Ted Tollner

Left out: Southpaw quarterbacks nearly extinct

This is my December feature. Provo, Utah. Fall of 1980. BYU offensive coordinator Doug Scovil calls 18-year-old Steve Young into his office and breaks the bad news. “You’re not going to play quarterback here,” Scovil explains to the future Hall of Fame quarterback. “I don’t coach lefties. It ain’t happening.” Scovil suggests Young play safety instead. Scovil believes Eric Krzmarzick, a right-hander, is BYU’s quarterback of the future. Scovil becomes…

December 25, 2014
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Ted Tollner Q&A

I interviewed former USC and San Diego State head coach Ted Tollner last week. Here is the transcript. Q: Why do smaller schools like Fresno State and San Jose State have a pedigree for producing NFL quarterbacks, and bigger schools like Alabama and USC don’t? TOLLNER: You can recruit the most physical players in the country at some big schools. Other schools, you’re not going to get all of those…

April 28, 2014
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NFL draft prospects at QB shine spotlight on smaller schools

This is my feature on the allure of quarterbacks who went to non-major-conference colleges. For the past five years, every quarterback who was chosen in the first round of the NFL draft went to a major-conference college. Meaning a college in the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC or ACC. Forget that trend. Draft gurus expect three quarterbacks who went to non-major-conference colleges to get drafted in Round 1 this…

April 25, 2014
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