Oregon head coach Willie Taggart has a new rule for quarterback Justin Herbert: talk to a teammate after every play.
As soon as every play is signaled dead in practice and during games, Herbert must talk to a teammate and either offer praise or a critique. Taggart wants his sophomore play-caller to further emerge from his shell and truly become the leader he is looking for in a quarterback.
While Herbert certainly proved himself on the field Saturday with his 327-yard and three touchdown performance in Oregon’s spring game, Taggart wants whomever he names the starting quarterback in the fall to be a true leader both on and off the field.
He has worked closely with Herbert this spring on improving his leadership abilities.
“He’s the quarterback of the football team. He’s gotta be vocal,” Taggart said after the Herbert-led Team Free defeated Team Brave 34-11 in Oregon’s spring game. “He doesn’t have to be a ‘ra-ra’ guy, I’m not asking him to do that. But he’s gotta lead this team.
“He’s gotta get him or Travis [Jonsen] or whoever it is to get the team to rally around him. You go back and look at the heyday here and look at the great Marcus Mariota; everybody played for him. Not only everybody in that room, hell, the entire Ducknation wanted to play for him and be there for him. To me, that’s what a great quarterback does.”
Herbert is quiet by nature. His media sessions last season would last only a few minutes because of how brief his answers were. He rarely spoke much and when he did, it would be quietly.
“He was pretty much a mute when he first came in,” offensive lineman Jake Hanson said. “Not saying that’s a bad thing or anything, he was just a quiet dude.”
Whatever approach Taggart is taking with Herbert this spring has appeared to work. Teammates notice a difference and say that Herbert is more vocal in practice.
“You’re never going to get like a ‘ra-ra’ speech from him but he’s definitely come a long way in a year,” Hanson said.
Herbert said the rule about talking after every play has definitely helped in his growth as a leader. He said that having a coach like Taggart makes that process much easier.
“Having a guy like Coach T definitely helps,” Herbert said. “He’s very personable.”
Taggart hesitated about putting any of the three quarterbacks — Herbert, Jonsen or freshman Braxton Burmeister — above the other when asked about Herbert’s chances of being named Oregon’s starting quarterback. Fall camp is still months away and as Oregon fans learned the last two seasons, anything can happen when it comes to quarterbacks.
But wide receiver Darren Carrington — whose three touchdown catches on Saturday all came from Herbert — had no hesitation when asked about Herbert and where he stands in the quarterback competition.
“Herbert, that’s the guy right now to beat,” Carrington said.
It’s amazing what a little talking can do.
Follow Gus Morris on Twitter @JustGusMorris