OSU Coach Jim Tressel impressed with Colt McCoy

[Browns57]

Cleveland Browns' Colt McCoy impressed Ohio State coach Jim Tressel

By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer

April 29, 2010, 8:51PM

 

Ohio State's Jim Tressel saw first-hand how dangerous Colt McCoy can be

when McCoy led Texas to a last-second win over the Buckeyes in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl.

 

"Boom" Herron crashed off tackle at the opposing 15-yard line, with nothing but synthetic grass ahead of him, and the roar from the Ohio State crowd engulfed him as he ran into the end zone. There were 2 minutes, 5 seconds to play, and underdog Ohio State had taken the lead from Texas, 21-17, in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl.

 

Underneath the elation was unease. The Buckeyes, who had been trailing, 17-15, might have scored too soon. A field goal, taken after milking the clock, would have won it, too.

 

No coach in his right mind, of course, would have told Herron not to score. You always take the bird in the hand. But Jim Tressel was unhappy at the thought of turning the game back over to Colt McCoy, Quarterback of the Future for the Browns.

 

 

Ohio State's Jim Tressel saw first-hand how dangerous Colt McCoy can be when McCoy led Texas to a last-second win over the Buckeyes in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl."Throughout the drive we talked about burning as much clock as possible. That is why we ran the same basic off tackle play two times in a row. I'm not sure we expected to break one for a TD. When we scored with that much time on the clock it did concern me. However, I had confidence in our defense as well," said Tressel.

 

McCoy -- who had no running game, who "had been hit like he had never been hit before," according to Tressel -- took the Longhorns 78 yards in 11 plays and won the game with 16 seconds to play.

 

Tressel felt he had seen a ghost.

 

The Colt McCoy of that game was far more mature than the redshirt freshman whose team had lost to the Buckeyes in Austin, Texas, in 2006. He reminded Tressel, an old Baldwin-Wallace quarterback, of Drew Brees before he became America's Quarterback and the saint of New Orleans. Preparing for Purdue's "basketball on grass" offense in 2001, Tressel, then a first-year head coach at OSU, watched film of Brees, who had graduated in 2000, passing the Buckeyes dizzy in a 31-27 comeback victory.

 

McCoy, a Browns third-round draft pick, is about the same size as Brees. Has the same obvious leadership qualities. Led the same rally against the Buckeyes without anything to rely on except his arm.

 

"Both Drew and Colt are first-class people, but it took time for Drew to become the player he is today," said Tressel. "I think, over time, Colt will play that position in the NFL. He certainly has one of the very, very best tutors in Mike Holmgren."

 

At Ohio State, Tressel monitored the growth of Glenville's Troy Smith, as Smith went from a running quarterback to a Heisman Trophy-winning, pocket-passing, Michigan-killing monster. "The biggest thing with Troy was making him realize he had to see the big picture," said Tressel.

 

He was referring not only to playbook options, but to learning to conduct himself like a leader off the field ,too. The Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, among others, has not learned that yet. "I'm pretty sure Colt already knows that," Tressel said.

 

He discounts criticism that quarterbacks from the spread offense are unsuited for the NFL game. "Almost all of the players in college now have run some spread in high school. It's becoming more of a presence in the NFL, too," said Tressel. "Peyton Manning is in the shotgun a lot. Tom Brady goes empty [with no one else in the backfield] and takes the Patriots right down the field. I don't think there's the same emphasis on the prototypical NFL quarterback."

 

Asked the top quality a quarterback must have, Tressel said, bluntly, "Toughness."

 

He thinks McCoy might have hung on to the ball, taking the big hits, too much in the most controversial moment of his college career. In the Big 12 championship game, sacked repeatedly by Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh, McCoy allowed all but one second to run off the clock before throwing the ball away. On the game's last play, Texas won on a field goal, 13-12.

 

"He looked dazed at the end. That was one of those knockdown, drag-out, heavyweight title fight games," said Tressel. "Colt will probably have some of those at Browns Stadium with the Ravens and the Steelers."

 

Tressel's only doubts about McCoy involve timing.

 

"It's just so important," said Tressel. "I thought Marty Schottenheimer did a marvelous job when Bernie Kosar was a rookie, having him turn and hand off, turn and hand off, until he got used to the speed of the game and the athleticism of the players. Same with Mark Sanchez with the Jets. Run the ball, run the ball, and throw on safe passing downs.

 

"In high school," he continued, "quarterbacks complete passes to receivers who are wide open. In college, they complete them to receivers who are open. In the pros, they complete them to receivers who are covered. The throw has to be to a spot."

 

With the Browns, Tim Couch was battered because the offensive line was not ready. Derek Anderson was battered. Brady Quinn was battered.

 

A lifelong Browns fan, Tressel said: "You don't want to get Colt beat up right away. Let him rest and learn. That way, he doesn't face that weekly grind of being the guy who has to come through. When he's ready, maybe the Browns will be ready too, and that wonderment of good timing will be with Cleveland, for once."

[admin]

Cleveland Browns draft pick Colt McCoy will do fine in NFL, college coach says

By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer

April 30, 2010, 12:25AM

 

View full sizeChris Carlson / Associated Press

Texas coach Mack Brown says Colt McCoy's confidence will help him succeed as the quarterback of the Browns.

 

BEREA, Ohio — Texas football coach Mack Brown has been watching quarterback Colt McCoy prove folks wrong since McCoy showed up on his doorstep as a skinny kid from West Texas in 2005 -- and he's convinced it will be more of the same with McCoy in Cleveland.

 

"Colt came to our camps every year when he was young and had his heart set on Texas," recalled Brown on the eve of Browns rookie minicamp, which begins today.

 

"There was another quarterback [Ryan Perrilloux] that had verbally committed to us -- a national player that everybody said was the greatest in the country. Colt said, 'I don't care who's there, coach. I'm going to play for you and I'll be great, so just take me.' "

 

Perrilloux ended up signing with Louisiana State University and McCoy redshirted that season -- the year Texas quarterback Vince Young put on one of the best performances in college history to beat USC in the BCS title game. Soon after, Young announced he was leaving college early for the NFL, and McCoy told his coaches not to worry, that he'd be the best quarterback they ever had.

 

"He looked like he was 12 years old when he told us that," said Brown. "He wasn't even shaving."

 

First, McCoy had to beat out another highly touted rookie quarterback -- Jevan Snead, who then transferred to Mississippi. Then he had to overcome the neverending comparisons to Young, who went on to become NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a first-year Pro Bowler with the Tennessee Titans.

 

"Everybody said, 'I don't know if Colt's going to be as good as Vince,' " said Brown. "And Colt would say, 'I'm not going to be Vince. I'll make my own name.' He never lived in Vince's shadow."

 

Instead, McCoy went out and won more games in four years -- 45 -- than any quarterback in college history. He also set the NCAA record for completion percentage in 2008 (76.7) and 47 Texas records. In 2009, he led the Longhorns back to the national title game -- but got knocked out of the contest with a neck stinger on the fifth play in a loss to Alabama.

 

"His whole life, people have been questioning what he could do and he just steps up and answers the bell," said Brown.

 

On draft day, while McCoy was falling to the Browns in the third round, No. 85 overall, Brown -- who was in New York serving as an analyst for ESPN -- heard all the criticisms about McCoy's height (6-1 1/2) and arm strength.

 

"I don't think his height is an issue," said Brown. "He's not the prototype, but you look at Drew Brees and Joe Montana. Brees will go down as one of the greatest. I didn't think he looked short in the Super Bowl. I thought he looked really good when he completed just about every pass.

 

"I think the guys that have instincts, they have the ability to find those holes when the defensive line spreads and Colt is one of those guys. He had very few passes batted down in college."

 

As for his arm strength, Brown swears it won't be a problem.

 

"I heard some of the analysts talking about the weather in Cleveland, that it might be tough for a guy that didn't have the great arm, but I really think his arm is as strong as anybody we've had, including Young," said Brown. "We play in a lot of windy weather in West Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma and I never felt like he didn't have the arm strength. He's got a lot of snap and he's 214 pounds, not the skinny little guy people might perceive."

 

He said McCoy's skills will translate well to the pro game even though he played in a shotgun spread offense.

 

"Our offense is very much like what Cleveland will be running," Brown said. "We run a pro-style offense. We stick a little option in, but by and large, he's seen all the reads, and gets the ball out of his hands."

 

He said McCoy's mobility will also serve him well in the pros.

 

"You don't have to be perfect with your protection all the time because he can beat you with his feet," said Brown.

 

Some of the best things about McCoy, though, are the ones you can't measure, he said.

 

"Browns fans will love his passion," he said. "He has 12 fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins and many were dramatic. He'll want to play right away, but he'll be patient and listen. He'll be for Cleveland, not for himself. He'll pull hard for the other two quarterbacks, and every minute of every day he'll be waiting for his chance."

 

Brown said he's never met a fiercer competitor than McCoy.

 

"Colt has been successful at everything he's ever done," said Brown. "He was a Big 12 Academic All American and a unanimous captain for us. He's in church three times a week and he doesn't cuss or drink alcohol. He's done as much as anybody to change lives in this state with the platform he had. He'll be tremendous in the community."

 

And on the football field?

 

"I have no doubt he'll be a really good quarterback for the Browns," he said. "He could play this year, but I'm glad he won't. The Browns hit a home run."

 

 

 

[Gips]

I really like McCoy and hope he picks up the offense from the bench this year and then eventually gets a chance to run it...i can already sense a new qb controversy developing as mangini is not a qb groomer and prefers someone elses leftovers over the pain of developing an in house product and building around them..

 

As the new york jets GM taunting-bum has said openly on numerous occasions he felt mangini held back their offense and i think with ryan running the jets they look quite aggressive and awesome in every aspect including the draft meanwhile the browns show what appears to be an underachieving and rather dull approach that eric mangini's brings to running and developing an nfl offense..

 

I am fairly skeptical of mangini's ability to foster or even run an effective offense i hope he can change my overall thinking on his approach he has cleaned house and its all on his shoulders now and with me his new honeymoon period is subject to change fast either way im already betting seneca wallace technically beats jake the interception machine delhomme out for the starting job but somehow jake ends up taking the field because mangini is addicted to big gunslinging poor defense reading bad decision making quarterbacks....

[ATENEARS]

I really like McCoy and hope he picks up the offense from the bench this year and then eventually gets a chance to run it...i can already sense a new qb controversy developing as mangini is not a qb groomer and prefers someone elses leftovers over the pain of developing an in house product and building around them..

 

As the new york jets GM taunting-bum has said openly on numerous occasions he felt mangini held back their offense and i think with ryan running the jets they look quite aggressive and awesome in every aspect including the draft meanwhile the browns show what appears to be an underachieving and rather dull approach that eric mangini's brings to running and developing an nfl offense..

 

I am fairly skeptical of mangini's ability to foster or even run an effective offense i hope he can change my overall thinking on his approach he has cleaned house and its all on his shoulders now and with me his new honeymoon period is subject to change fast either way im already betting seneca wallace technically beats jake the interception machine delhomme out for the starting job but somehow jake ends up taking the field because mangini is addicted to big gunslinging poor defense reading bad decision making quarterbacks....

 

Mangini inherited a Jets team that was ranked 29th in Points Offensively and 31st in yards Offensively in 2005.

 

He left them last year with the Offense ranked 9th in points and 16th in yards.

 

They were 17th in points and 20th in yards in 2009, without him.

 

I believe you are bias. Thomas Jones, who along with some key acqusitions on their run blocking line were brought in by Mangini. He left them very well stocked with talent .... and with an identical record, after another draft and reaches at another Free Agent class.

 

I think the Jets are going to be one of the elite teams this season, but I think Mangini's work here has been even greater than their climb. What Mangini did here last season in clearing house without using any cap, was coach-of-the-year material.

 

we will see.

[BrownIndian]

Tannenbaum has to say that. Since Mangini is vilified out there, praising him is bad for his own stocks. Also Since with Ryan they made it to the playoffs he will praise Ryan.

 

If the Jets dont make the playoffs for 2 continuous years then we shall hear what they have to say.

[calfoxwc]

I LOVE Colt's attitude. A qb that totally cares intensely. We all have to LOL at those who "think" he's too short.

 

Not only Brees and Montana, but Brian Sipe was 6' 1" and 195 lbs.

 

I see a ton of grit and determination, and football brilliance at seeing the field, like Bernie Kosar did.

 

And, outstanding character as a huge plus? I think he was a STEAL.

 

***************************************

 

 

"Browns fans will love his passion," he said. "He has 12 fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins and many were dramatic. He'll want to play right away, but he'll be patient and listen. He'll be for Cleveland, not for himself. He'll pull hard for the other two quarterbacks, and every minute of every day he'll be waiting for his chance."

 

Brown said he's never met a fiercer competitor than McCoy.

 

"Colt has been successful at everything he's ever done," said Brown. "He was a Big 12 Academic All American and a unanimous captain for us. He's in church three times a week and he doesn't cuss or drink alcohol. He's done as much as anybody to change lives in this state with the platform he had. He'll be tremendous in the community."

 

And on the football field?

 

"I have no doubt he'll be a really good quarterback for the Browns," he said. "He could play this year, but I'm glad he won't. The Browns hit a home run."

 

[Canton Mike]

Time will tell, but I don't think we'll regret taking Colt. I DO believe some other teams will be kicking themselves in the butt for letting him slide.

Mike

[cambridgeho]

I LOVE Colt's attitude. A qb that totally cares intensely. We all have to LOL at those who "think" he's too short.

 

Not only Brees and Montana, but Brian Sipe was 6' 1" and 195 lbs.

 

I see a ton of grit and determination, and football brilliance at seeing the field, like Bernie Kosar did.

 

And, outstanding character as a huge plus? I think he was a STEAL.

 

***************************************

 

 

"Browns fans will love his passion," he said. "He has 12 fourth-quarter come-from-behind wins and many were dramatic. He'll want to play right away, but he'll be patient and listen. He'll be for Cleveland, not for himself. He'll pull hard for the other two quarterbacks, and every minute of every day he'll be waiting for his chance."

 

Brown said he's never met a fiercer competitor than McCoy.

 

"Colt has been successful at everything he's ever done," said Brown. "He was a Big 12 Academic All American and a unanimous captain for us. He's in church three times a week and he doesn't cuss or drink alcohol. He's done as much as anybody to change lives in this state with the platform he had. He'll be tremendous in the community."

 

And on the football field?

 

"I have no doubt he'll be a really good quarterback for the Browns," he said. "He could play this year, but I'm glad he won't. The Browns hit a home run."

 

Its so hard to believe we got him in the 3rd round, He has leadership written all over him, even though he still looks like he is 16 years old.