The Tebow Effect

Quarterbacks who not only possess pinpoint

accuracy but also can run over a linebacker are becoming all the rage

Posted: Wednesday February 13, 2008 2:17PM

The crewcut-topped high school junior blew away the field at a camp in Tallahassee, Fla., in May 2005. He ran the 40 in 4.69 seconds and the agility shuttle in 4.16 seconds. He bench-pressed 185 pounds 38 times, and he jumped 32 inches from a standstill. His Sparq Rating -- a statistic that combines measurements of speed, strength and power -- was 96.9, off the charts for a quarterback.

Some 31 months later Tim Tebow was holding the Heisman Trophy, the result of a sophomore season at Florida during which the 6' 3" 235-pounder accounted for 55 touchdowns (32 passing, 23 rushing). On national Signing Day, evidence of the Tebow Effect was everywhere.
Four programs anxiously awaited a decision from Jeannette (Pa.) High's Terrelle Pryor. At 6' 4", 220 pounds, signee MarQueisGray of Ben Davis High in Indianapolis had Minnesota coaches envisioning touchdowns through the air and by land. Other schools were also beaming at having landed strong-armed quarterbacking behemoths who can drop their shoulder and bowl over a defender. Dayne Crist from Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, Calif., stands 6' 5", weighs 228 pounds and runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds. After a year in the weight room Crist will probably be bigger than most linebackers he'll face while playing for Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.
At Florida State, offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher would love for E.J. Manuel of Virginia Beach to emulate JaMarcus Russell, whom Fisher coached at LSU. Manuel has the size (6' 5", 220) and the arm, and he averaged 9.5 yards a carry as a senior at Bayside High.
Coaches are already looking ahead to next year, scouring the nation for a big, agile speedster with a rocket arm and the strength of an ox. The search has led some to Los Alamitos (Calif.) High, where 6' 4", 210-pound Clark Evans throws from the shotgun and runs single-wing plays. It has taken others to Western Branch High in Chesapeake, Va. Meet Kevin Newsome, a 6' 3", 215-pound premier hurdler with a bazooka for an arm.
As a freshman backup, Newsome ran single-wing plays out of the shotgun in short-yardage situations. Before last season newly promoted coach Scott Johnson installed the spread, and Newsome accounted for about 50% of the Bruins' offense.
Sound familiar? Tebow played linebacker and tight end as a freshman at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. Then he transferred to Nease High in Ponte Vedra, where coach Craig Howard saw him as the perfect quarterback for his spread attack. As a freshman at Florida, Tebow often spelled Chris Leak in short-yardage and goal line situations.
Newsome already has scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, Penn State and other schools, and Johnson entertained Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer two weeks ago. "Most [college coaches] are saying they're looking for two quarterbacks -- a drop-back and a dual threat," Johnson says. "A lot of it revolves around Tim Tebow. They saw what you can do with a player like that."

Single-Wing QB/RB/WR Offensive Player of The Year

All-County Football
Players of year stand out in sea of talent
Apopka's Jeremy Gallon and Boone's Jamarcus Allen can be hard to handle.
Zach McCann

Sentinel Staff Writer

January 13, 2008

When Central Florida's two best football teams, Boone and Apopka, met on Dec. 7 in a state semifinal, both teams were trying to negate the other team's biggest strength.

Boone, which won 21-18, aimed to shut down Jeremy Gallon, Apopka's versatile quarterback/running back/wide receiver/defensive back.

"We knew for us to beat them, we couldn't let him run," Boone Coach Phil Ziglar said. "Our whole plan was to keep him bottled up as much as possible and not give him a lane to run in. If you let him out on the corner, he's going to really hurt you."

Apopka, meanwhile, planned to run plays away from Jamarcus Allen, Boone's monstrous and athletic defensive tackle.

"We noticed him on film without a doubt," said Rick Darlington, Apopka's coach. "He'd make plays on the sweep, plays up the middle and plays on the sack. He made plays all over the field and was a force we'd have to reckon with."

Both players forced opposing teams to adapt to them. And even when opponents based their game plans around stopping Gallon and Allen, they couldn't.

That's why the two have been chosen the Sentinel's offensive and defensive football players of the year for Orange County.

Gallon, a junior, ran for more than 1,600 yards and passed for more than 1,100 this year. He threw eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, completing 55 percent of his passes.

Pretty good for a player who never took a snap at quarterback before this year.

"We didn't know what he was going to be able to do," Darlington said. "That's why we installed the single-wing offense, where you snap directly to someone and let them run.

"As the year went on, we realized what he could do throwing the ball and started to run the spread offense. He was very efficient, very smart and a big-play player."

And he did so much more than play quarterback. He ran the ball, caught passes and played well in the secondary.

In Apopka's second-round playoff victory against Edgewater, Gallon rushed for 257 yards, caught a touchdown pass and covered Edgewater's best receiver the whole game.

"Jeremy Gallon may be the best player that's every played at Apopka," Darlington said of the school that was home to NFL players Warren Sapp and Brandon Meriweather.

Allen, a senior, anchored Central Florida's top scoring defense (allowing 7.2 points per game in the regular season), pairing with fellow lineman Johnell Thomas to blow up run plays and harass the quarterback.

Allen finished with eight sacks, 14 hurries and 135 tackles for the state runner-up Braves.

"He was always around the ball," Ziglar said of Allen, who also was chosen as the Sentinel's Central Florida defensive player of the year. "If he didn't make the tackle, he was always right next to the ball no matter where it was at."

Allen is considering offers from Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky, Syracuse and Tennessee.

===========================
Orlando Sentinel

"Hybrid Wing"

Many Single-wing teams have bolstered their attacks with the Jet & Rocket sweeps. Many have also blended portions of the wide-open 4-wide passing attack to enhance the great running attack. The "Hybrid Wing" attack has morphed into a very diverse attack.

Below is a series of video from a version of the Hybrid Wing:

Speed Sweep



Reverse



Power



Power



Waggle



QB Counter



QB Sweep



QB Trap



TB Counter





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Florida QB Tebow Makes Heisman History

Florida QB Tebow Makes Heisman History

posted 3:18 am Sun December 09, 2007 - NEW YORK from ABC 7 News -

Tim Tebow took a few deep breaths, steadied himself, then plowed through his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech much the same way he takes on tacklers - fast and furious. In rapid fire, Florida's sophomore quarterback thanked everyone he could think of, some of them twice. When it came time to take hold of the 25-pound bronze statue, he looked as if he wasn't sure whether he should run with the prize or throw it. He does both so well.

Florida's folk-hero quarterback with the rugged running style and magnetic personality became the first sophomore to win the Heisman on Saturday night.

"I am fortunate, fortunate for a lot of things," Tebow said. "God truly blessed me and this just adds on. It's an honor. I'm so happy to be here."

Since 1935, when Jay Berwanger of Chicago won the first Heisman, every winner had been a junior or senior - until Tebow, who picked up quite a souvenir on his first trip to New York.

"It's surreal a little bit," he said. "It's just overwhelming."

He beat out Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons. Tebow received 1,957 points and 462 first-place votes to McFadden's 1,703 points and 291 first-place votes.

"I think it's awesome you're known forever as a Heisman Trophy winner," Tebow said.

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was third, and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel fourth.

A year after Tebow helped Florida win a national title, and in his first season as the Gators' starter, the chiseled 235-pound quarterback in a fullback's body put together a historic campaign. He's the first major college player to run for 20 touchdowns and throw 20 TD passes in the same season.

Tebow had both his parents and all four siblings with him in New York. Mom and Dad got hugs after his name was called.

"It was cool to have them all there," Tebow said. "I haven't had a chance to hug them all yet but I am looking forward to that."

In an unpredictable college football season, the Heisman race was as unsettled as the national title chase. Tebow emerged as the front-runner even though Florida (9-3) stumbled early.

Six of the last seven Heisman winners picked up their bronze statues on the way to playing in the national championship game. Tebow won't get that chance this season, but Heisman voters didn't hold Florida's failure to defend its national title against him.

McFadden slumped in October before finishing with a huge November, capping his season with a spectacular performance - 206 yards rushing, three touchdowns and a TD pass - in the Razorbacks' 50-48 triple-overtime win over No. 1 LSU. It seems doubtful the junior with sprinter's speed will return to Arkansas next year to make another run at the Heisman. Not with some NFL team likely to make him a top-10 draft pick.

"I'm just proud to be here again," McFadden said.

Brennan and Daniel each passed for over 4,000 yards and led their teams to breakout seasons.

But no player was more important to his team than Tebow.

The closest he came to a bad game came in a 28-24 loss at LSU, when he completed 12 of 26 passes for 158 yards, throwing for two scores and running for another. He finished with a school-record 3,970 yards of total offense and accounted for 51 touchdowns.

Simply put, he's the perfect quarterback for coach Urban Meyer's spread-option offense.

"I've heard the word system. I've got news, that's got nothing to do with Heisman trophies and great offenses," Meyer said. "Tim Tebow can run whatever offense he needs to run."

Florida fans might argue Tebow is just plain perfect.

Tebowisms have become all the rage with Gators fans on the Internet. A sampling: Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas. Tim Tebow has counted to infinity ... twice. Tim Tebow ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.

And if joining Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel as the only Florida players to win the Heisman Trophy wasn't enough to make Tebow the most popular man in Gainesville, there's one more reason for Gators fans to be excited: the promise of two more years of Tebow, who has said he has no plans to leave school after his junior season.

Tebow idolized Wuerffel, and the former Gator was the first Heisman winner the new member of the club hugged when he went to accept the trophy.

"That was special," Tebow said. "He was a big role model for me growing up."

The legend of Tebow started at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where he once finished a game playing on a broken leg.

Homeschooled by missionary parents who run an orphanage in the Philippines, Tebow took advantage of a Florida state law to play for Nease, about 90 miles from the University of Florida campus.

Tebow has worked and preached at his parents' orphanage since he was 15. He regularly speaks at schools and delivered his message of faith at a prison in Florida earlier this year.

"Tim Tebow is the real American hero," said Tebow's high school football coach, Craig Howard. "He's the real deal."

Tebow arrived in Gainesville with superstar status, and Gators fans could hardly wait to see their quarterback of the future.

In a part-time role as a complement to Chris Leak, Tebow played with a fiery passion. He bowled over defenders and bounced around the field, fists pumping and arms waving.

He ran for 469 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman, throwing only enough to take advantage of defenses stacked to stop him from running.

This season, the Gators became Tebow's team and at times he was a one-man offense.

He completed 68 percent of his attempts for 3,132 yards and 29 touchdowns and continued to run with reckless abandon, even while playing the second half of the season with a very sore shoulder.

Compensating for the Gators' lack of a reliable tailback, Tebow led Florida with 838 yards rushing and set a Southeastern Conference record with 22 touchdowns. With speed and a strong arm to go with his power and grit, Tebow is part throwback to the days of single-wing football and part 21st century prototype for the position.

Add winning the Heisman as a sophomore, and Tebow is truly one of a kind.

ABC 7 News -- NEW YORK