Matt Fortuna met with Pat in a long interview in The Athletic. It's a long interview with much old answers. One on QB's I'd like to share:
It’s no secret how big of an impact Peyton Ramsey made for you guys. Has that changed your philosophy as it relates to the quarterback position? This sport used to have the stigma that if you take a grad transfer QB, it means you can’t develop one, but the portal is the way of the world right now.
I think it’s totally different. I think just the way you manage your roster, let alone the quarterback position, is totally different. We’re in a new era, the transfer portal, on the eve of the ability to one-time transfer, to me, it’s like anything: you have to adapt or you’re gonna die. And we’re looking not to win down the road, we’re looking to win every year, and I have to assess all of our positions for starters, for key backups, for depth. Our coaches have a big voice in that discussion, our recruiting office is heavily involved. I think back five years ago, when guys were leaving your program it was, “Oh my goodness, there’s something wrong with the program there.” That myth is now gone. I mean, the transfer portal is not going away. You’re going to have a handful of guys for myriad reasons that they want to transfer and go find a new home. As I’ve told all of our guys when they come here out of high school, they’ve got me for life, and I’m not gonna be upset with them if they feel like going somewhere else is in their best interest. But I’m not going to stand pat. We’re going to fill the roster with either more high school guys or transfers.
And the quarterback position, as it should, gets a lot of attention, but when we obviously took a step backward in ’19, we just assessed where we were at, and I think we’re in a completely different position and it’s gonna be fun to see how the competition goes this spring. But it will be an open competition, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. But you’ve got to have talent in that room, you’ve got to have competition in that room, and for you to be successful that position has got to play consistent and do the things that winning quarterbacks do — that’s leading, it’s taking care of the football, it’s managing the locker room, it’s being an extension of the coaching staff 365, 24/7. And if the guy’s got the ability to make plays and make things happen, you’ve got a chance to have a special year. And obviously, Peyton was able to do that last year for us, but prior to that, it was Clayton Thorson for four years.
It’s no secret how big of an impact Peyton Ramsey made for you guys. Has that changed your philosophy as it relates to the quarterback position? This sport used to have the stigma that if you take a grad transfer QB, it means you can’t develop one, but the portal is the way of the world right now.
I think it’s totally different. I think just the way you manage your roster, let alone the quarterback position, is totally different. We’re in a new era, the transfer portal, on the eve of the ability to one-time transfer, to me, it’s like anything: you have to adapt or you’re gonna die. And we’re looking not to win down the road, we’re looking to win every year, and I have to assess all of our positions for starters, for key backups, for depth. Our coaches have a big voice in that discussion, our recruiting office is heavily involved. I think back five years ago, when guys were leaving your program it was, “Oh my goodness, there’s something wrong with the program there.” That myth is now gone. I mean, the transfer portal is not going away. You’re going to have a handful of guys for myriad reasons that they want to transfer and go find a new home. As I’ve told all of our guys when they come here out of high school, they’ve got me for life, and I’m not gonna be upset with them if they feel like going somewhere else is in their best interest. But I’m not going to stand pat. We’re going to fill the roster with either more high school guys or transfers.
And the quarterback position, as it should, gets a lot of attention, but when we obviously took a step backward in ’19, we just assessed where we were at, and I think we’re in a completely different position and it’s gonna be fun to see how the competition goes this spring. But it will be an open competition, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. But you’ve got to have talent in that room, you’ve got to have competition in that room, and for you to be successful that position has got to play consistent and do the things that winning quarterbacks do — that’s leading, it’s taking care of the football, it’s managing the locker room, it’s being an extension of the coaching staff 365, 24/7. And if the guy’s got the ability to make plays and make things happen, you’ve got a chance to have a special year. And obviously, Peyton was able to do that last year for us, but prior to that, it was Clayton Thorson for four years.
