UA coordinator likes QB Tate’s progress
Noel Mazzone echoed what Kevin Sumlin has said about Khalil Tate: The goal is to transform him from an athlete playing quarterback to a quarterback who happens to be an amazing athlete.
No one on the Arizona Wildcats coaching staff will play a bigger role in that process than Mazzone, the veteran QB guru and offensive coordinator who Sumlin imported from Texas A&M.
Mazzone, who has worked with numerous standout quarterbacks over the course of his long coaching career, began working with Tate in the spring. Mazzone inherited a player who burst onto the national scene last season but still has room for growth and refinement.
Mazzone talked about all seven quarterbacks in his room after Arizona’s second training-camp practice Saturday night. What follows is what Mazzone had to say about Tate, the junior who could be a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. The Q&A session with the media has been lightly edited for clarity and context.
Question: How much better has Khalil gotten over the summer?
Answer: We’ll kind of wait and see. He’s done a good job the first two days. But like any quarterback, you look for some consistency. He’s shown that so far, but it’s only been two days. I’m excited where he’s at – the starting point where we’re at with him.
Q: Has there been too much hype for Khalil? He had one great month, yet a lot of people are talking about him for the Heisman.
A: I don’t know. I know he’s a pretty grounded kid. I know he knows where he’s at with this football team, his career. I think he just comes out every day to get better and help this football team win.
Q: Where do you expect him to make the quickest gains in the passing game?
A: Some of this stuff ’s a little bit new for him. Obviously, it’s a new offense. Right now, he’s kind of going through the process of learning about progression reads, about learning coverages and doing those type of things. I think the summer really helped him. He’s a little bit further along than I anticipated, so I’m kind of excited about moving forward.
Q: What have you learned about him since you started working with him?
A: That it’s important to him. I think it’s been a great experience for him. He went to the Manning camp (the Manning Passing Academy, run by the Manning family), got involved with (other) quarterbacks. In my estimation, he’s realized that that he’s a quarterback and (that) quarterbacks have to act like quarterbacks. I think he’s done a good job with that.
Q: Is there a “wow” factor with Khalil when you see him up close?
A: A hundred percent. Am I going to coach him to be (more) dynamic as a runner? No, that’s who he is. He’s a dynamic runner. What he’s trying to do now is become a rounded quarterback and play the position the other way, in the pocket. That’s what I think he’s been working hard on.
Q: He mentioned there being more pocket concepts. But obviously you want to take advantage of his running ability. Is there an ideal number of carries per game for him?
A: No. It just kind of happens. Our best play might be when I call a pass play, everybody’s covered and he decides to run. We’re not going to build our running attack around Khalil. We’ve got J.J. (Taylor), we’ve got (Gary) Brightwell, we’ve got some good running backs. I think he feeds off of that.