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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Underdogs best
at the run-and-shootA caller wanted to know -- everybody always wants to know -- when is June Jones' run-and-shoot system going to attract one of those blue-chip, can't-miss quarterbacks we're always reading about on all those recruiting Web sites?
The short answer is that it already has. Timmy Chang. But it got me thinking. After all, Jones has answered this question many times before, and he always says that he knows who he wants, no matter what all the "experts" say.
Hmmm. Maybe he's right. Maybe he doesn't really want one of those big-name guys. Maybe that's not the right fit for this system. Maybe despite all the gaudy numbers, this is still an underdog's offense.
Maybe you need a different kind of guy to carry it out:
>> Dan Robinson, Oahu Bowl champion, quarterback for the NCAA's greatest turnaround season: Started for a team that went 0-12. Had a funny throwing motion. Constantly battered down and beaten up. All he did was get back up and keep throwing. He described the feeling of finally grasping the new offense thusly: "Oh my heaven, this is incredible."
>> Jim Kelly, first-round draft pick, Pro Football Hall of Famer: Yes, without question the bluest blue chip to ever take over the run-and-shoot. Still, football legend Joe Paterno didn't think the guy could play quarterback, told Kelly to try linebacker. Had to go to a relatively unknown football school (he helped put Miami on the map). And even he wasn't a good run-and-shoot quarterback -- at least not at first. "We almost benched Jim Kelly," Jones has said. Instead, he was the USFL's MVP.
>> June Jones, the guru, the master, the man: But before Jones coached the run-and-shoot, Jones lived it, perhaps the first to prove that this thing could really work. He directed an offensive explosion at Portland State. But there were three colleges and two transfers before he was finally able to start ... at a Division II school.
>> Warren Moon, the guy who did it in the NFL: The man most famous for running the run-and-shoot first had to play in Canada -- for a team called the Edmonton Eskimos -- because nobody in the NFL thought he could play. Undrafted, and in those days it went for 12 rounds. It took five Grey Cups (the ultimate oxymoron -- a Canadian Super Bowl), but Moon was finally deemed good enough for the big leagues. He stayed for 17 years, and threw for more yards than any player ever had.
>> Andre Ware, the run-and-shoot's Heisman Trophy winner, one of the great college players of all-time: Completed a mere 83 passes in his career before washing out of the NFL. Then he washed out of Canada. (And by the way, the guy who did make the run-and-shoot go in Detroit? A journeyman strike replacement player.)
>> David Klingler, followed Ware at Houston (and this time they knew it was coming), threw for 716 yards in one game, 54 touchdowns in a season: Sixth player taken in the draft. But in the NFL, away from the r-and-s, was never the same. Sacked 10 times in his pro debut. Then it got worse.
>> Nick Rolovich, UH hero, author of one of the run-and-shoot's (and Hawaii's) all-time best games, a 72-45 punt of BYU: A junior college quarterback. He was yanked, benched, booed. Had his heart broken and career left for dead. An unlikely second chance due to injury, and even then, with win after win, his coach still insisted week after week that Rolo wasn't the best man for the job. And then he was, like nothing we had ever seen.
>> Neil Lomax, NFL All-Pro: A Division II quarterback. He walked on at Portland State. "I had nowhere else to go," he said on his Web site. Four players ahead of him had to get hurt before he would play. Amazingly, four did. And Lomax went on to break Jones' records on his way to the College Football Hall of Fame.
>> Timmy Chang, high school All-American, by one account the national prep player of the year: Seems almost too good. Uncanny ability to quickly break down a defense, make a decision and deliver the ball. Thus far, to mixed results at UH.
But wait. Injury after injury. Controversy. Frustration. He's had as much hard luck as any of them. He has doubters. He's an underdog now.
Look out, world. He fits the profile at last.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com