Charlie Weis Says Brady Quinn Could Have Been An NFL Starter
Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator and current Kansas University head coach Charlie Weis recently told the Kansas City Star that under him, QB Brady Quinn could have been a successful NFL starter.
“Brady could have been a starting quarterback for me in the NFL,” Weis told Rustin Dodd. “Go back and look at those numbers for the two years he played for me,” Weis said. “He was great. He wasn’t good. And I know if I had him as a quarterback, I would have felt very comfortable that I could have won no matter where we were.”
Weis has had a lot of success developing QBs. Tom Brady is the obvious example but he also got good play out of Matt Cassel with the Chiefs and Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame.
The problem with Weis, however, seems to be that once the QBs find themselves without their guidance, they don’t always continue to play at a high level, save Mr. Brady, of course.
As for Quinn, he hasn’t had the easiest NFL road. He landed in Cleveland as a rookie and instantly found himself in a QB competition with the upstart Derrick Anderson. Anderson turned out to be a one-hit wonder and by the time Quinn finally got a real shot at the starting job, the Browns were falling apart. Looking back at that Browns roster now, it is fair to say Quinn never really had a chance.
After failing in Cleveland, Quinn was traded to Denver for Peyton Hillis. He was unable to unseat Kyle Orton or Tim Tebow and John Elway allowed Quinn to walk last offseason. Now, Quinn is in Kansas City, back with Romeo Crennel, the man who drafted him. Ironically, Hillis has also joined the Chiefs.
Quinn has been relegated to a backup role for now but the Chiefs do offer an interesting opportunity for him. Matt Cassel is cemented as the starter but it is safe to say he is on a fairly short leash. Should Cassel struggle this season, one of KC’s backups could get an opportunity.
But before that can happen, Quinn will have to beat out second year QB Ricky Stanzi.
Unfortunately for Quinn, if he wants to resurrect his career in KC, he’ll have to do it without Charlie Weis.