Quarterback U. The oft-used term conjures up images of a long lineage of deft passers, all of whom proudly wore the same school colors, sang the same school songs and accepted the torch when their time arrived. Over the years, they?ve collectively formed a mini-farm system for the National Football League, a quarterback factory, if you will.
Give some programs two reliable signal-callers in a five-year period and they?re ready to stake claim to the mythical moniker. On the contrary, Quarterback U. is not about brief spurts of excellence. It?s about sustained consistency to go along with those brief spurts of excellence. Earn the name and your school has participated in a marathon, not a sprint. Quality and quantity are prerequisites, and it can certainly help if your big men on campus went on to command big paychecks in the pros.
For this highly subjective exercise, only college players from the past 35 years have been considered. Keep that in mind while you?re feverishly searching for Johnny Unitas or John Brodie. The timeframe could have easily been, oh, 30 or 40 years, but either way, the objective was to draw a distinct line of demarcation between the modern era of college football and a time when the game, the players and the schools were dramatically different than they are today. Something about apples and oranges comes to mind. Go deep enough into the annals and you might be compelled to champion schools, which are no longer relevant to this conversation. Raise your hand if you?re ready to debate the virtues of quarterbacks such as Sid Luckman, Stan Heath or Adrian Burk, former first half of the century first round draft choices from Columbia, Nevada and Baylor, respectively.
While the emphasis here is on collegiate results, pro performance has clearly been factored into the inexact equation. As it should be. Joe Montana?s career didn?t end in South Bend. For that matter, neither did Rick Mirer?s. Both must be judged accordingly.
Like most opinion-based responses, there is no right answer to the question of who truly deserves to be dubbed Quarterback U. Just plenty of different answers, which makes the subject so deliciously appealing.
1. Miami
The Flag-Bearer ? Jim Kelly
The Ensemble ? Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta, Craig Erickson, Ken Dorsey and Steve Walsh
Throughout the past quarter-century, ?Cane coaches have accumulated plenty of frequent-flyer miles assembling college football?s premier quarterback alumni. Kelly from Pennsylvania. Kosar from Ohio. Testaverde from New York. Dorsey, Torretta and current freshman hopeful Kyle Wright from California. Walsh from Minnesota. And this year?s starter, Brock Berlin, from Louisiana.
It all began with Kelly, one of the sport?s all-time greatest passers, who helped ignite the school?s football resurgence in the early 1980s. Testaverde and Torretta copped the program?s only two Heisman Trophies, while Dorsey completely rewrote the team?s record book during his four-year stint as the starter. Four Hurricanes have been named All-American since 1986 and all but two from the above list have been fitted for national championship rings.
Like none other, the quarterback position has defined Miami?s excellence since the program awoke from its deep slumber of the 1970s.
2. BYU
The Flag-Bearer ? Steve Young
The Ensemble ? Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer, Marc Wilson, Robbie Bosco, Gifford Nielsen, Steve Sarkisian, Gary Sheide, John Walsh, Brandon Doman and Kevin Feterik
No university was more synonymous with prolific passing attacks in the 1970s and 1980s than BYU. Under the innovative eyes of LaVell Edwards and Norm Chow, the Cougars rose to national prominence and cranked out All-American quarterbacks like a Pez dispenser. Nielsen, Wilson, Young, McMahon, Bosco and Detmer all ascended to the height of the sport, bagging a heap of records along the way. Cougar quarterbacks finished in the top 10 of the Heisman vote an unthinkable 11 times between 1974 and 1991.
While the drop-off at the position has been steep since Detmer became the NCAA?s all-time leading passer in 1991, BYU was still home to Walsh, Sarkisian, Feterik and Doman, each of whom threw for more than 3,500 yards at least once over the past decade.
3. Washington
The Flag-Bearer ? Warren Moon
The Ensemble ? Mark Brunell, Chris Chandler, Marques Tuiasosopo, Sonny Sixkiller, Brock Huard, Cody Pickett, Steve Pelluer, Hugh Millen, Billy Joe Hobert, Cary Conklin and Damon Huard
Amid little fanfare, Seattle has been an NFL pipeline for quarterbacks the past three decades. Washington holds the distinction of having six alums on NFL rosters during the 1999 season.
Moon was a star wherever he laced up his cleats. The 1977 Pac-10 Player of the Year is the NFL?s No. 3 all-time passer and a member of the CFL Hall of Fame. Brunell and Chandler have had long and very productive pro careers, while Tuiasososopo is the best all-around quarterback the school has ever had. He?s the only man in NCAA history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 200 more in the same game. Hobert never lost a college game he played in and helped lead the school to its only national championship in 1991. Sixkiller had more than just the coolest best name in college football history. En route to becoming a local folk hero, he led the country in passing in 1972.
4. Florida State
The Flag-Bearer ? Charlie Ward
The Ensemble ? Chris Weinke, Brad Johnson, Danny Kanell, Casey Weldon, Thad Busby, Bill Cappleman, Chris Rix, Gary Huff, Peter Tom Willis and Danny McManus
When the topic is Florida State quarterbacks, it has to begin with Ward, one of the most decorated players in school history and the 1993 Heisman winner. The veteran NBA point also led the program to its first national championship. Seven years later, Weinke duplicated Ward?s feats, when he, too, won the Heisman and a national crown.
Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, the program had a time-tested system for their quarterbacks. Let them sit and absorb for two years, and then turn them loose in an offense loaded with talent at the skill positions. Rarely did it sputter. However, Johnson aside, former ?Noles have been washouts once they?ve left that system. Not one has been a first round selection, and, amazingly, Huff and Cappleman, pre-Bowden products, are the highest drafted quarterbacks to play in Tallahassee.
5. USC
The Flag-Bearer ? Carson Palmer
The Ensemble ? Rodney Peete, Rob Johnson, Pat Haden, Vince Evans, Paul McDonald, Matt Leinart, Todd Marinovich, Brad Otton and Sean Salisbury
If it?s June of 2002, USC probably trades places with Purdue. That?s an indication of how terrific Palmer and Leinart were the past two seasons, winning a Heisman and a national championship, respectively, while tossing a combined 71 touchdowns to just 19 interceptions. Not coincidentally, the same Norm Chow, who tutored all those BYU quarterbacks for years, joined Pete Carroll?s staff in 2001.
In a program built on Student Body Left and Student Body Right for so many years, the quarterback wasn?t always the focal point of the Trojan offense. Still, people are quick to forget that McDonald and Peete were All-Americans and Johnson was near flawless his final two years in Los Angeles. Evans, Peete, Johnson, McDonald and Haden all played at least five seasons in the NFL.
6. Florida
The Flag-Bearer ? Danny Wuerffel
The Ensemble ? Rex Grossman, Shane Matthews, John Reaves, Doug Johnson, Kerwin Bell, Wayne Peace, Chris Leak and Jesse Palmer
For all the success Gator quarterbacks enjoyed as amateurs, they?ve been collectively awful in the NFL, feeding the notion they?re products of a pass-happy system. Grossman and Leak will have a chance to change that trend over the next five to ten years.
That said, it?d be foolish to diminish the impact of Florida quarterbacks on the college game, particularly after Steve Spurrier brought the Fun ?n Gun to Gainesville in 1990. On most autumn weekends, you could count on plenty of fireworks and a great show whenever the Gators were playing. Wuerffel is the standard by which all of the program?s quarterbacks are judged. The two-time All-American led the country in touchdowns in 1996, the same year he won the Heisman Trophy and guided the school to its only national championship. He, Reaves and Bell completed their careers as the SEC?s all-time leading passer.
Give some programs two reliable signal-callers in a five-year period and they?re ready to stake claim to the mythical moniker. On the contrary, Quarterback U. is not about brief spurts of excellence. It?s about sustained consistency to go along with those brief spurts of excellence. Earn the name and your school has participated in a marathon, not a sprint. Quality and quantity are prerequisites, and it can certainly help if your big men on campus went on to command big paychecks in the pros.
For this highly subjective exercise, only college players from the past 35 years have been considered. Keep that in mind while you?re feverishly searching for Johnny Unitas or John Brodie. The timeframe could have easily been, oh, 30 or 40 years, but either way, the objective was to draw a distinct line of demarcation between the modern era of college football and a time when the game, the players and the schools were dramatically different than they are today. Something about apples and oranges comes to mind. Go deep enough into the annals and you might be compelled to champion schools, which are no longer relevant to this conversation. Raise your hand if you?re ready to debate the virtues of quarterbacks such as Sid Luckman, Stan Heath or Adrian Burk, former first half of the century first round draft choices from Columbia, Nevada and Baylor, respectively.
While the emphasis here is on collegiate results, pro performance has clearly been factored into the inexact equation. As it should be. Joe Montana?s career didn?t end in South Bend. For that matter, neither did Rick Mirer?s. Both must be judged accordingly.
Like most opinion-based responses, there is no right answer to the question of who truly deserves to be dubbed Quarterback U. Just plenty of different answers, which makes the subject so deliciously appealing.
1. Miami
The Flag-Bearer ? Jim Kelly
The Ensemble ? Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta, Craig Erickson, Ken Dorsey and Steve Walsh
Throughout the past quarter-century, ?Cane coaches have accumulated plenty of frequent-flyer miles assembling college football?s premier quarterback alumni. Kelly from Pennsylvania. Kosar from Ohio. Testaverde from New York. Dorsey, Torretta and current freshman hopeful Kyle Wright from California. Walsh from Minnesota. And this year?s starter, Brock Berlin, from Louisiana.
It all began with Kelly, one of the sport?s all-time greatest passers, who helped ignite the school?s football resurgence in the early 1980s. Testaverde and Torretta copped the program?s only two Heisman Trophies, while Dorsey completely rewrote the team?s record book during his four-year stint as the starter. Four Hurricanes have been named All-American since 1986 and all but two from the above list have been fitted for national championship rings.
Like none other, the quarterback position has defined Miami?s excellence since the program awoke from its deep slumber of the 1970s.
2. BYU
The Flag-Bearer ? Steve Young
The Ensemble ? Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer, Marc Wilson, Robbie Bosco, Gifford Nielsen, Steve Sarkisian, Gary Sheide, John Walsh, Brandon Doman and Kevin Feterik
No university was more synonymous with prolific passing attacks in the 1970s and 1980s than BYU. Under the innovative eyes of LaVell Edwards and Norm Chow, the Cougars rose to national prominence and cranked out All-American quarterbacks like a Pez dispenser. Nielsen, Wilson, Young, McMahon, Bosco and Detmer all ascended to the height of the sport, bagging a heap of records along the way. Cougar quarterbacks finished in the top 10 of the Heisman vote an unthinkable 11 times between 1974 and 1991.
While the drop-off at the position has been steep since Detmer became the NCAA?s all-time leading passer in 1991, BYU was still home to Walsh, Sarkisian, Feterik and Doman, each of whom threw for more than 3,500 yards at least once over the past decade.
3. Washington
The Flag-Bearer ? Warren Moon
The Ensemble ? Mark Brunell, Chris Chandler, Marques Tuiasosopo, Sonny Sixkiller, Brock Huard, Cody Pickett, Steve Pelluer, Hugh Millen, Billy Joe Hobert, Cary Conklin and Damon Huard
Amid little fanfare, Seattle has been an NFL pipeline for quarterbacks the past three decades. Washington holds the distinction of having six alums on NFL rosters during the 1999 season.
Moon was a star wherever he laced up his cleats. The 1977 Pac-10 Player of the Year is the NFL?s No. 3 all-time passer and a member of the CFL Hall of Fame. Brunell and Chandler have had long and very productive pro careers, while Tuiasososopo is the best all-around quarterback the school has ever had. He?s the only man in NCAA history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 200 more in the same game. Hobert never lost a college game he played in and helped lead the school to its only national championship in 1991. Sixkiller had more than just the coolest best name in college football history. En route to becoming a local folk hero, he led the country in passing in 1972.
4. Florida State
The Flag-Bearer ? Charlie Ward
The Ensemble ? Chris Weinke, Brad Johnson, Danny Kanell, Casey Weldon, Thad Busby, Bill Cappleman, Chris Rix, Gary Huff, Peter Tom Willis and Danny McManus
When the topic is Florida State quarterbacks, it has to begin with Ward, one of the most decorated players in school history and the 1993 Heisman winner. The veteran NBA point also led the program to its first national championship. Seven years later, Weinke duplicated Ward?s feats, when he, too, won the Heisman and a national crown.
Throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s, the program had a time-tested system for their quarterbacks. Let them sit and absorb for two years, and then turn them loose in an offense loaded with talent at the skill positions. Rarely did it sputter. However, Johnson aside, former ?Noles have been washouts once they?ve left that system. Not one has been a first round selection, and, amazingly, Huff and Cappleman, pre-Bowden products, are the highest drafted quarterbacks to play in Tallahassee.
5. USC
The Flag-Bearer ? Carson Palmer
The Ensemble ? Rodney Peete, Rob Johnson, Pat Haden, Vince Evans, Paul McDonald, Matt Leinart, Todd Marinovich, Brad Otton and Sean Salisbury
If it?s June of 2002, USC probably trades places with Purdue. That?s an indication of how terrific Palmer and Leinart were the past two seasons, winning a Heisman and a national championship, respectively, while tossing a combined 71 touchdowns to just 19 interceptions. Not coincidentally, the same Norm Chow, who tutored all those BYU quarterbacks for years, joined Pete Carroll?s staff in 2001.
In a program built on Student Body Left and Student Body Right for so many years, the quarterback wasn?t always the focal point of the Trojan offense. Still, people are quick to forget that McDonald and Peete were All-Americans and Johnson was near flawless his final two years in Los Angeles. Evans, Peete, Johnson, McDonald and Haden all played at least five seasons in the NFL.
6. Florida
The Flag-Bearer ? Danny Wuerffel
The Ensemble ? Rex Grossman, Shane Matthews, John Reaves, Doug Johnson, Kerwin Bell, Wayne Peace, Chris Leak and Jesse Palmer
For all the success Gator quarterbacks enjoyed as amateurs, they?ve been collectively awful in the NFL, feeding the notion they?re products of a pass-happy system. Grossman and Leak will have a chance to change that trend over the next five to ten years.
That said, it?d be foolish to diminish the impact of Florida quarterbacks on the college game, particularly after Steve Spurrier brought the Fun ?n Gun to Gainesville in 1990. On most autumn weekends, you could count on plenty of fireworks and a great show whenever the Gators were playing. Wuerffel is the standard by which all of the program?s quarterbacks are judged. The two-time All-American led the country in touchdowns in 1996, the same year he won the Heisman Trophy and guided the school to its only national championship. He, Reaves and Bell completed their careers as the SEC?s all-time leading passer.
