The Birth of a New Position ⚡️ the “Thorterback”
Feb 24, 2023 3:16 pm
Coach ,
Jason Beck, the offensive coordinator and QB coach at Syracuse had an experience as a coach in 2013 that birthed a new position in his offense.
It wasnt the pro style quarterback.
It wasn’t the dual threat.
It was a new type of player - part quarterback- part super hero…
The “Thorterback.”
In 2013 then BYU quarterback Taysom Hill played Texas and runs for 250+ yards with the team rushing for 500+ yards. After the game, which is around the time the Marvel Comics movie “Thor" came out, Mack Brown said we just got beat by Thor tonight.
It happened again in 2014 against a new Texas staff, and there was reference to Thor again. For Coach Beck it sparked the idea and the “Thorterback” was born.
He tells the story in this video (click on images for video):
Video: Birth of the Thorterback
For Coach Beck, the offense they build each year is with the quarterback (most who have been a Thorterback). He said, “How do we play to his strengths? It’s the #1 thing.”
He wants to build around what that guy can do to score points and have success.
He started his presentation at the NYSHSFCA Clinic with that example, explaining that what you saw on film was done with minimal coaching because the offense was built for the Thorterback.
Coach talks about one simple rule that is worth noting. When do you coach him to slide and when to beat the defender. The rule is simple. If it is one guy beat him. If there are more that one, get down. Thorterback Taysom Hill beats one and stiff arms another in this video:
For Taysom Hill, accelerating and moving while unloading the ball was just a natural ability that made it very tough on the defense placing stress on not getting numbered on the perimter with having to stop the best runner on the field. Here’s Taysom offloading the ball while on the run:
Like coach said when he was first watching film, he saw the ability at Syracuse to build around a Thorterback.
Be sure to take a look around. Do you have one of these guys in your program? Maybe it’s time to make him a super hero.
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski