Kentucky co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw doesn’t expect his signal callers to be perfect but wants them to be on target.
“He has to have a motion and can throw the ball accurately,” he said. “I’m very picky with that.”
Hinshaw believes having a proper throwing motion is the key top being a successful quarterback at any level, including the National Football League.
“I’ve studied motion for a long time,” he said. “Looking at the NFL guys, the ones that have success, (that’s) what they all have in common. The ones that didn’t have success didn’t have it in common. Through the process, I’ve been able to recruit really good quarterbacks.”
Hinshaw said Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and New Orleans Saints veteran Drew Brees are two examples of quarterbacks who display the traits he’s looking for in a signal caller at Kentucky.
“Aaron Rodgers has unbelievable motion,” he said. “All my film I do everything off of is from Drew Brees. His footwork — and I’ve got (film of him) when he was at Purdue doing all the drills. Peyton Manning has very good motion. Tom Brady has very good motion. That’s what they call them gunslingers. The guys that have success have good motion and that’s why they have good success.”
Hinshaw said the most successful teams in the NFL and even college football have a good quarterback. Although he will have to eventually settle on a starter, Hinshaw wants his backups to be ready when called upon next fall.
“You look at teams that have success in the NFL, they have good quarterbacks,” he said. “That’s the way it is in the college game now. You can hang in there, but at the end of the day, you usually don’t win. Quarterback play is huge.
“The idea isn’t to develop one guy who is ready to play. The idea is to develop everyone to be ready to play. I would like to have three guys that I’m able to play. I would love to have three.”
Aside from delivery, Hinshaw spends his time working on other aspects of a quarterback’s game, including footwork and calling plays.
“I can fix your feet and make you somewhat fast, I can get your hips and your shoulder going in the right direction, I can fix your eyes and train you how to read defenses,” he said. “We spend hours in the film room. I can do a lot of things. But the motion, someone has been throwing (the same way) for 20 years of their life, you’re not going to change their motion, you don’t have time. There are certain things I’m looking for and if they don’t have them, I’m going to go to the next guy.”
Although he follows certain criteria when it comes to picking a starting quarterback, Hinshaw wants all of his signal callers to be unified.
“We’re all rooting together. We all play for the University of Kentucky,” he said. We don’t play for just yourself or for individual goals and all that kind of stuff. If you take that mentality into it and everybody gets better every single day and work together and do that, you can develop multiple quarterbacks to be ready, go out and compete.”
Game tracker: Spring football game, noon, Saturday, April 19. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 98.1 FM WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com