The Heaps Reclamation Project

[kccougar]

Except one fact everyone wants to forget. Riley outperformed Jake in last year's spring game.

Yeah, and that was truely a sign of things to come when Riley willed the white team to an overtime victory against the 1st stringers.

[ERCougar]

Ugh....I hate this Nelson vs Heaps argument so I'll probably regret saying anything but I still haven't heard a good reason why a bad coordinator or situation would make a good quarterback consistently throw into the dirt on a simple out pattern.

[Surfah]

Ugh....I hate this Nelson vs Heaps argument so I'll probably regret saying anything but I still haven't heard a good reason why a bad coordinator or situation would make a good quarterback consistently throw into the dirt on a simple out pattern.

Bad coordinators consistently call plays that their QBs struggle with.

[ERCougar]

Bad coordinators consistently call plays that their QBs struggle with.

That is not a play that a good QB with his arm strength with his arm strength should struggle with.

[MarkGrace]

That is not a play that a good QB with his arm strength with his arm strength should struggle with.

Sure it is. When a kid loses his confidence that's what happens. On the best days pitching it feels like you can reach out and drop the ball in the catcher's glove. On the worst it feels like you're in an island in the middle of the pacific and the catcher is 100 miles away. But the distance to home is always the same. That sort of thing.

[ERCougar]

Sure it is. When a kid loses his confidence that's what happens. On the best days pitching it feels like you can reach out and drop the ball in the catcher's glove. On the worst it feels like you're in an island in the middle of the pacific and the catcher is 100 miles away. But the distance to home is always the same. That sort of thing.

I've seen you use this analogy before and having never been a pitcher or a a QB, I guess I can't really argue with you. It seems to me like the best way to to get your confidence back is to throw a few easy ones. What should Doman have done? Maybe we should have gotten the other DC in on the plan.

I think your trying to place it vs just relaxing and throwing it analogy works much better for Heaps.

[jay santos]

Heaps really sucked last year. It might be because he's not a good D1 QB and never will be. It might be due to extenuating factors, including crappy coaching.

Nelson was good (not great) in relief. Good enough that it resulted in a very reasonable coaching decision to establish him as the starting QB.

This decision did not sit well with Heaps and those who advise him, which resulted in a personality conflict that made it impossible for Heaps to endure the situation at BYU and resume his career as starting QB after Nelson, which is what the coaches wanted.

All in all, a very unfortunate series of events for Heaps fans and BYU fans.

Heaps succeeding or failing at Kansas is a completely different story and will vindicate neither his supporters nor critics.

End of story.

[Surfah]

I've seen you use this analogy before and having never been a pitcher or a a QB, I guess I can't really argue with you. It seems to me like the best way to to get your confidence back is to throw a few easy ones. What should Doman have done? Maybe we should have gotten the other DC in on the plan.

I think your trying to place it vs just relaxing and throwing it analogy works much better for Heaps.

What you said. Call some easy plays. Most OCs script their offense for the first two or three series. If Doman did that I sure couldn't tell or he was terrible at it. Outs typically are not easy passes. They require good timing and a strong throw. It's a play that can be jumped for a pick 6 rather easily if not executed like Oregon State did to Riley.

I fully expect Doman to improve as a play caller and I think he did a bit as the season progressed. But he sucked last year at it. I am not sure many can argue with that. At the very least I think many expected Doman to not struggle as much as he did.

[MarkGrace]

I've seen you use this analogy before and having never been a pitcher or a a QB, I guess I can't really argue with you. It seems to me like the best way to to get your confidence back is to throw a few easy ones. What should Doman have done? Maybe we should have gotten the other DC in on the plan.

I think your trying to place it vs just relaxing and throwing it analogy works much better for Heaps.

I use the analogy because I've been there. Throwing a football and throwing a baseall aren't exactly the same, but they share similarities, one of which you mentioned in the last sentence, and that comes from confidence/comfortability/rhythm. When you have the physical tools and are capable of making certain throws, the line between doing it well and doing it poorly is very thin -- even on the really easy ones. I've seen guys go from not being able to find the zone at all to dominating just like the flip of a swithc.

I don't buy the line that Heaps is a pussy and afraid of contact and can't do it in games. I know we've all seen this differently, but this is what I saw:

- Heaps under Anae not afraid to get hit, looks comfortable in the pocket, by the end of the season making all throws with supreme accuracy, etc.

- Heaps first handful of games with a coordinator that has no idea what he's doing and he's out there running bootlegs (as a lead-footed QB), a bunch of PA's (with no running game) where he can't see the field, etc., etc. He looks scared shitless, totally uncomfortable, totally out-of-sync.

- Heaps comes back after being benched later in the year* when coordinator is running things closer to Anae where everything is in front of him. Magically doesn't look afraid to get hit anymore, looks fine under pressure, making throws, etc.

Coordinator looks back at his first season a month ago and says he failed Heaps. Says that to begin the year he had an offense that wasn't ready to play, an offense that had no identity, an offense that was overcomplicated, etc. Based on what I saw I have no problem agreeing with him.

*I realize there's an argument to be made here about quality of competition, but as discussed a million times, I don't buy it much.

[Shaka]

What you said. Call some easy plays. Most OCs script their offense for the first two or three series. If Doman did that I sure couldn't tell or he was terrible at it. Outs typically are not easy passes. They require good timing and a strong throw. It's a play that can be jumped for a pick 6 rather easily if not executed like Oregon State did to Riley.

I fully expect Doman to improve as a play caller and I think he did a bit as the season progressed. But he sucked last year at it. I am not sure many can argue with that. At the very least I think many expected Doman to not struggle as much as he did.

Jake was wiffing on quick outs which are about as easy as it gets. I believe he had confidence, coaching, and preparation issues that ultimately did him in.

[Shaka]

Heaps really sucked last year. It might be because he's not a good D1 QB and never will be. It might be due to extenuating factors, including crappy coaching.

Nelson was good (not great) in relief. Good enough that it resulted in a very reasonable coaching decision to establish him as the starting QB.

This decision did not sit well with Heaps and those who advise him, which resulted in a personality conflict that made it impossible for Heaps to endure the situation at BYU and resume his career as starting QB after Nelson, which is what the coaches wanted.

All in all, a very unfortunate series of events for Heaps fans and BYU fans.

Heaps succeeding or failing at Kansas is a completely different story and will vindicate neither his supporters nor critics.

End of story.

This is one of the better takes I've read on the Heaps fiasco. The last line especially. I hope Jake kills it at Kansas but whether he does or doesn't will not change my opinion about what he did at BYU.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Ah geez. Not this again.

[Shaka]

Ah geez. Not this again.

It's a long, cold offseason. Wrubell is writing propaganda and there isn't much else to talk about.

[LA Ute]

Ah geez. Not this again.

I feel your pain. It's like Utah fans constantly revisiting the Boylen era and its sad end. Some things are just hard for fans to leave in the rear view mirror.

[Goatnapper'96]

Heaps really sucked last year. It might be because he's not a good D1 QB and never will be. It might be due to extenuating factors, including crappy coaching.

Nelson was good (not great) in relief. Good enough that it resulted in a very reasonable coaching decision to establish him as the starting QB.

This decision did not sit well with Heaps and those who advise him, which resulted in a personality conflict that made it impossible for Heaps to endure the situation at BYU and resume his career as starting QB after Nelson, which is what the coaches wanted.

All in all, a very unfortunate series of events for Heaps fans and BYU fans.

Heaps succeeding or failing at Kansas is a completely different story and will vindicate neither his supporters nor critics.

End of story.

I like Doman and think he will do well at BYU. I aggree with much of what you say but I do think that if Jake succeeds elsewhere it is an indictment of how Jake was handled from a coaching perspective.

When BYU fans were nocturnally emitting over Anae being run off I warned them to be careful what they wish for. I also warned that when Chow was run off. I also warned that when Cleveland was run off - so it ain't like I am always right! Just "mostly" right!

Point is this, when the dust settles and Brandon Doman is one day the nipple hardening OC we all have a burning deep in our bosoms that he will be we can still honestly say that he had some learning pains and Jake Heaps might be a casualty of that even though there were some obvious mitigating issues outside of Brandon's control.

In fact I think the biggest indictment is on Bronco for not having the connections/clout/respect/pizazz/pinache/money to either get Anae to be what our ever insightful fanbase wanted or to hire someone who was not so raw.

But we are what we are and there is no reason crucifying ourselves thinking our program is anything more than it is.

The sad part is if Jake would have developed like we all thought he would and BYU experienced some good luck on the injury front this upcoming season, BYU really could have been good this season. I still think it will be a good year but if BYU had an NFL caliber experienced upperclassmen at qb, the alignment was there for a spectacular year. But it didn't materialize that way for Jake and we shall see how it materializes for BYU, I think many fans will be surprised with the team.