Making a Son QB Is No Snap Decision

By Preston Williams

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

When Stone Bridge Coach Mickey Thompson says, not so much boastfully but matter-of-factly, "People say I'm arrogant, but I know more football than these people around here," he means it.

He makes his own decisions - including fourth-down gambles - and the Bulldogs almost always win. If you don't like the play calls or the depth-chart order, well, feel free to visualize an "O" between the "SB" on his cap. He doesn't much care, as long as his players believe.

But even with that Teflon veneer, there was one coaching move in recent years that caused the assured Thompson to waver: The decision last season to move son Patrick to quarterback, a position he had never played at any level.

The elder Thompson had resisted the urge for years, just as he had opted not to start Patrick's twin, Zach, on defense as a sophomore, even though he thought Zach capable.

Thompson just didn't want to hear, or his boys to hear, that timeless murmured refrain: He's only playing because he's the coach's son.

When "Coach" is also "Dad," the ball-playing son is scrutinized. When that kid happens to play quarterback, he is dissected. Already at the most mentally demanding position, the quarterback sons of head coaches are not only playing for their teammates and their school, they might be playing for their father's reputation, amid cries of nepotism.

Put it this way: Ken Mirer stepped down as head coach at Goshen High School in Indiana as son Rick, a future Notre Dame quarterback and the second pick in the 1993 NFL draft, entered Goshen, just to avoid the pitfalls of such a pairing.

"It's almost like you're at strike two before you even get a chance to prove yourself," said West Springfield Coach Bill Renner, entering his second season with son Bryn at quarterback. "You better be really good, and come through early."

"Everyone expects you to do more than you probably could or probably should," said Bryn Renner, who had to prove himself first as a wide receiver his first two years of high school and then at quarterback last season.

Defending Virginia AAA Division 5 champion Stone Bridge and reigning Division 6 Northern Region runner-up West Springfield, with their father-son combinations, are two of the top teams in the Washington area. They also play in the season opener Friday.

Such relationships have existed in football's past, and they continue today. Potomac Falls has one with the Woodliefs, Coach Scott Woodlief and quarterback son Gregory. And there are father-son/coach-quarterback combos at two division I-A colleges - Coach Dan Hawkins and son Cody at Colorado, and Coach Todd Dodge and son Riley at North Texas.

Chatting in a West Springfield classroom between recent practices, the Renners looked at each other and laughed when asked if they drew up a set of rules for juggling their dual relationships for on the field and at home.

"We had no idea going into this what was going to happen," Bill Renner said. "It's been made up as we've gone along."

The Right Decision?

The head coach's son playing quarterback was a natural move at West Springfield. The younger Renner, a quarterback pretty much all his life, slid into the job after Peter Lalich (now at Virginia) piloted the team's no-huddle offense in 2005 and '06.

It was a more jarring event at Stone Bridge, where senior Mike Stancik, a good friend of Patrick Thompson's, was seemingly in line to take over as the starter last season in the team's star-studded single-wing set.

Mickey Thompson not only had to worry about his son, a standout tight end, learning the position, he also had to soothe the hurt feelings of those in Stancik's camp. (Stancik ended up at outside linebacker and at various offensive positions and has been praised for his unselfishness.)

"Listen, I know you're upset about Mike not playing now," Thompson recalled telling a group of players early on in the Bulldogs' 2007 preseason camp. "But you've got to trust me. You've got to follow me and trust that I know what I'm doing. If I make a mistake, five games from now I'll come back and say I made a mistake and we'll make a change. But trust me on this one."

"I was nervous for [Patrick] because I thought it was the right decision, but you never know," said Thompson, who had called Renner that spring for advice on quarterback camps and other training information. "We're sitting there going, 'Boy, I hope this works out,' because if it doesn't, it's a mess."

The general feeling on the Stone Bridge coaching staff was that Patrick Thompson, although a raw 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, potentially had the skill set to blossom at the position. His father knew that he could trust him to stay calm and to put in the work. Not only that, he would have 24-7 access to his quarterback, an "unbelievable perk," the coach said, that few high school coaches have.

But this experiment put Thompson's coaching staff in a tricky spot. If Patrick Thompson wasn't panning out, could they be honest with his dad?

Quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Matt Griffis, in his 13th season with Thompson, remembers the top man saying: "Don't tell me he's good because he's my son. Tell me he's good because he's good."

"Patrick had to leave no doubt," Griffis said. "Patrick had to be good just to keep his dad's reputation positive. Because it was Patrick, we were probably more honest.

"Let's say Patrick wasn't very good and we tell Mickey he's great and we go out and lose the first game because Patrick struggles. Mickey looks awful for starting his son, Patrick looks bad and we look bad as coaches."

Before last season, the younger Thompson had never run a huddle, never read a coverage. He didn't bark out the signals loud enough. Early on, during one play in practice, Patrick was supposed to shift in the backfield. He did, but casually. His old man jumped him.

Maybe another player could get away with such a lackadaisical mistake. Not the starting quarterback, particularly one who rides home with the head coach.

"He was just trying to make a point that quarterback is an intensive job and you have to know what you're doing and feel confident," Patrick said, walking off the field the first day of practice this season. "It sent a message, and it just got me going. I think because I'm the coach's son, a lot of the younger players look up and see how I react to the yelling or how I react if I'm tired or how I practice and they try to imitate that. If I'm doing something, then they think that that's acceptable and then they try to do it."

Thompson, who injured his throwing hand two weeks ago and could miss Stone Bridge's first few games, threw for 31 touchdowns and more than 2,300 yards last season in leading the Bulldogs to their first state title. Four touchdowns and almost 300 yards came in the 38-0 championship win over Potomac.

That's when it hit Mickey Thompson just how adeptly his son had grasped the position. It took 15 games.

"At some level," Patrick said, "I guess I felt like I wanted to prove that my dad made the right decision."

Those Father-Son Talks

Unlike the Thompsons, who have Griffis as a buffer, the Renners work with each other one-on-one.

Knowing each other so well, and sharing a wide competitive streak, the most crucial exchanges for the Spartans are not necessarily snaps and handoffs. They are the verbal volleys between coach and quarterback on the sideline.

Those exchanges can turn heated to the point that bystanders, unfamiliar with their communication style, might deem them disrespectful.

"If we get stopped on third down or something, it's not good on the sideline," joked West Springfield senior wide receiver Andy Stallings.

"Last year some of the newer players . . . had a little shock on their face," senior lineman Corey MacRae said. "I don't think they understood their relationship."

Bill Renner would rather Bryn vent and get the emotions out of his system than take it back to the huddle or on the field.

The approach works.

Renner last season threw for 27 touchdowns and more than 2,600 yards and also ran for 10 scores. "The method of communication isn't as important to me," Bill Renner said. "I'm not offended if it's aggressive or intense or even if there are some words that shouldn't be there."

The one no-no: walking away from the other guy when he is speaking. That's the line not to cross.

Jay Goldstein, who as a doctoral student in sports psychology at the University of Maryland specializes in youth sports, said the dynamics of such relationships hinge on whether the father/coach and son/quarterback can arrive at a comfortable form of communicating both in football settings and at home.

"A compartmentalization of the roles," Goldstein said. "You have to have those boundaries established."

The Renners felt their way along early last season. The father learned to lay off his son when he made an obvious mistake, such as an interception, because to point it out would be to pile on. And Bryn learned to adjust when his father was feeding him a stream of information on the fly.

"It's a lot of fun, because we both have to work together and just get the plays in," said the 6-3, 190-pound Bryn, who has committed to play at the University of North Carolina. "We're both just trying to win, so you have an understanding."

What the younger Renner does not have, necessarily, is inside information. It amuses him when teammates ask how much running they are going to do in practice or what kind of mood his dad is in that day.

Thick Skin Required

This season will mark the first time in 10 years that Massaponax Coach Eric Ludden has not had one of his four sons on his team. Two of his boys, Eric and Shane, played quarterback. Eric, the oldest, balked initially because he didn't want his classmates to perceive favoritism.

"They're padding his stats" and "They're showcasing him for a scholarship" are first cousins of "He's only playing because he's the coach's son."

Ludden prepped his boys for the "coach's son" whispers by issuing not only a jersey but a thick skin: "You've got to understand you're going to be in there if you're the best player at that position," he recalled saying. "It doesn't matter what people on the outside think, because they don't know what you're doing every day in practice."

Ludden was all for his sons calling him "Dad" on the field. That was the situation, he figured, so why hide from it?

Annandale Coach Dick Adams, whose son, Rick, was set to be the Atoms' backup quarterback this season before recently undergoing shoulder surgery, prefers that Rick call him "Coach" in football settings.

Regardless of how they address their fathers, in many ways it makes sense for football coaches' sons to play quarterback. They have grown up around the game and most likely hung out a lot at practice, tossing a ball to help pass the time. Their first movie might have been a game film in the den. X and O might have come before ABC. They might have learned proper technique from dad in the back yard. They have absorbed the terminology. And they presumably have a strong rapport with the coach.

Even so, there have not been many father-son/coach-quarterback combos in recent years. In the late 1990s there were the Randolphs (Dennis and Denny) at Edison, the Browns (Bill and Andy) at Hylton and Brian Fleury playing for stepfather Terry Changuris at Seneca Valley.

"Most players who have grown up in that household truly do have that sports mentality," Goldstein said. "They're able to have an intelligent conversation and peel away layers and analyze things at a whole different level."

So what happens when, say, the coach's son makes a particularly impressive play? For the coach, is it one of the guys making it, or is it the son?

"I've never said, 'Hey, that's my boy' " throwing a pass, said Renner, who gets to take on a more typical dad role watching Bryn excel in baseball and basketball. "It just never dawned on me. Probably won't until he's [graduated], and I start watching the films. I really don't look at it as, 'That's my son.' It's, 'That's my quarterback.' "

Mickey Thompson is that, way, too - most of the time.

"I stand there sometimes and go, 'Wow, that's amazing what he just did,' " he said of Patrick. "You leave your little coach world for a second."

Tagged: 2008 Football Preview, football, high school sports, Stone Bridge High School, West Springfield High School

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