Morning Constitutional: What Has Mike Yurcich Learned About His QBs?

Today’s Topic: What Has Mike Yurcich Learned About His Quarterbacks?

Ohio State co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich was made available to reporters last Friday. Yes, it’s always good to talk to the guy in charge of the quarterbacks, but getting him after just two practices means that it’s going to be difficult to get any meaningful answers out of him.

If you ask how the quarterbacks are looking, he’ll tell you it’s early but things are looking good. And pretty much anything else you ask will be couched with how early it is and how much information he doesn’t have yet.

That’s why on Friday I asked him something he couldn’t just push into the “it’s too early” pile. Hoping to get something new out of Yurcich, I asked him what he knows now about his quarterbacks that he didn’t know before spring camp opened.

“Just how competitive they are,” he said. “I think there’s a nice blend of being competitive and also they’re mature young men who know how to be really good teammates to one another as well. They’re a mature group. It’s fun to be in that room and I’m very fortunate to coach those young men.”

But then when he was asked if anything had surprised him so far, he quickly went back to coachspeak 101.

“No sir,” he said. “We’re just in day two, so there’s going to be things that come down the road that we’ll take a look at and be more critical of, but nothing surprising, so to speak.”

Yurcich will be mixing the reps up for quarterbacks Matthew Baldwin and Justin Fields. One guy will rep with the ones for a drill or two, then the next guy. They’ll rotate them through in order to allow both guys to get work with the starters.

Despite only being two practices in, Yurcich was asked if he had seen the “It factor” from Fields.

“That ‘It factor’ thing, I sure think it’s there,” he said. “I think all of our quarterbacks have certain traits that make them special. After two practices, what is that ‘it?’ I think we need more time to start high praise on any of them, rather than over evaluating on a small sample size.”

As that sample size gets bigger, praise will come. So to will a better understanding of what the Buckeyes have at quarterback.

Yurcich may not have a timeframe as to when he wants to have a solid grasp on exactly what he has at the position, but he knows about when to expect it.

“I don’t think we have a definite timeline to say it’s gotta be done by practice four or practice five,” he said. “I think as you go through spring you make those decisions and whenever that time is, that’s what it will end up being.

“Usually, the more you get into some real live scrimmages, that sort of thing will unfold itself.”