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Authors: Bruce Feldman
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Kelly said he was enamored with Manziel the first time he watched his highlight tape. “It’s one of the most impressive highlight tapes I’ve ever seen,” Kelly said. “I get that no one looks bad on a highlight tape, but usually a highlight tape is three or four minutes. His tape went on and on and on and on. You couldn’t believe it. There’s one sequence that is still vivid in my mind. He took a quarterback draw and went, like, 90 yards for a TD. But there was a hold, so they brought the play back. They literally called the exact same play, and he took it 95 yards for a touchdown. You’re just shaking your head, going, one guy can’t make this many big plays.”
In Eugene, Manziel wowed Kelly and his staff. So much so that Manziel was named MVP of the camp after the way the Texan thrived in what Kelly described as a hodgepodge 7-on-7 setup during their team camp.
“You could tell that he had a real good understanding and had a real good football mind,” Kelly said, adding that the direction in that setting was not very detailed. “You’re holding up a card. ‘Here are your routes. Go throw.’ I just wanna see guys react. Do they just get fixed in on one receiver? Can they just take a look at a basic concept and deliver the ball where it should be delivered based on how the defense is playing? He excelled at it.”
Kelly loved the fact that Manziel was a great all-around athlete—nearly a scratch golfer and such a good baseball prospect that the Ducks’ baseball staff was intrigued with him, too. Kelly knew that Manziel’s size might turn off some college coaches, but he’d hadsuccess with shorter quarterbacks before—provided they had big hands.
“I learned about the hand-size thing a long time ago from [longtime Boston College head coach] Jack Bicknell Sr., because he had Doug Flutie,” Kelly said. “That was a big thing he talked about. You can take a smaller quarterback, but does he have small hands? Well, we saw Johnny’s got big hands in terms of being able to handle the ball. I liked his motion, how he delivered it, and, obviously, athletically, he was special.”
Manziel and his family’s next stop was the Stanford camp, but before the Cardinal could make any pitch to the quarterback, Kelly called him. “We want you here at Oregon. This offense is tailor-made for you,” Kelly told Manziel, who was drawn to the Ducks’ potent system but also the “cool” factor of UO’s cutting-edge look.
Manziel committed to Oregon over the phone. He was actually the Ducks’ second QB to commit to play for Oregon in a month. Strong-armed Floridian Jerrard Randall had accepted a scholarship offer two weeks earlier. Then a couple of days after Manziel committed, yet another unheralded QB prospect, Marcus Mariota, a tall, slender Hawaiian with only one other college scholarship offer (Memphis), who took part in the same camp Manziel did, also told Kelly he was going to be a Duck.
“Give Oregon credit,” said Texas A&M director of football operations Gary Reynolds, a former longtime NFL administrator. “They pulled the trigger on Johnny at camp. We were missing on him. Texas was missing on him. A lot of folks down here were missing on him. The thing with Johnny is, he didn’t really shine at camp, because in camp you can’t tackle him or even try to tackle him.”
But Reynolds said that didn’t stop Rossley from trying to sell Sherman on the shorter QB.
“There is no one else,” Rossley said in a meeting after the Aggies camp. “
This
is the kid.”
Of course, verbal commitments, especially ones made months before February’s “National Signing Day,” are not binding. That’s why you’ll sometimes hear about recruits talking about being “70 percent committed.” College coaches also factor distance and local ties intothe recruiting process. Most recruiters often feel compelled to extend a scholarship offer just to “get in the boat” with a recruit rather than be seen by the
In Eugene, Manziel wowed Kelly and his staff. So much so that Manziel was named MVP of the camp after the way the Texan thrived in what Kelly described as a hodgepodge 7-on-7 setup during their team camp.
“You could tell that he had a real good understanding and had a real good football mind,” Kelly said, adding that the direction in that setting was not very detailed. “You’re holding up a card. ‘Here are your routes. Go throw.’ I just wanna see guys react. Do they just get fixed in on one receiver? Can they just take a look at a basic concept and deliver the ball where it should be delivered based on how the defense is playing? He excelled at it.”
Kelly loved the fact that Manziel was a great all-around athlete—nearly a scratch golfer and such a good baseball prospect that the Ducks’ baseball staff was intrigued with him, too. Kelly knew that Manziel’s size might turn off some college coaches, but he’d hadsuccess with shorter quarterbacks before—provided they had big hands.
“I learned about the hand-size thing a long time ago from [longtime Boston College head coach] Jack Bicknell Sr., because he had Doug Flutie,” Kelly said. “That was a big thing he talked about. You can take a smaller quarterback, but does he have small hands? Well, we saw Johnny’s got big hands in terms of being able to handle the ball. I liked his motion, how he delivered it, and, obviously, athletically, he was special.”
Manziel and his family’s next stop was the Stanford camp, but before the Cardinal could make any pitch to the quarterback, Kelly called him. “We want you here at Oregon. This offense is tailor-made for you,” Kelly told Manziel, who was drawn to the Ducks’ potent system but also the “cool” factor of UO’s cutting-edge look.
Manziel committed to Oregon over the phone. He was actually the Ducks’ second QB to commit to play for Oregon in a month. Strong-armed Floridian Jerrard Randall had accepted a scholarship offer two weeks earlier. Then a couple of days after Manziel committed, yet another unheralded QB prospect, Marcus Mariota, a tall, slender Hawaiian with only one other college scholarship offer (Memphis), who took part in the same camp Manziel did, also told Kelly he was going to be a Duck.
“Give Oregon credit,” said Texas A&M director of football operations Gary Reynolds, a former longtime NFL administrator. “They pulled the trigger on Johnny at camp. We were missing on him. Texas was missing on him. A lot of folks down here were missing on him. The thing with Johnny is, he didn’t really shine at camp, because in camp you can’t tackle him or even try to tackle him.”
But Reynolds said that didn’t stop Rossley from trying to sell Sherman on the shorter QB.
“There is no one else,” Rossley said in a meeting after the Aggies camp. “
This
is the kid.”
Of course, verbal commitments, especially ones made months before February’s “National Signing Day,” are not binding. That’s why you’ll sometimes hear about recruits talking about being “70 percent committed.” College coaches also factor distance and local ties intothe recruiting process. Most recruiters often feel compelled to extend a scholarship offer just to “get in the boat” with a recruit rather than be seen by the
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