This week, the Miami Dolphins hired Bill Lazor as the team's new offensive coordinator. Coming from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he served as the quarterbacks coach and was responsible for the development of Nick Foles, who finished the 2013 regular season as the top ranked player in passer rating, recording a 119.2 rate on the year, Lazor will be expected to not only spark a stagnant Miami offense, but develop third year quarterback Ryan Tannehill. What will Tannehill be doing in the team's quarterbacks room? New Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien gives us a brief look.
O'Brien, who spent the last two years as the head coach at Penn State, held a coaching seminar in 2013 at the Orlando Nike Coach of the Year Clinic, focusing on quarterback techniques and the empty passing game. During the seminar, O'Brien spoke about a discussion he had with Lazor about how to develop a quarterback in the film room.
The basic idea, as O'Brien explained, is to not just teach the quarterback, but to make sure that the coach knows the quarterback knows what to do. Essentially, the quarterback needs to stand in the meeting room, and play quarterback. He needs to be confronted with a defense, then point out the mike, make his reads, and call his cadence. The signal caller needs to walk through everything he would be doing if he were on the field. Then, the coach and the quarterback will know, they are on the same page.
With Lazor coming to Miami, this is what Tannehill should be expecting to do each and every week. And, if this technique worked for Foles, it should pay huge dividends for Tannehill and Miami this year.
If you would like to purchase the entire O'Brien lecture on quarterbacks, check out Championship Productions. Also a huge hat tip to Brett Kollmann from Battle Red Blog for forwarding me the link to the above video, so we can get this quick look at what Lazor will be bringing to Miami.
