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By: LONNY DEMAREE
In the resent years when the Wildcats have gone to a bowl game, they have always had a serviceable (game manager) to good quarterback along with good offensive skill position personnel. Given the fact that from 1993 to 2012 the Cats never had an offensive lineman drafted good quarterbacking covers a multitude of weaknesses. The bowl years of 1998-99 were quarterbacked by Tim Couch – 2006-07 by Andre Woodson – 2008, 09, 10 by Dusty Bonner, Michael Hartline and Morgan Newton.
Since those years the quarterback position has been devoid of any quarterback with the acumen necessary to lead on the football field and get back to a bowl. To that end the pressure is on quarterback coach Darin Hinshaw to develop one of the existing prospects to be the one that can lead the Wildcats. Those prospects are Drew Barker, Gunner Hoak, and Stephen Johnson ll. The
In discussing the prospects of the quarterback in Johnson ll the new offensive brain-trust was instrumental in recruiting Hinshaw described what prompted that recruitment. “I don’t just look at game film and fortunate there was some existing practice film to view,” Hinshaw said of Johnson. “I’ve got to have something from behind and side and frontal views to get the throwing motion. I was lucky the get from his junior college coach because he works him out all the time and I was able to get a very good look at his throwing motion.” He said what he is looking for in a quarterback is the motion to throw the ball accurately. “I’m very picky with that. If you don’t have that motion – everything else I can fix your feet, I can make you somewhat faster, I can get your hips, I can get your shoulders going in the right direction, I can train then to study film and learn the offense, but some kids have thrown with the same motion for 18, 19, or twenty years and you can’t change that. You just don’t have the time. It’s certain things that I look for and they don’t have them then I’m going to move on the next guy. The next thing is your feet. If you have slow footwork you can’t play in the SEC. When they are coming to get you, you had better be able to move around in the pocket. I’ve been studying this for years.” Hinshaw named a lot of the great quarterbacks that have the throwing motion but the said he has and he does things off of is Drew Brees. He said you look at the NFL teams that have success have good quarterbacks and it’s gotten that way in college. If you don’t you can hang in there but at the end of the day you won’t win. “I want to develop two and three if I can,” the coach said. “I teach them that they are one play away from going into the game.
He said that Gunner Hoak has good feet and is surprisingly fast which doesn’t mean he is going to be a runner. “Gunner Hoak should still be in high school so they (kids) are initially going to be shy or reserved,” Hinshaw said explaining his present soft spoken demeanor. “It’s called comfort zone. When you are in high school and you are the man and more assertive.” The coach said he has sat down with Barker and discussed his on the field as well as the off the field activities.
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