Reluctant Ellis turning the corner
Once hesitant about making switch from receiver, CB hitting stride
COLLEGE PARK – Early on in his football development, Tino Ellis was told that he should think about switching from wide receiver to cornerback.
First it was his father, Chuck, who coached the younger of his two sons on a youth football team in Gambrills. It was in a league not limited by size and the younger Ellis, who was around 5-foot-9 at age 13, had to play against 6-foot-2 receivers.
“I told him that you’ll probably end up playing corner at some point, so just prepare yourself to make the switch,” the elder Ellis recalled this week. “He did a good job at it and I kind of knew. He just resisted because he liked playing with the ball in his hands.”
Then it was Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, who trained Ellis and other young teenage players in Baltimore and Washington while he was the coach at Friendship Collegiate Academy, a program that be- Saturday, noon TV: BTN Radio: 105.7 FM; 980 AM Line: Maryland by 251⁄
Meanwhile, after a 5-6 season (3-5 CAA) in 2017, the Tigers overhauled their offensive schemes. Coach Rob Ambrose and offensive coordinator (and younger brother) Jared Ambrose scoured the Football Bowl Subdivision landscape for a quarterback who would fit what they were seeking to accomplish.
“The reason he’s here is I wasn’t happy with where we were at the quarterback position by the end of spring,” Rob Ambrose said. “I was happy with where we were going in general, but I didn’t think we were getting everything that we could out of that position. Tom was the perfect plug-and-play. Skill-wise and intellectually, he already gets this. Personalitywise, with me, him and my brother, it didn’t take me long to see that he was the right kind of guy for us.”
The feeling is mutual for Flacco, who was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 32nd round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft and played sparingly while at Western Michigan.
“This season, finally there’s a coaching staff that trusted me and gave me the keys,” he said. “That’s what it was.”
With Flacco under center, Towson’s offense has run the no-huddle almost exclusively, pausing only for timeouts and when opponents are injured. He threw for a career-high four touchdowns Saturday in the rout of the Seawolves, which occurred one week after he ran for a school-recordby-a-quarterback 185 yards and two scores in a 44-27 dismantling of The Citadel.
Although he is trying to distance himself from the idea that he is a running quarterback, Flacco is not afraid to use his arm and legs to contribute to his team’s success.
“I’m going to do whatever I need to do in whatever week it is,” he said. “Last week, I ran for a bunch of yards. Whatever it takes to win. I’m not really trying to prove anything. I do have a chip on my shoulder, but otherwise, it’s just about winning. We’re going to continue to prove people wrong because people keep doubting us for whatever reason, and that’s just going to happen no matter how we play. But I’m not thinking about that.”
Said Ambrose: “Tom’s an athletic guy playing quarterback, and normally those guys are more run-around guys than anything else, and when they throw, sometimes it can be good and sometimes it’s not. He’s a passer who’s athletic. There’s a difference. He’s not a thrower. He’s a passer, and that’s really dangerous. Whenyou have a quarterback who can run a little bit and you’re playing football with all 11 and not just a pocket passer, if I’m a defensive coordinator, that’s kind of scary.”
Ambrose quipped he would not like to be an opposing defensive coordinator preparing for the Tigers offense. In the same vein, redshirt junior running back Shane Simpson called the offense under Flacco “definitely different.”
“He’s so dynamic,” Simpson said. “He can throw, but also he can run. So you don’t know what he’s going to do. He’s definitely great for our offense.”
Many people may assume that Flacco has the advantage of leaning on his older brother for his football expertise. But Joe said the two tend to discuss non-football subjects if his younger brother is not chasing after his nephews and nieces.
“I don’t think he models anything off of anybody,” the elder brother said, dismissing the notion that his playing style has been the standard for Tom. “He’s just out there playing and doing what he does.”
Being named the STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against The Citadel has helped Flacco emerge on a national scale, but he has never lacked confidence that he is capable of making an impact for a team that trusted him to do so.
“I’ve known what I can do, and I’m finally like, ‘All right,’ ” he said. “So this is not surprising to me at all. The way these guys work on offense, the way our whole offense worked in the summer, no, this is not a shock at all. This is what we saw, and we see bigger things, too.”
Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore left Johnny Unitas Stadium impressed with what he saw from Flacco.
“He’s very instinctive,” Priore said. “He does a lot with his feet, but he’s got a surrounding cast that’s playing well also. Their receiver, [redshirt junior Shane Leatherbury], is a good player, their running backs are good players. He extended drives. If you look at the outcome of this game, I think we’re all going to be wrong if we say it’s just about Tom Flacco because it’s an 11-man game and I don’t think Towson will do that either. I think it’s about their entire team. But he’s a good player certainly, and they’re excited about watching him.”