reels, rather than fundamentals, that’s the end result.

One of the more frustrating things about this thought process is when we consider coaches who use the pros as their model or better yet, scapegoats, for teaching things that are ill advised shortcuts to the end product, without teaching the basics, or worse yet, simply wrong. I see it all the time on instagram - coaches preaching something ridiculous about mechanics, using a pro model, generally on an exceedingly small sample size and out of context. 

In the end, the conclusion is fairly simple - the guys on TV are great, but young quarterbacks would be best served working on fundamentals first, and using the NFL models only when context and skills align with what needs to be learned.

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Creating a consistent, accurate, and powerful throwing motion in a quarterback is not an easy task. In fact, it's one of the most difficult things to do in sports. With an unlimited number of moving pieces and  different approaches, it is as dynamic and elusive a skill set as we can find. That said, we turn on the TV every day to see guys play the position  who have seemingly mastered their mechanics, from the NFL on Sundays, to College on Saturdays, even to big combines and showcases of the best high school players. So the question is then, how do these players create a consistent, accurate, and powerful throwing motion?

​One might say that they practice in highly structured settings,  working tirelessly to achieve specific positions in their motions and nailing down all the little details. Others might argue that naturally gifted players take in a large number of free flowing repetitions, working on their motion more like an art than a science, gradually crafting their fluid motion into something they can use in real time, game settings. Let's examine examples of each.

When it comes to structure, few schools of development are more structured than the "Suzuki" method of teaching violin. Students are taught using meticulous cues, and are even prevented from playing an actual note before their bow movements are perfected, practicing instead on  tissue boxes and shoeboxes. I can remember my own sister, who was taught violin by a Suzuki instructor,  sliding her bow up and down a tissue box, with a slot cut in it for the bow and covered in tape to keep it together. The same approach of disciplined attention to detail is maintained throughout the learning process, and the results have been phenomenal, creating some of the world's greatest players. If Suzuki is to be trusted, then one would say that disciplined structure creates the best skill sets.

On the other hand, Brazilian soccer presents a different, more free flowing model. Their young players all partake in Futsal, a small area, condensed version of soccer, with perhaps five to six players per side. A much faster paced game, with an increased number of ball touches per player, Futsal has been identified as one of the processes through which Brazil has been a dominant world power in soccer for decades. Their players are masters of fluidity, footwork, and movement, knifing through opponents like water cuts through a creek, filling voids and constantly pressuring defenses into mistakes. If we take Futsal  as our lead, then we'd say that free flowing, fluid reps with less structure and more creativity is the best way to create a usable skill set.

Ultimately, both Suzuki and Futsal have created the world's best in their respective fields, with vastly different approaches. So which one applies to quarterback play? To answer with one or the other would be incorrect. Ultimately, both Suzuki and Futsal do the same thing: they facilitate purposeful practice repetitions. Any skill set is simply a product of meaningful practice, whatever medium that may come through. A coach's job is to create an environment where the quarterback can take highly focused, intentional practice repetitions developing the skill (correctly). The thing to remember is that practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent.  We must facilitate reps that focus on the quarterback doing something consistently correctly, give them appropriate and immediate feedback, and stay focused on improving the process, whether we are in structured or free-flowing settings.

The term "quarterback coach" is a vague, non-standardized term.  Anyone can call themselves a quarterback coach, regardless of how much they know or don't know about the position and the body.  One thing that frustrates me is when someone advertises themselves as a quarterback coach and really only facilitates reps, which isn't really coaching. It happens all the time - a kid goes to a clinic, is put through a series of cone drills and throws a bunch of routes, and leaves. He's told that 's how he improves, how he gets better. All that's really happening, though, is reps. This isn't good coaching.

Good, quality repetitions are extremely important  for any skill to be perfected. In order for reps to be quality reps, though, a player must be actively working on something,  and that something must be the right thing. We'll call this purposeful practice. Let's take a kid who has an error when he throws off a five step drop. He goes to a clinic, the coach says that they are going to work on five step drops. The kid, knowing he struggles in that phase of his game, is pleased to know he's going to get reps at something he struggles with. The coach sets up the receivers and quarterbacks, gives them various routes to throw off the five step drop, and notes when the ball was too high, too low, when the routes weren't perfect, etc. An hour later, the clinic is over, and the quarterback has gotten plenty of reps on throwing off of a five step drop. Is he better?

Chances are, probably not. All that happened was that the quarterback practiced doing it wrong. Most coaches don't actually break down and fix the skill, they don't take the time (or have the knowledge) to break down the drop into its component pieces, refine the small things that add up to performance, and fix them. So many coaches just throw reps at players instead of actually coaching them. If the kid had too big of a back step, making it hard to transition into the throw, he still has that issue, all he did was do it wrong. This wasn't purposeful practice, it was just practice. And, practice doesn't make perfect, practice make permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Real coaching occurs when instead of just practicing a skill, we identify specific parts of the skill,  consciously work on them to create motor program understanding, then look to apply those changes in various settings. At that point, we can create positive, quality repetitions that serve a specific purpose, we can engage in purposeful practice. And, changes are specific to each quarterback. Some need to work on how the feet transition from dropping to create forward movement; others need to fix how their hips initiate the throwing motion; others have issues with arm positions. No two quarterbacks are exactly the same, so there has to be some level of individualization when it comes to creating change and perfecting fundamentals.

This is what all quarterback coaches should be doing. In my experience, most don't. They throw reps at as many kids as possible, and rely on pre-existing talent and flash instead of substance. Sometimes, working on those small changes can be hard, mundane, and require tedious hours. Most quarterback coaches aren't willing to go through that, either because they don't know how to do it or because they are scared they are going to lose the client's interest. The truly good quarterback coaches will force their quarterbacks to go through those tedious hours because they know it's in the best interest of the quarterback's future.

Don't settle for reps, find someone that facilitates purposeful practice.

One of the greatest ironies in the modern age of high school's throwing the ball 50 times a game is that quarterbacks are less prepared for the college game than ever before.  In speaking with a college coach yesterday, he mentioned to me that many of his quarterbacks take at least 2-3 years before they are even fundamentally ready to play. Unfortunately, most are pressed into action before that.

Part of the reason for the lack of preparedness are off-season 7 on 7s. While these can be a great tool for quarterbacks to learn progressions, develop timing, work on fundamentals, etc, if they aren't used properly they tend to lead to lazy quarterback play and bad habits.  If you go to these 7 on 7s with the intention of getting better, looking at the process, and working on progressions and timing, you'll most likely get better. However, a lot of these teams play at 7 on 7s with the mindset of winning over progressing, and since there's no pass rush the QBs tend to just stand in the pocket and wait for long developing routes and force the defense to cover for a full 4 seconds (or whatever the sack count is, if there is one). When a team let's their passing game go that direction, we lose the art of timing and throwing in rhythm.

Throwing in rhythm, meaning throwing to our first read right when we hit the back step of our drop,  is a crucial skill for a quarterback to have and an important part of the drop back passing game. When we throw in rhythm, we normally throw before the receiver makes his break, making it difficult to defend when done right, and we put less pressure on the offensive line to protect for extended periods. Knowing and setting up the in rhythm read also sets up all the progressions that come after it. However, most commonly, quarterbacks drop back, and either bounce or pat their feet as if standing on hot coals, and try to scan the field. This is the in vogue, but lazy, way of running a drop back passing game, looking at windows in a particular order, but with no sense of timing. And, when we allow ourselves to fall back into this, we really on having better athletes than everyone else, especially up front where the line would need to protect for a much longer time.

So, right now, at the beginning of your off-season, begin working on throwing the ball in rhythm, and make a conscious effort as you work on your footwork to make sure each step counts; we shouldn't be bouncing or running our feet because it looks "legit," we should be matching our footwork to our reads, starting with your in rhythm routes. Don't fall into bad habits at 7 on 7s.

​Coach Drayson