Tate Forcier Update

Submitted by M Gulo Gulo on

Per his Facebook:

"It's football season an I can't be more excited. First time OC/Qb coach at Serra High school in San Diego. Can't wait to coach these athletes I have! Receiving core says D1 Across the board. I have a Qb who can get them the ball. Couldn't be more excited to share my knowledge and experience with this team."

Link

Sam1863

August 7th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^

And the other TD where he went around right end and broke the ankles of the DB trying to stop him. I swear you could hear the kid's bones snap.

What I really like about this clip: our running back picking up the blitzing linebacker and standing him straight up. I can't see his number, but is that Vincent Smith?

ijohnb

August 7th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^

not have lasted if he dotted every i and crossed every t.  Tate was basically playing until Denard was ready, and then ND happenned and everybody was like OMG Heisman for sure right now(!!!) and things got a little complicated.  I think that his "breaking point" if you will was just a matter of time, as RR was grooming Denard to be Denard.  Tate's fate was going to be a clipboard and a headset.  Not taking anything away from his ability but Denard was happenning regardless of what he did.  I agree that he had an opportunity for something but not what we thought it was at the time.

ijohnb

August 7th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^

assure you that many a great college quarterback had donkeybrains and lasted.  A certain Heisman winning quarterback from FSU comes to mind.  It was about ability not mental stability.  He was niot big enough, fast enough, accurate enough, or arm-strong enough (or any combination of these things) to last and he had the worlds fastest man with a rocket launcher for an arm behind him and his days were numbered as soon as they started.   If he was the answer long term RR would have made it work with him, donkeybrains and all, but he was really just a placeholder and I think he knew it.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 7th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^

Jameis Winston has donkeybrains but enough work ethic to succeed.  Tate was more than talented enough to succeed in college football.  Anyone who watches a single year of college football has seen successful quarterbacks with less talent.

Tate could've beaten Denard for the job.  He could've.  He was better at throwing the ball, which is what QBs do, and good enough at running to work in RR's system.  He just got outworked beyond belief by Denard, nay, by just about literally everyone in college football.  Placeholder schmaceholder, he was absolutely a legitimate contender until it became patently obvious he wasn't real interested in the grunt work.

DonAZ

August 7th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

+1 for a realistic view of things as they were back then.

Tate could have been a special quarterback under Rodriguez's scheme.  And likely would have had he had his head screwed on straight.

Denard was blessed with an incredible set of wheels, but sometimes he relied on them too much.  Against really good defenses, in particular, he would too quickly go to the QB run option and get stopped for no-gain or a small loss.  Tate, I think, could have been the type of QB that would have taken that extra half-second to look for his receiver, or scramble and keep looking for his receiver.  The clip against Notre Dame above shows what Tate might have been.

I love me some Denard, but let's not equate that with Tate was a mere placeholder.  He had the tools to be a very good quarterback in the RR scheme.  He did not have the good sense to be that, however.

the real hail_yes

August 7th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^

Yeah for sure, there's no way that tate would have ever played QB and maybe denard would have played running back like he does now... in the NFL. That could have never happened...

 

/s

ijohnb

August 7th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^

away the /s and you hit it on the head.  RR never showed any interest or inclination of playing Denard at running back.  He was always going to play quarterback, he was like RR's best dream coming true.  Tate started because he was an early enrollee and knew the system to a degree to run it so he played for a while, but don't kid yourself, Denard was going to play quarterback from day 1.

DonAZ

August 7th, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^

RR's best dream coming true

The reincarnation of Pat White ... which Denard could have approximateed, but I think White was a better passer.  Plus Denard was operating without benefit of Steve Slaton and Noel Devine, which was a huge difference between WV 2007 and UM 2009/10.

 

M-Dog

August 7th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^

Exactly.  The emergence of Denard was not necessarily going to mean the disappearence of Tate. 

We saw a glimpse of that in the 3OT Illinois game.

Had Tate stayed on, we would have beaten Neb and won the Legends Div. in 2012.