Good article in the Lincoln Journal Star about the open communication between Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson and his quarterbacks. While the media and public did not know who was going to be the starting quarterback for the season opener last Saturday, all three QB's were well aware of where they stood in the pecking order:Shawn Watson isn't big into secrets.
That might draw a sarcastic chuckle from any Nebraska fan who lost sleep over the past couple of weeks, wondering who'd be starting at quarterback. Secrecy practically drove an entire state nutty.
Of course, the answer is now clear. But before pointing to redshirted freshman Taylor Martinez early last week, Watson kept all three players involved in the race well-informed.
Openness, it seems, is one way to prevent disgruntled players.
"It'd be a lot worse if everything was secretive, and then all of the sudden, ‘Bam! Here's the starter.' But it wasn't like that," said sophomore Cody Green, the No. 2 quarterback.
"We knew (Martinez) was starting and the reasons why he was starting. It wasn't like, 'Oh, well, we're just going to pick Taylor.' We knew all the way through the things he did, the things we had done, the good and the bad. It wasn't such a big surprise to us."
Green admits, though, he wouldn't want Watson's job of keeping smiles on the faces of three
quarterbacks.
How does Watson hope to do it?
Good, old-fashioned honesty.
"I don't like closed-door meetings, because I think that fosters secrecy, and that's not the deal," Watson said. "We wanted these guys to know, because we knew from the onset we needed everybody. We needed all three to win. We wanted to create an environment where there was just up-front honesty."
That's why Watson never held individual meetings. If he was talking to one quarterback, he was talking to three quarterbacks. Everybody heard the same thing at the same time.
"We knew exactly where we stood, exactly what everybody else did," Green said. "He doesn't hold anything back in the meeting rooms. He'll tell us, 'Taylor, you did this; Cody, you did this; Zac (Lee), you did this.' We all knew where everybody stood, and that's all you can ask for."
That, and equal repetitions in practice. Everybody got those, too, Green said.
"You do with those chances as you want to do, and if you mess up, then heck, you mess up," Green said. "But you got a chance. That's all you can ask for as a competitor. Give us reps, give us chances to go out there and compete. And that's what he did."
That doesn't make everything easy, though. Especially not telling last year's starter of 12 games that he's now No. 3 on the depth chart.
How has Lee responded?
"I think he's answered like a champion. He's been awesome," Watson said. "Zac, he's been helpful, he's been a resource to the two younger guys. He's been a real champion with those guys. He's been great."
