Coach Chris Weinke, Quarterbacks
On what he learned about Jarrett Guarantano from the 2019 season…
“You look back and in any situation you run into, the struggles we had early in the season, you can’t allow those to snowball. It was a constant communication with him, regardless of what happened, if he was pulled or had an opportunity to start or came into a game. There was communication with him every day that he had to stay the course and believe in himself. As we all know, whoever’s played this position, there are times that you’re playing with a whole lot of confidence and there’s other times that you’re not playing with any confidence. I think that was probably the case early on with him when we lost early. But, credit to him, he stayed the course. I feel like he started to gain more confidence and finish the season off right.”
On freshman QB Harrison Bailey…
“He did miss a little bit of time and that always hurts for a guy that was able to come in early and not be able to go through spring ball hurts you a little bit in terms of your growth and development. I think the biggest thing for him is he’s learning a new language. We always say that, ‘Hey, when you’re not sure, you’re going to probably play a little bit slower.’ I think the biggest thing for him is to continue to progress, continue to learn the system. He can make all of the throws. There’s no doubt about it. What you’re trying to create with this young man is 1) an understanding of what we’re asking him to do and then be able to process the information and then do it with a sense of urgency. And that’s hard right now for any young quarterback. What he was able to do on a couple of concepts the other day in practice, when he got back, he was comfortable. He knew them, he felt comfortable, he knew coverage and the ball came out. Now we have to create that consistency with every play in our playbook and I think you’ll see that growth continue as he gets more comfortable and he gets more reps.”
On redshirt sophomore QB J.T. Shrout…
“J.T. is a guy that works his tale off. He studies the game. He spends extra time in here watching film. It’s important to him and that’s evident. You see that every day from this young man. I think the advantage now of going into that second year of this same offense with Coach (Jim) Chaney, I think all of the guys are a little more comfortable, with the exception of Harrison (Bailey) who hasn’t been in this offense. But, J.T. Shrout is very conscious of every move that he makes and sometimes, when you get to be too careful, you start to overthink. I think he needs to continue to trust himself. I tell the guys all the time, one of the biggest things we talk about is eye discipline. Know what you’re looking at and then see what you’re looking at. And they’re kind of going, ‘Well, wait a second Coach.’ But, at the end of the day, J.T. can make all the throws. He throws it as good as a lot of guys I’ve been around. I think his familiarity with the offense is allowing him to operate at a much faster pace right now. We have to eliminate the mistakes and that goes for all of the quarterbacks, but I think if we can eliminate the disastrous plays, whether it’s one a practice or it’s five a practice, when we can eliminate those, you’ll see great progress at that position.”
On how important it is for Jarrett Guarantano to be playing under the same system for consecutive seasons…
“There’s no doubt that you see the confidence in Jarrett. Having the opportunity to spend the whole off season really studying this offense, watching a lot of film. I give credit to him, this whole pandemic, when it started, I talked to him every single day. There wasn’t a day that I talked to him that he wasn’t doing something to help himself get better – working out, throwing. He came in here weighing about 228 pounds – looks great trying to keep all of that weight on right now. You see a different level of confidence in him because he understands exactly what we’re trying to get accomplished on every single play. The second year in a system, there’s no doubt. There’s just so much more familiarity. You just see him be more comfortable and he operates faster. Right now, he’s operating at a high level.”
On the young receivers’ group…
“It’s fun to be out there with those young receivers. There’s a group of talented young receivers that one, just like a new quarterback, they have to learn the system and the nuances of what we’re trying to get accomplished, predicated on coverage and different types of releases. Tell you what, we got a lot of speed on the field now and I know the quarterbacks like that.”
On sophomore QB Brian Maurer…
“I think Brian is another example of a young guy last year that didn’t know every detail of what we were trying to get accomplished but continued to learn. He’s very talented, there’s no doubt. He brings a lot to the table from that standpoint. He’s grown up and he’s matured. I think that’s a big part of becoming a professional. We preach about that every single day – how to be a pro, how to learn, how to study, what’s important. I think you’re seeing that in Brian Maurer. There’s no doubt he’s got as much talent as a lot of guys that I’ve been around – the ability to throw the football from different platforms, the ability to run the football. We just have to create some consistency with him, and that’s with all of them, but especially Brian. At the end of the day everybody’s competing on a daily basis and that’s what makes it so fun for me. The excitement I get to see in those three guys competing against each other is a lot of fun. You get some ebbs and flows throughout the course of practice and some guys making great plays, but they’re encouraging each other. So we’ve got a good room right now. There’s good competition and there’s nothing better than good competition, so I’m excited about that.”
On determining who the back-up quarterback is and when the ranking of the quarterbacks will happen…
“I think those decisions will be made down the road as we continue to evaluate on a daily basis. We track every throw that these guys make and we have charts that quantify what exactly takes place every time they’re touching the ball. We preach every time we walk out on the field, ‘Protect the football.’ It’s the most important thing. How do you protect the football? We get to touch it on every play so you can you can protect it by the decisions that you make, obviously protect where you’re throwing the football. And then when you have the ability to escape and get out of the pocket are we protecting it there. With all that being said, we’re too early on to say where they fall in the pecking order. I love it that we get to go out every day and those guys know that we’re going to try to get equal reps and they’re going to compete every day. The cream is going to rise to the top. It’s a process that’s taking place currently and I can’t put my finger on a date necessarily that we’re going to decide who’s the guy. What we’re looking for is progress each and every day. Those guys are getting better and so it’s fun to watch them compete.”
On watching Jarrett Guarantano bounce back after a difficult start to the season….
“In those situations, fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve been in them. Fortunately, for our guys, they’ve got a guy that’s coaching them that understands it and has been through it. So, I’m not talking about something I don’t understand. It was my job to continue to coach them and teach them exactly what we want them to do, but more importantly, in those times of need and in those tough times, to be able to talk through those things and be able to be there as support and still challenge them to rise above those things. When it’s all said and done, it was refreshing to watch (Jarrett Guarantano) be at his lowest of lows and then rebound. It was continuous talking every single day about what we’re trying to get accomplished and just to take it one day at a time and things would start to come together. And as we saw, they did later in the season.”
On coaching football during a pandemic…
“It’s kind of a new way of living. What was kind of fun for me is, while we were away, we were able to stay in touch with our players and learn new ways through technology to be able to continue to coach and teach these guys and they’ve bought in. They’ve been outstanding. Now, it’s almost become the norm for us. It was interesting early on trying to deal with it with the uncertainty and the unknowns. Nobody likes that. Now that we’ve made that adjustment and we’re kind of used to it, it’s been fun. Having to do Zoom calls, isn’t as good as being in person with the guys, but you’re still able to accomplish a lot of things and we’re able to continue to grow throughout that period. Now we’re in a situation where we do get to spend time with them. It was interesting, but we found a way. I always say this: ‘Don’t complain. Don’t explain. Find solutions.’ We found a solution to continue to develop these guys through uncertain times.”
On what specifically Jarrett Guarantano is doing to operate at a high level…
“He focused on his body, to make sure he’s big, strong and fast. He focused on those physical sides of him. More importantly, when I say operate at a high level, that’s becoming a functional thinker – taking the information, being able to process it and then executing the play. You just see him so much faster with his feet, with his decisions. His anticipation, in my opinion, has probably been the brightest spot that I’ve seen from a year ago. Now that he understands the big picture, he can see it and anticipate things much better now because he’s more comfortable. It’s collectively knowing and understanding and then physically being able to put it together. He’s operating as goods as I’ve seen him, since I’ve been here.”
-UT Athletics
