HERITAGE: Carson Palmer, left background, and Matt Leinart, right background, led the way for the surge of Orange County quarterbacks to prominence, and Edison's Nick Crissman, left foreground, and Mater Dei's Matt Barkley, right foreground, have followed. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RICK NGOC HO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
O.C. solidifies status as hotbed of quarterbacks
Crissman and Barkley follow the lead of Heisman winners Palmer and Leinart.
Some people say quarterbacks are made and not born. In Orange County, they are born to be made.
Over the past 30 years there have been several notable quarterbacks to come out of the area: Steve Beuerlein of Servite, Todd Marinovich of Capistrano Valley, the Johnson brothers — Rob and Bret — of El Toro, and many more. And the county’s storied history extends at least to Mater Dei’s John Huarte, who won the 1964 Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame.
But in the past 10 years, that list of quarterback recruits, many of whom have found homes on the Register’s Fab 15 team that honors the top senior prospects in the West and thrived beyond high school, has gotten much longer. And much better.
Carson Palmer starred at Santa Margarita through 1997 before winning the Heisman at USC and becoming one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mater Dei alumnus Matt Leinart also won the Heisman at USC – making Mater Dei the only high school with two Heisman-winning quarterbacks – and was drafted with the No. 10 overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2006.
Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, also a product of Mater Dei, broke the NCAA touchdown record and finished third in the Heisman voting two months ago.
On Wednesday, Fab 15 second-teamer Nick Crissman (Edison) will sign with UCLA and could compete for its starting position in the fall.
Five-star recruits Mark Sanchez (Mission Viejo) and Aaron Corp (Orange Lutheran) are already at USC and will be vying for the starting spot this spring.
Matt Barkley (Mater Dei), the top-rated recruit in the class of 2009 and a leading candidate for next year’s Fab 15 team, committed two weeks ago and is expected to join them next year.
And the 2009 class also will include Los Alamitos’ Clark Evans and Mission Viejo’s Allan Bridgford, both of whom are attracting serious attention already.
“In Texas they’re known for linemen, in Florida they’re known for speed, in California, they’re known for quarterback play,” said Greg Biggins, director of recruiting at studentsports.com.
“No. 1, they can throw year-round here. No. 2, they’re getting good coaching. And No. 3, the offenses out here are more sophisticated than anywhere else. They’re throwing in true passing offenses.”
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel and USC coach Pete Carroll mentioned two more factors:
“We’re in a high-density population area, so you’re going to have numbers,” Neuheisel said.
“Then, you have a lineage that allows kids to aspire to try to follow in the footsteps of a Carson Palmer or some of the guys even before Carson,” Carroll said. “You’ve got a large amount of guys coming out of there now setting the bar for the guys behind them.”
HERE A COACH, THERE A COACH
Palmer did not grow up in Orange County. His father’s job as a financial planner moved the Palmers from Fresno to Colorado Springs and back to Fresno.
They did not settle into Laguna Niguel until Carson was in the seventh grade. After watching his son win the starting spot on his Junior All-American team, Bill Palmer followed up on a magazine ad for a quarterback coach.
Bob Johnson, not yet the coach of Mission Viejo, said he remembers Carson as “a tall, thin guy that didn’t even know how to grip a ball, tripping over his feet.”
Over the next two years Johnson improved Carson to the point that Bill, after landing a great job on the East Coast, agreed to commute each fall weekend from New York (and later Boston) while his wife and children stayed in Orange County.
And it was worth every trip.
“The first week of the first year at USC when Paul Hackett was here, he had the incoming freshmen out there for three days before any of the others,” Bill said. “Afterward he came up to me and said, ‘I’ve never seen a kid this age with these good of fundamentals.’ That’s all Bob.”
In the late 1990s, Johnson, a former college quarterback, started the Elite 11 camp, selecting top quarterback recruits each year from all over the country. Leinart, Brennan, Sanchez and Crissman all have participated.
Johnson, who works alongside sons Bret and Rob, both of whom played professionally, is one of many options.
Former Mater Dei quarterback Nick Stremick works with Crissman about every other week and has also worked with Barkley.
Then there’s Steve Clarkson, a former college and professional quarterback and one of the most recognized private instructors in the nation. Clarkson began his business in 1986 and said it began to flourish around 1990. He has tutored Leinart, Brennan and Barkley, and hundreds of professional and college quarterbacks.
While Clarkson will look to develop a quarterback’s motion, release and footwork, he said a quarterback’s high school coach cannot be overlooked.
“We’re just one part of the equation,” he said. “It still filters to the high school coach. He’s with them 90 percent of the time. He has to put them in the position to succeed.”
It is no wonder Los Alamitos, Edison and Mater Dei consistently produce some of the county’s best quarterbacks. Their head coaches — in the case of Mater Dei, this includes quarterbacks coach Dave Money — have all been with their programs since the ’80s.
Money is the everyday presence for Barkley, who became the first junior to win the Gatorade National Player of the Year award. Barkley also works with the retired Bill Cunerty, who coached in the county for 30 years and co-authored a book on the quarterback position. And let’s not forget Dana Hills coach Brent Melbon, who gave Barkley his first lessons as a sixth grader when he had yet to throw a football.
WEATHER OR NOT
Crissman tossed the pigskin around for an hour yesterday. He will do it for another hour today, and another hour tomorrow. Crissman said he has been doing this for three years now. Even if it rains, this still is Southern California – Crissman will find a time to get his hour in.
“It’s the weather. The kids (can) go out and do it on their own,” Johnson said. “The private coaches will come out because of the weather. I couldn’t do this in Montana, Oregon, Washington.”
Quarterbacks spend their winter throwing at their own leisure, their spring in camp and throwing some more, and their summer in seven-on-seven passing leagues. The climate practically begs for a pass-happy approach.
Jeremy Crabtree, recruiting editor for rivals.com, said aside from certain areas in Texas and Florida, nowhere else are complex reads and routes more common than in Orange County.
“I think it’s clear in that part of the state quarterback is the prime position,” said Crabtree, who sees prep football throughout the country. “The kids from Orange County seem to do a little extra.”
CRADLE ROBBING
Today, the college football world awaits the signing of the consensus No. 1 recruit of 2008, Terrelle Pryor. Some are calling the quarterback the greatest athlete to come out of western Pennsylvania.
A generation ago, Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly all came from there, as did Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas and George Blanda, a generation before them. The region became known as the “cradle of quarterbacks.”
Is Orange County due for a nickname soon?
Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com
