By Vince Ferrara / @VinceSports
Jimmy Hyams and I had a great visit with renowned quarterback coach Quincy Avery on SportsTalk recently on 99.1 The Sports Animal in Knoxville.
Avery’s clients include VFL Joshua Dobbs and Texans star Deshaun Watson.
I asked John McClain of the Houston Chronicle about Quincy Avery and Watson. He said after a loss last season, long after the game was over, he looked down on the field and Watson was throwing with Quincy Avery, who goes to all or most of his games. That’s the trust Watson has in him.
Here’s some of what we talked about with Quincy Avery.
-Working with client Deshaun Watson
-How many tapes he gets in from QB prospects
-Seeing Kaidon Salter (new Vols QB commit) at the Elite 11 camp
-The evolution of the QBs that can extend and create with their legs
-How he helps QBs throw better on the run
-His incredible story developing into a quarterback trainer
-Help from Trent Dilfer along the way
Avery on how he convinced Josh Dobbs to be his first client:
“Funny story how I got Josh Dobbs. At that time I didn’t have any clients. I told like ten guys in the Atlanta area that I was going to run an elite camp for the top quarterbacks so I invited them and that was a personal invite to come. I got the field at like at 6am on a Saturday because I couldn’t afford to rent field time. So, I get the field. None of those guys come. Josh Dobbs, being who he is, he follows up and says ’Hey coach, I missed the training session. Can we get some work in and you can compare me against the guys’ So I said, ‘Sure!’ We went out there for a private session. It was him, his mom came out there and watched the whole thing. It was really cool. That relationship spurred my career.”
Avery on Dobbs’ development and being coached by Butch Jones at Tennessee:
“You know, interesting to see him get thrown in there quickly as a true freshman and then go through all that different adversity It was difficult because I was watching Butch Jones run a program and I knew that he wasn’t putting Joshua in position to really be as successful as he should have. That was probably the hardest thing for me. Watching them, week in and week out, knowing how talented I thought Josh was and still is, and just how difficult they made it for him. It was so cool to still see him be so successful throughout his career in Knoxville. It was a pleasure to get to watch, see him improve, see how hard he worked and just what kind of person and man he is. It’s cool to see that evolution.”
Avery on why Jones made it difficult for Dobbs at UT:
“Yeah, just the use of some of the personnel. If you look back on it, they had a bunch of NFL guys on the team Josh was the quarterback on his senior year. Seeing Coach DeBord go to Indiana and open it up with quarterbacks who were lesser talented than Josh, you’re like ‘Ok, I know it wasn’t him.’ He wanted to put the ball in the air. But, them being so conservative, so focused on run-run-run and then throw when you’re behind the chains. You’re in third-and-long and trying to figure out a situation. It’s very difficult to play quarterback like that. You not only don’t get an opportunity to create a rhythm but you don’t ever get a chance to catch the defense off guard. It was just hard. You watched them play with a coach who was just scared to lose rather than really, really wanting to attack things and take the game by the horns.”
Those quotes are certainly consistent with what we saw and heard during Dobbs’ career on Rocky Top. But, it’s always more meaningful coming from someone who was so close to Dobbs.
Listen to our full interview below.
Find more of my broadcasting work at VinceSports.net.
