Building a Team: Quarterback
As the play is called you hear, “9-8-0. Green on Two”. Those random sets of numbers and words are what make up the plays that are run by the USJ Bruins. It’s the quarterbacks job to know each and every play like the back of his hand. In the Bruins case, Ryan Garner’s hand. “It doesn’t matter what grade your in, if your a quarterback,” Garner said. “You control the offense, you control game tempo and when it comes down to it, you put the points on the board.” It sounds like a lot of responsibility for one player, but it comes along with the position. Especially at USJ, a school known for producing great quarterbacks. “You throw with your feet,” USJ Head Coach Mickey Marley said. “Meaning you have to have feet set and aligned. There’s a lot of guys who can throw it far, but not accurate. To fix that, your feet need to be set.” Not only does the quarterback have to have the skill set that goes with the position, he also has to have the knowledge of what’s going on at all times. In order to do that, you must commit yourself to breaking down film and plays of every team that you play. “Defensive wise, you see most of it every week with the offense we run,” Garner said. “People expect us to pass, which is fine when they back up because we just hit them underneath.” So when your building your perfect team on the gridiron make sure your quarterback has the talent. But also has the right head to go along with it. “As a quarterback, you have a lot of responsibility and as long as you do your work you’ll be fine,” Garner said.
