The guru behind Goff and Wentz
A former USC coach prepared both young quarterbacks for NFL. Here’s what he saw.
Anyone could appreciate a highlight package featuring the greatest throws of the Rams’ Jared Goff and Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz this season. The second-year quarterbacks have 6,189 yards and 49 touchdown passes between them.
But Ted Tollner likes something else. The throws they aren’t making.
“The natural instinct of most young guys is they’re going to force the ball to make a play, until they get burned and have some interceptions and make some dumb throws,” said Tollner, who worked with both Goff and Wentz to tune them up for the scouting combine and draft.
“These guys get it. Neither of them look like second-year quarterbacks. Even though they’re playing up-tempo a lot of the time, they don’t seem to get rattled. They have patience.”
Goff and Wentz, the top
two picks in the 2016 draft, might have patience but they have turned around their losing franchises in a hurry. They will face each other for the first time when the 9-3 Rams host the 10-2 Eagles on Sunday in a pivotal NFC showdown.
Tollner, who worked with them as a consultant for the first four months of 2016, is loving their success but concedes he didn’t expect it to come this quickly.
“You always think it’s going to take a few years to make that transition to real games in the NFL and the speed of it all,” said Tollner, who was head coach at USC from 1983-86 and later worked as an offensive coach with several NFL teams. “Because young players don’t understand the speed. These guys have learned it fast. They’re getting good coaching where they are, and they’ve learned how to do these things rapidly.”
Goff and Wentz both are represented by Irvine-based REP 1 Sports, composed of cousins Bruce and Ryan Tollner — Bruce is Ted’s son — Chase Callahan and Nima Zarrabi. Ted Tollner is a consultant for them, as is former NFL quarterback Ryan Lindley, who also worked with the QBs on a daily basis leading up to the draft.
Ted Tollner said the goal was to best prepare them for their pro days and individual workouts with teams, fine-tuning their fundamentals. Goff, for instance, lined up in the shotgun throughout his college career at California and needed to get accustomed to taking a snap under center, something he hadn’t done since his sophomore year of high school. Wentz was taking the huge step up from North Dakota State to the NFL.
“The thing that I noticed when they were going through the footwork and the accuracy is that they both could move well,” Tollner said. “You can tell when someone can move their feet, stay in rhythm, and get the ball out of their hand fast. That stuff to me has always been more important than whether they have the perfect threequarters-delivery release. It’s just getting it out quick, and they could do that.”
More important, they were hungry to learn what they didn’t know.
“What we’re seeing now is very rewarding, especially when you’ve got guys that want to work,” Tollner said. “It’s not like you have to talk them into it. ‘Let’s go out and do this now.’ What you’ve got to talk them out of is, ‘Hey, that’s enough for today. I don’t want you throwing any more today.’ That was more of the issue. They don’t want to stop working, or looking at film when they’re not working out.
“They’ve got a legitimate work ethic — not one they just talk about.”
This is a test
The six seeded NFC teams heading into Week 14 are, in order, Minnesota, Philadelphia, the Rams, New Orleans, Seattle and Carolina. Each of those teams has a tough game this week, with the Vikings at the Panthers, the Eagles at the Rams, the Saints at Atlanta, and Seattle at Jacksonville.
This time next week, the playoff picture will be in sharper focus. This is a prove-it week.
Stroke of luck New England tight end Rob Gronkowski was suspended for a week Monday in the wake of his cheapshot hit on Buffalo cornerback Tre’Davious White. The Patriots are catching a break with that punishment because they play at Miami next Monday night, a game they should win handily.
Had Gronkowski been penalized a week later, he would have missed the game at Pittsburgh, more important in the playoff picture. As it stands, the Patriots and Steelers are the AFC’s top two seeds.
Wild, wild West
The AFC West is the only division featuring a threeway tie for first place, with Kansas City, the Chargers and Oakland all 6-6.
There will be some clarity after Week 14, when the Chiefs host the Raiders. Then, the Chargers play at the Chiefs in a Saturday night game Dec. 16, in what could be the key to determining which team winds up in the playoffs.
The sands are shifting for the Chargers, who started the season 0-4 but have clawed their way back to relevance, and on Sunday won their third in a row. The Raiders, who at one point lost four straight, seem to have righted the ship by winning four of six.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs have squandered their 5-0 start, have lost four in a row and are grasping for answers.
The Chargers host Washington on Sunday, and that’s no layup. The Redskins are 2-0 on the West Coast this season, having beaten both the Rams and Seahawks on their home turf.