Aug. 17, 2007

By Adam Lucas

Cameron Sexton just laughs when he's asked to describe the teaching style of new Carolina offensive coordinator John Shoop.

"He must snort caffeine," the sophomore quarterback says. "I've never been around a coach with the kind of energy he has."

Shoop's charge over the past two weeks has been to pass that energy to his quarterbacks. He was given 15 spring practices and one month of training camp to groom a quarterback for Butch Davis's first year as head coach. He's gone about that training in a manner that's different from anything the Tar Heel QB's have experienced before.

The high-energy Shoop says he has two basic building blocks of a successful quarterback: accuracy and intelligence. Portions of both those characteristics are innate; others can be learned.

"Accuracy can be a lot of different things," Shoop says. "Some guys look great in 7-on-7, but when you put a 3-technique (defensive tackle) in their lap, they stink. Are you with me?"

This is the quintessential Shoopism--are you with me? He says it constantly (Tar Heel QBs admit to covertly counting over 100 uses in one meeting), and it's entirely rhetorical. If you are not with him, he doesn't have time to wait for you. Get with him or find a new position.

His teaching methods are unique but effective. It's not unusual to spot the group dodging oversized exercise balls hurled by their teammates on the practice field. The drill is simple: one QB holds a football and keeps his eyes downfield, where he's watching a teammate who is holding up a certain number of fingers. As the QB tries to deliver the ball, his fellow quarterbacks begin tossing exercise balls at him to simulate a rush. While dodging the balls and maintaining poise, the passer must call out how many fingers the "receiver" is holding up to ensure that his eyes always remain downfield.

"You have to keep your eye level up to watch the receiver," says T.J. Yates, who was named the starter for the season opener. "And the key is to keep your shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and make the movements in the pocket that help you make better throws."

Other drills emphasize mechanics. Shoop wants his quarterbacks to load their passes with a "tight circle"--rather than making a pronounced loading motion as they bring the ball from hip to ear, he wants a quick, economical load. To hone that technique, one favorite drill involves simply tossing six footballs to each quarterback, one ball at a time. But they're not easy tosses. They're rapid-fire, and as soon as the QB delivers one pass, the next ball is on the way to his waist. There's no time for a drawn-out delivery, which teaches the tight circle.

It's not all about the arms, however. Carolina quarterbacks are taught to keep a wide base with their legs. The training method: one quarterback stands in the middle of a circle of his teammates. Each teammate has a number, one through five. The QB is given a football and must bounce his feet, then turn and fire to the teammate whose number is called by Shoop.

"It's a drill for your feet," Sexton says. "You have to shift your feet and get lined up to your target while maintaining your base."

If it sounds like a lot of information to process, that's exactly the idea. No matter what drill the quarterbacks are doing, there's a common thread: it's fast. Practices are fast. Film review is fast. Shoop even talks fast in the meeting room--by design.

"The quarterback needs to have a sense of this not being easy," Shoop says. "It can't be a situation where you only study your plays when you're in the building. We always want to give them more. We want them to leave their comfort zone every time they're in a meeting and every time they're at practice. The week of the game, when the gameplan has 1/20th of what we've done in camp, that will come easy to them."

That's why the Tar Heels had an accelerated installation--including all phases of the two-minute offense and wristband system implemented by the end of the first full week of camp--that left seasoned Carolina football observers amazed. By Wednesday night's scrimmage, quarterbacks were already expected to be comfortable enough to check out of bad plays.

Shoop can drill his pupils on accuracy. Everything else about his tutelage is designed to emphasize the other prong of his approach--intelligence. In the film room, he might talk for 85 minutes of the 90-minute meeting. But without warning, he'll stop and fire off a question to an individual about the protection or play being discussed, just to make sure everyone is paying attention. And while he'll try to prepare his quarterbacks for every possible situation, there's also an expectation that Tar Heel QB's will have a feel for the game.

"We're more aware of situational football this year," Sexton says. "They want us to know the down and distance and the clock. They want us to know what's going on around us and what we need to get out of a play.

"For example, if it's third and 10 we might have a play with a route that can get me 12 yards or a check-down that can get five or six yards. Not being situationally aware would mean stepping up and hitting that check-down immediately. Being situationally aware means stepping up and doing everything you can depending on the status of the game to make that 12-yard route work."

Is your head spinning yet? Now imagine having to know every play the Tar Heels currently have installed--over 400 of them, in Davis's estimation. That will eventually be pared to a game week playbook of 75 to 100 possibilities that will vary for each opponent.

Shoop just smiles. Actually, it's more of a smile mixed with a grimace.

"I know one thing," he says. "If you're in your dorm room playing Xbox all the time, you're going to be left behind."

Adam Lucas most recently collaborated on a behind-the-scenes look at Carolina Basketball with Wes Miller. The Road To Blue Heaven will be released on September 1. Lucas's other books on Carolina basketball include The Best Game Ever, which chronicles the 1957 national championship season, Going Home Again, which focuses on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.