Waiting and seeing with Korn
posted by LW, Sunday, June 14, 2009
It's a compelling story to follow even when there's nothing officially taking place on the field. And it's made even more intriguing by the massive restoration project Willy Korn is undertaking as he tries to reconstruct his throwing motion.
Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News checks in with Korn in this story, and Korn pronounces himself completely pain-free and well on his way to eliminating the glaring problems with his fundamentals, problems last seen when the Tigers were wrapping up spring practice.
This is encouraging news, and former NFL coach and QB Jerry Rhome adds legitimacy to it by vouching for Korn's transformation.
“He had kind of developed a funky throwing motion. On film I could tell it was kind of an elongated, too far back, too wide a delivery,” Rhome said.
“His father had done a good job,” Rhome said. “By the time he got to me he had improved on what we were looking for. I put the finishing touches on him. I kind of showed him a way to consistently do that.
“Shoot, man, he threw the heck out of the football. He didn't look like the same guy that I'd seen on film. His passes were stronger, crisper, more accurate and a lot quicker.''
Still, I'm a bit hesitant to completely buy into the notion that Korn is a completely different quarterback than the one we saw last fall and, more recently, during spring practice.
Past instances of Korn's public proclamations conflicting with reality leave me a tad skeptical.
It's hard to shake the memory of last year's Duke game, when Korn was inserted late with the Tigers comfortably ahead. To say Korn looked bad would probably be an understatement, and that's an analysis Korn currently advocates.
"I can't believe I played in the Duke game, to be honest with you," he told me a few months ago.
At the time of that game, though, Korn steadfastly refused to acknowledge anything was wrong with his right shoulder. He said he was 100 percent healthy.
In early March, on the first day of spring practice, Korn again said he was healthy. He said the time between his December surgery and the start of drills allowed him to completely resolve the mechanical issues that were so apparent last season.
“It feels great," he said then. “I’m playing football again. This is my opportunity to go out and prove to my teammates, prove to the coaches, that I can be the guy to lead this team. For the first time, I’m really in the position to earn that opportunity.”
Now, it's evident Korn was in fact still dealing with pain and mechanical problems.
Korn said he anticipated a spirited competition but now free of pain, “I don't have to worry about mechanics.”
“Not any more. That's what killed my mechanics in the first place, having to deal with the pain,” he said.
He says all that pain and all those issues are gone now, and good for him if that's the case.
But I'm reserving judgment until I see for myself in August.
Not much else out there today in link land...
Also in the Greenville News, Bart Wright writes about how close Clemson came to landing Tim Floyd in 2003.
When he visited Clemson, Floyd was the first choice for the job because Oliver Purnell, who was eventually hired, had some contractual issues to resolve at Dayton and wasn't able to speak to Phillips, or representatives of any school, at the time.
“Early on, Tim had said, ‘I really want to come to Clemson,'” Terry Don Phillips said. “Had he said at the time of his visit, ‘I want to be your coach,' we probably would have begun negotiations with him.”
The Rivals Roundtable discusses some TCU stuff in debating the best non-"Big Six" race for 2009.
In the AJC, Georgia finds itself in a strange position -- looking up at Georgia Tech.
The Orlando Sentinel comes up with more punitive measures for the NCAA to take in its policing of out-of-line college football programs.
And a Saturday bike ride for Jim Calhoun wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Ouch!
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
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The battle for the job at starting quarterback is the most interesting subplot to the 2009 preseason -- and, perhaps, the 2009 season as well.
It's a compelling story to follow even when there's nothing officially taking place on the field. And it's made even more intriguing by the massive restoration project Willy Korn is undertaking as he tries to reconstruct his throwing motion.
Ed McGranahan of The Greenville News checks in with Korn in this story, and Korn pronounces himself completely pain-free and well on his way to eliminating the glaring problems with his fundamentals, problems last seen when the Tigers were wrapping up spring practice.
This is encouraging news, and former NFL coach and QB Jerry Rhome adds legitimacy to it by vouching for Korn's transformation.
“He had kind of developed a funky throwing motion. On film I could tell it was kind of an elongated, too far back, too wide a delivery,” Rhome said.
“His father had done a good job,” Rhome said. “By the time he got to me he had improved on what we were looking for. I put the finishing touches on him. I kind of showed him a way to consistently do that.
“Shoot, man, he threw the heck out of the football. He didn't look like the same guy that I'd seen on film. His passes were stronger, crisper, more accurate and a lot quicker.''
Still, I'm a bit hesitant to completely buy into the notion that Korn is a completely different quarterback than the one we saw last fall and, more recently, during spring practice.
Past instances of Korn's public proclamations conflicting with reality leave me a tad skeptical.
It's hard to shake the memory of last year's Duke game, when Korn was inserted late with the Tigers comfortably ahead. To say Korn looked bad would probably be an understatement, and that's an analysis Korn currently advocates.
"I can't believe I played in the Duke game, to be honest with you," he told me a few months ago.
At the time of that game, though, Korn steadfastly refused to acknowledge anything was wrong with his right shoulder. He said he was 100 percent healthy.
In early March, on the first day of spring practice, Korn again said he was healthy. He said the time between his December surgery and the start of drills allowed him to completely resolve the mechanical issues that were so apparent last season.
“It feels great," he said then. “I’m playing football again. This is my opportunity to go out and prove to my teammates, prove to the coaches, that I can be the guy to lead this team. For the first time, I’m really in the position to earn that opportunity.”
Now, it's evident Korn was in fact still dealing with pain and mechanical problems.
Korn said he anticipated a spirited competition but now free of pain, “I don't have to worry about mechanics.”
“Not any more. That's what killed my mechanics in the first place, having to deal with the pain,” he said.
He says all that pain and all those issues are gone now, and good for him if that's the case.
But I'm reserving judgment until I see for myself in August.
Not much else out there today in link land...
Also in the Greenville News, Bart Wright writes about how close Clemson came to landing Tim Floyd in 2003.
When he visited Clemson, Floyd was the first choice for the job because Oliver Purnell, who was eventually hired, had some contractual issues to resolve at Dayton and wasn't able to speak to Phillips, or representatives of any school, at the time.
“Early on, Tim had said, ‘I really want to come to Clemson,'” Terry Don Phillips said. “Had he said at the time of his visit, ‘I want to be your coach,' we probably would have begun negotiations with him.”
The Rivals Roundtable discusses some TCU stuff in debating the best non-"Big Six" race for 2009.
In the AJC, Georgia finds itself in a strange position -- looking up at Georgia Tech.
The Orlando Sentinel comes up with more punitive measures for the NCAA to take in its policing of out-of-line college football programs.
And a Saturday bike ride for Jim Calhoun wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Ouch!
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.