Neither quarterback MarQueis Gray nor players at other positions will enter spring practice next month as starters when the Gophers begin formal practices under new coach Jerry Kill and his staff.
The quarterback position will be the most watched by media and fans when the Gophers play their spring game on April 23 at TCF Bank Stadium. Four-year starter Adam Weber has graduated. To say the six quarterbacks now on the roster have minimal experience is an understatement. Only Gray has attempted a pass in a college game and to outside observers he seems like a lopsided favorite to win the job. His totals were modest last season: eight attempts and two completions for 24 yards.
Gray, a junior next fall, has been the great hope of Gophers fans who demanded playing time for him at quarterback the last two seasons when Minnesota struggled. He came here from Indianapolis as the most hyped prep player in former coach Tim Brewster’s four recruiting classes.
Labeled among the best run-pass preps in the country and compared to former Texas Longhorns legend Vince Young by the ever positive Brewster, Gray’s time on the field has long been anticipated as a quarterback, not a wide receiver, the position he mostly played last season, finishing second on the team in receptions with 42 for 587 yards and five touchdowns.
But Kill won’t give Gray the quarterback job based on newspaper clips or web reports. Asked by Sports Headliners if Gray was his No. 1 QB, Kill said: “I can’t answer. I don’t think that’s fair to anybody. He will certainly be getting reps there this spring. I wouldn’t tell you we have anybody that’s No. 1 from offense to defense because I haven’t seen anybody. Until I see them get repetitions, and those kind of things, I can’t make those statements.”
What challenges does the 6-4, 230 pound Gray face in winning over Kill? “I think it comes down to learning how to play quarterback,” Kill said. “He’s played receiver for the last two years.
“It doesn’t matter how great an athlete you are, quarterback is a whole different world, a whole different beast. So how well can he pick it up? Can he make that transition from wide receiver and a quarterback in spring ball and can we see that progression? We’re going to have to see. We have no idea.”
At Northern Illinois the Gophers first-year coach used a multiple offense that gave defenses plenty to ponder. He and his offensive staff are expected to bring similar imagination to their system at Minnesota when spring practices begin in late March.
Boise State has built a national reputation for winning and it’s partly because of imaginative play calling. Kill said his staff has visited with Boise coaches in the past. “Always sharing ideas and trying to get better,” Kill said.
This offseason Minnesota offensive coaches will visit TCU, another program that’s gone from no-name to having its brand nationally admired. “I think we just pick the programs out that are achieving at a very high level and you go see what they do,” Kill said. “You always learn from the best. …It’s all about getting better. I believe you either get better or you get worse. We try to gain knowledge each year that we’re coaching.”