Thompson can end drought OU's recent bad luck with QBs could conclude
By Berry Tramel
Published: September 15, 2006
EUGENE, Ore. — Paul Thompson's missions are many. Win. Master the quarterback position after a year in Flankerland. Go to class, don't fall out of pickups, stay clear of Big Red Sports/Imports. And did we mention win?
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A multi-layered assignment that can be reduced to one simple function: End Bob Stoops' quarterback slump. The Sooners have been whiffing at football's most important position.
Stoops hasn't recruited a quarterback keeper since 1999, when he and Mike Leach brought in all three QBs who over a five-year span guided the Sooners to 60 wins and all kinds of hardware.
Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl, Jason White. White won a Heisman, Heupel darn near did and Hybl spent two years on an NFL roster.
All three were tough, talented and flying-color passers in character. None had a smooth road to Sooner glory. Hybl came from another school. Heupel came from two. White blew out two knees.
They were quality quarterbacks, don't doubt it. But they had good heads to go with those good-not-great arms. 'Twas a mother lode of a quarterback class.
And somewhere, Stoops lost his way. Since '99, OU has recruited blue-chip, not blue-collar, quarterbacks. Since '99, OU has landed three recruit-to-the-death quarterbacks, coveted by all. None panned out and none for football reasons.
Brent Rawls was a numbskull even before he tumbled out of the truck. Tommy Grady found academic trouble and transferred. Rhett Bomar, you know about.
And so Stoops still seeks a QB success story from this century, recruited without the help of Leach, who stayed only that '99 season before starting his own quarterback mill in Lubbock.
Perhaps Thompson ends the drought.
We certainly will know more come Saturday, when Oregon's Autzen Stadium will baptize Tall Paul in a way Alabama-Birmingham and Washington could not.
This much we know. Thompson, no hotshot quarterback recruit out of Leander, Texas, belongs more to the Heupel family of quarterbacks than the Bomar lineage.
"The thing that's interesting to me is their team is so solidly behind him when he wasn't their quarterback last year," said Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, whose previous two teams played against White (2004) and Bomar (2005). "That shows to me that he has that something special that earns the respect of his teammates."
Hey, I was a big Bomar fan. I thought he was going to be a star.
But there's something to this notion that the abstract — character, leadership, dependability — count as much as cannon arm, quick release and field vision.
OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said the best NFL quarterbacks have intangibles like intelligence and great work ethic.
"Look at the Montanas, Tom Brady ... I think teams rally around those guys," Wilson said. "I think sometimes the last thing you need to be a great quarterback is a strong arm."
Let's be clear. We're not saying every eagle scout should earn a huddle command. You've still got to make throws and plays. But if you have to compromise, cling to the character side and let the physical plums slide.
"If you have those qualities and the other stuff, you have a special player," Wilson said. "But no matter how talented you are, if you don't have that internal makeup, there's always going to be some bumps in the road."
Thompson's talent does not match the '99 trio's. His throwing motion is not quite as natural. But no one ever has questioned Thompson's character and leadership, and better yet, he's had great mentors. Thompson backed up both Hybl (2002) and White (2003-04), and Thompson's quarterback coach now is Heupel.
Thompson has lived OU quarterback history in the Stoops era.
"Hopefully he can continue to develop like those guys did," Stoops said. "Can it all happen? We'll see. But I believe Paul has a chance to be very, very good if the players around him will play that way."
Stoops said OU's quarterback recruiting hasn't changed over the years. The whole staff scouts for prospects, then Stoops, the coordinator and the QB coach zero in on the sale of those deemed Sooner-worthy.
But while Leach has gone to Texas Tech and annually trotted out quality quarterbacks who weren't necessarily recruiting jewels, Stoops and staff keep recruiting fool's gold.
Thompson can change that. And if he does, it's one more sign that OU should lay aside the stopwatches, tape measures and blue-chip lists when it comes to recruiting quarterbacks.
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