March 12, 201412 yr I remember the first time I'd heard about George Whitfield. It was three years ago at the Nike high school football camp on the USC campus in Los Angeles. I was there with a film crew working on a pilot for a show about high school quarterbacks. We met Whitfield -- a guy built more like a tailback than a quarterback -- during the warmups. He was there with a caravan of four carloads of QB hopefuls who had made the two-hour drive up from San Diego. One of his kids, Pete Thomas, a chiseled 6-5, 220-pounder looking like a young Brady Quinn, came to USC that day toting one of the bigger reputations in Internet recruiting analysts' eyes. Thomas reportedly had scholarship offers from Maryland, Arizona State and Northwestern. Whitfield, then 31, said he had been training Thomas since the kid was in the eighth grade. Whitfield also gushed about another QB he brought, a lanky 6-6 quarterback with zero offers. But the kid was about to break out, like a submarine ready to rise, George said. Whitfield was engaging. The camera liked him. Turns out, the camera liked him more than the coaches liked the QBs he brought that day. Thomas struggled with his accuracy. That other quarterback, the sleeper, appeared overwhelmed by the scene. At one point during the day the kid tried to wander into the top group of QBs the camp's coaches had put together after about an hour of observation. However, the main coach overseeing the drills, noticed the taller kid trying to blend in before getting his turn to throw. He called the kid out, telling him to point to which coach had sent him over. The kid pointed in the general direction of about 20 people but when the older coach, in his 60s, demanded he show him exactly which coach, the kid just dropped his head and walked away. You felt for the kid as he slunk back from where he came, to a group of younger kids. You also wondered about Whitfield. Was he just another curious character in the growing fringe surrounding the college football world? • • • In California, the "QB guru" business has been booming for more than a decade. Long-time high school coach Bob Johnson and former CFL quarterback Steve Clarkson each have developed dozens of college QBs. They have triggered numerous other ex-college coaches and QBs starting their own quarterback tutoring gigs. Some parents shell out tens of thousands of dollars on their kids' training. They see it as an investment, assuming the aspiring signal-caller may land a scholarship worth five times as much. There's also the influx of the seven-on-seven offseason circuit that has sprouted all over the country with its own added layer of influence. "There are a lot of 'gurus' out there these days," huffs one college coach. Some of these coaches aren't just working with teens. Some, like Whitfield, are also now assisting established college QBs looking for an edge either in the offseason or during their spring breaks. Another California-based private quarterbacks coach, Steve Calhoun, hosted Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, Washington's Keith Price and Nevada's Cody Fajardo for three days last month. Calhoun's business is called Armed and Dangerous Football Training. "[Calhoun] taught me a lot of stuff," Martinez told the Omaha World-Herald. College quarterbacks leaving campus for outside training is a prickly subject. Some of their coaches can be territorial, fearing the outside guy might screw up their player. In fact, four of seven college coaches contacted for this story say they'd prefer their QBs not work with someone else, even if it's only for a week. "You do worry about someone getting in their heads and doing something to them that you might have a hard time undoing," says one college coach. "It really depends on who they're going to. If I don't know the guy, it makes me nervous." -Bruce Feldman CBSSPORTS.COM
March 13, 201412 yr I'm not laughing at all. I know who Whitfield is. Donny Walker coaches the specific offense Pat plays in. Whitfield coaches with an eye toward the NFL. Darrin Slack could have helped him a ton as well. I've always wondered why more guys don't go to Slack. Slack would be a huge help
March 15, 201412 yr UK QBs [ATTACH=CONFIG]43388[/ATTACH] Left to right who's who? I'll admit I don't recognize most of them.
March 15, 201412 yr Left to right who's who? I'll admit I don't recognize most of them. I'm guessing...Towles, Whitfield, photo bomb, Barker, Phillips
March 15, 201412 yr I'm guessing...Towles, Whitfield, photo bomb, Barker, Phillips Jalen Whitlow is the one your mistaken for, and Alex Montgomery is the random guy. Towles isn't going out this week anymore because of a scheduling conflict on Whitfields part. I think the article I read was he's spending 2 weeks in May now with him.
March 21, 201412 yr Author Is it the angle or is Patrick that much bigger than the others? Pat is the biggest of the bunch.
March 25, 201412 yr Kentucky QB Patrick Towles will work out with QB guru George Whitfield over spring break | vaughtsviews I saw a special or something about 6-8 months back on Whitfield. Can't Remeber what show it was but I think it was on ESPN. Apparently he gets paid some big bucks to do what he does and he starts with kids still in grade school. I personally didn't know what to make of him, I got a feeling about him, 1 he was only in it for the money and came off like a used car salesman. The part of the show where he had some of his "prospects" competing with other QB's if I remember correctly they didn't really stand out or out perform some of the others. He has also had some successes but I really couldn't determine if it was his tutoring or if the kids were already where they needed to be when he came into the picture. Either way I hope Patrick gets what he needs out of it because I really want him to be succesful. I thought he was on his way 2 years ago until he got injured.
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.