Adversity and Potts / Keenum

by bmaxw on Oct 26, 2009 8:52 PM CDT Comment 5 comments

The A&M game made me sit back and think about the process of going from HS football to D-1

It has been hard for me understand the struggles that Taylor has had this year, he was a stellar QB on a great Abilene High Football team. I then came to this realization; the AHS team was one of the top 4 teams in Texas 5A football while Taylor was leading the team. He had an OL that averaged 275 and were multiyear starters. AHS also had a very good D. AHS is storied program with a rich history. You will note that being an elite 5A program limits their ability to play quality opponents during predistrict games.

2004
	Season (12-1) District (5-0) Coach: Steve Warren
ABI		OPP
56	Lubbock Monterey	0
59	San Angelo Central	6
63	Brownwood	14
44	Belton	0
19	Shreveport (LA) Evangel	14
59	Odessa*	14
52	Midland*	14
35	Odessa Permian*	7
35	Abilene Cooper*	14
20	Midland Lee*	17
45	North Crowley - Bi District 5A-II	21
35	EP Montwood - Area 5A-II	18
30	Southlake Carroll - Regional 5A-II	35
552	TOTALS	174

	2005
	Season (12-1) District (5-0) Coach: Steve Warren
ABI		OPP
37	Lubbock Monterey	14
48	San Angelo Central	7
17	Brownwood	15
24	Belton	17
33	Kansas City (MO) Rockhurst	14
28	Odessa*	7
31	Midland*	20
45	Odessa Permian*	21
40	Abilene Cooper*	0
49	Midland Lee*	27
49	Weatherford - Bi-District 5A-II	14
28	Lub Monterey - Area 5A-II	21
0	Southlake Carroll - Reg 5A-II	52
430	TOTALS	229

You can see that he faced very little adversity until running into Southlake Carroll. There is no doubt that Taylor has the physical gifts and the intelligence to be a D-1 QB but his HS experience did not give him the chance to develop the mental skills needed to make something out of a bad situation.

Case Keenum Played at 3A Abilene Wylie. Once again a storied program that is always a playoff contender. The difference here is that Wylie almost always plays 4A schools in predistrict, if not, then it is a 3A school of equal or better talent. They never schedule an opponent from 2A . They will face Adversity and some times lose. The year that Case lead Wylie to a state championship they lost to an outstanding Decatur team in predistrict and then beat them in the playoffs. At Houston Case has been forced to face adversity from the start, high levels of competition with in the program, coaching changes, ect....

Adversity must be experience to be over come, and having the confidence to overcome it on a regular basis can only come from repeated failure.

"Success represents the 1% of your work which results from the 99% that is called failure" Soichiro Honda.

Unfortunately for Taylor this year is his time to face adversity and the unforgiving nature of D1 will not allow a long learning curve. None of us know if he has the mental skills to read Ds faster and see where openings are about to happen instead of seeing what is happening right now. I would not bet against him.
This also brings into question the way D1 teams recruit. Case was over looked due to his size and the fact that he played 3A. I have no doubt that of the three Taylor County D1 QB's (Potts, McCoy, Keenum) Keenum is the best. Texas's struggles on offence this year are largely rooted in McCoy's inability to deal with pressure well.
So what qualities should be most valued in a D1 QB?
Does a Tech QB need different talents than QBs at other programs?
Does a QB of equal physical talent but who played at a less successful program have a advantage?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Double-T Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Double-T Nation's writers or editors.

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Nice layout bmaxw

I think Taylor has another step up moment in his quiver as well. As earlier stated he didn’t look well to me as I observed him during warmup and as the 1st quarter unfolded. I would hate to think we are risking his future health over a game. Never the less like Seth I am attached to these players. Good luck Bro.

"do routine things routinely"

by centexraider on Oct 26, 2009 9:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I gotta believe being a winner is what counts. It makes me sick to the theses “combine warriors” with all the physical attributes go in the first round while the Zach Thomases, Wes Welkers who have proven over and over that they won’t accecpt defeat get overlooked. I’ll give McCoy one thing, all he knows how to do is win, alot like Chase Daniel, Graham Harrell. I don’t know what’s up with Potts, but most the time the winners win and won’t accept anything else. My hometown was a tiny 2A (now 1A) and we simply couldn’t physically field a competitive football team, but we were awesome at basketball and baseball. I and my compadres would not accept failure and I’ve carried that through my life having my own law office and tackling all the obstacles along the way. I think winners win so I know TP will be a successful citizen, I just can’t explain his malaise.

by Plano Jeff on Oct 26, 2009 10:45 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What town was that?

My dad coached and it seemed like everywhere we left ended up playing 6-man football not long after. Off the top of my head, at least 4 were 1A/2A when we were there and are 6-man now. One school doesn’t even exist anymore.

by TracySaulRulz on Oct 27, 2009 9:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahh the memories!

Yep I graduated from Decatur, I believe it was my sophomore year, we whooped Abilene Wylie 44-7 the first game, and the playoff game was a thriller, Keenum was obviously at a different level. You can imagine what it was like watching him do it all over against tech this time.

by bliztix on Oct 27, 2009 2:33 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Potts in high school

Here’s the interesting thing. I grew up in Abilene and although I had moved long before Potts was in school, my dad followed them a little. He told me Potts was actually pretty mobile as a HS QB. I know most would find that hard to believe, but that is my understanding.

I think we’ll find out about Potts and others against Kansas and then Ok St. I know several are ready to move on and I don’t blame them. But you’d hope Potts would learn from this adversity and push himself that much harder hoping to get another shot at some point. Guess the optimist in me wants to see all of our guys do well and have success.

by imisswesttexas on Oct 27, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs