Tebow to debut delivery at pro day, not combine

By Adam Silverstein
February 22, 2010

Opting to make a go of it in the NFL rather than retiring like former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann suggested earlier this month, former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has decided to unveil a new delivery at Florida’s Pro Day on March 17. Tebow told Adam Schefter of ESPN that he will not throw at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis, IN, and will continue working on three- and five-step drops privately before showcasing his talents for scouts, head coaches and general managers next month.

“I’m not changing who I am or how I approach football,” Tebow said. “But there are things that I can get a lot better at – my fundamentals. I’ve never been asked to shorten or quicken my release and not have a loop in it. The changes I’m making have gone very well and it’s becoming more and more natural to me.”

Altering both his footwork and arm motion (delivery, release point), Tebow said he would have been making these changes regardless of recent criticisms he has received. “I want to get better,” he said. “I want to be around people who will push me. I will do anything to get better. Without hearing the criticism, I would have done it. It’s made me more confident, more accurate. And that’s not to say I haven’t had this type of coaching in the past. I just had different coaching than this NFL style.”

Read what Tebow’s trainers have to say about his progress after the jump!

Former NFL offensive coordinator and Georgia Bulldogs All-American QB Zeke Bratkowski, one of Tebow’s main coaches at D1 Sports Training in Nashville, TN, told Schefter that the Heisman Trophy winner and two-time National Champion is coming along rather quickly. “You’re not looking at the same quarterback,” Bratkowski said. “To say we’re 100 percent where we want ot be, no. But we’ll be more improved come pro day than we are at this point in time right now. “

Tebow will still attend the combine for medical tests, workouts and meetings, where his coaches and those that know him believe he will shine.

“His intelligence level is as high as any quarterback I’ve encountered coming out of college,” Tebow’s trainer and Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman said. “His intelligence is off the charts. After spending time with Tim, it was evident that he learned a lot of football in his four years at Florida – a lot. As a result, he has been able to quickly adapt and make corrections in his throwing motion and footwork that will allow him to get the ball out faster and improve his accuracy.”

Even though there is plenty of doubt and disbelief coming Tebow’s way, the former Gators star is confident in his ability to impress NFL higher ups when the time comes. “I’ve done this several thousand times,” Tebow said. “With continued work, I will have this down pat by minicamp. It will be like second nature. It’s not like it feels awkward to me now. I’m excited about the changes I’ve made.”

And while Tebow may not admit it, Kurt Hester, D1’s corporate director of training, believes that he is indeed motivated to prove his critics wrong. “He wants to prove, especially [to ESPN analyst Todd] McShay, guys like that, that have nothing to do with draft status, prove them wrong,” Hester told the Palm Beach Post. “He’s wanting to prove that he’s more of an NFL quarterback than people admit. It’s not like coaches listen to ESPN. They can say whatever they want, it has no bearing on his draft status. It will be nice to watch McShay kind of swallow his words.”

OGGOA will offer full coverage of former Florida Gators working out at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine Feb. 24 – March 2.

Photo Credit: Jimmy DeFlippo/Sports Illustrated

16 Comments

  1. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    I can’t wait to see how Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum respond when Tebow preforms at the Pro Day….with enough reps….I think it only takes like 14-15 days to totally retrain the mind and your muscle memory.

  2. Mr2Bits says:

    It feel natural to him because that is how he threw in high school. It was only the last 3 years that his motion took a deuce

  3. Aligator says:

    why do you feel that it took a deuce, i agree, based on what I have seen, that it changed dramatically.

  4. I think 2Bits is implying that it changed for the worse in the eyes of NFL scouts and personnel. It obviously worked for him at Florida.

  5. Mitch says:

    If this NFL style delivery works so well, why didn’t the UF coaches implement this years ago with Tim? Not a ringing endoresement of our coaching staff’s ability to improve a players pro potential.

  6. vsherrel says:

    It could have been addressed in off-seasons, but why mess with what was working. The staffs job first and foremost is to win college football games. Preparing players (especially a QB) for what scouts want to see at the next level, should come a distant second. If you want to make that argument, then we should fault all college teams for using the shotgun.

  7. Daniel M. says:

    Q: If this NFL style delivery works so well, why didn’t the UF coaches implement this years ago with Tim?

    A: TWO RINGS BIDCHES! (“Mitch”)

  8. Drew 4 Orange & Blue says:

    Why not change his mechanics….if it gets the ball out quicker and more accurate why would that not translate into college? I think the other thing that would have helped Tebow’s draft status at least as a QB would have been to not put on the additonal bulk…..to me his frosh year he looked quicker and more agile…and as far as the two rings being the only justification doesn’t fly with me…everyone is suppose to continue to get better or you will get run over

  9. Mel Kiper, Jr. says:

    I’ll tell you why Mitch. To paraphrase my douchey colleague, McShay, the Florida coaching staff has “no clue” about how to prepare a QB for the next level. All they know how to do is coach players to win SEC and BCS championships.

  10. ReptilesRule says:

    Urban Meyer and his staff were hired and are payed to win games for the University of Florida. If that means running the Statue of Liberty play then so be it. Believe me, Tim has learned enough about football at UF to play in any league, but in the end it will be about his ability and his motivation to learn at the next level. I particularly look forward to seeing a speechless Mel Kiper…

  11. Aligator says:

    what i meand twas this, i too noticed that it changed from high school to college, he was throwing more like a pro back then, it also got worse in college? does anyone know why?

  12. Mel Kiper, Jr. says:

    I will never be speechless, son.

  13. O-town Gator says:

    Reptiles, you’re spot-on. I’m sick and freaking tired of all these so-called “experts” ripping Coach Meyer for “not having prepared Tim Tebow for the next level”.

    I’m surprised these clowns weren’t ripping Steve Spurrier over the same thing with Shane Matthews, Danny Wuerffel, Jesse Palmer, Doug Johnson and Rex Grossman. None of the aforementioned made waves in the pros, so why single out Meyer for all this abuse?

    And another thing – try as they might, they won’t keep the top recruits from coming to UF.

    As far as Kiper and McShay go, they can both kiss my ass.

  14. JvilleJohnny says:

    From what I saw in the video, it seems like his mechanics are already a lot better. I think the reason why his throwing motion changed from high school to college could have been the intense shoulder and arm work outs in training with Coach Mickey Marotti. His freshman year he put on quite a bit of muscle in his arms as you could see in the 06 national championship game. That may have made it harder for Tim to bring the ball back behind his ear and release. But I have no doubts that McShay and Kiper will be trying to say that Tebow cannot revamp his whole mechanical system in 6 weeks. But we all know not to count Tim out of ANYTHING. This is a big step for him, and I think it will work out great. As far as Meyer’s ways of preparing kids for the NFL, that is only a small portion of his job description. His job is to win championships at Florida the best way he can. And I think he’s succeeded so far. I don’t think what anybody says about UF and Meyer is going to change kids’ minds about wanting to come here. The rings speak for themselves.

  15. Will says:

    It would be great if Tebow could receive some training from Steve Young or even Mark Brunell. Two lefties that have been relatively successful.

Leave a Reply to Aligator Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux