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Posted on Sun, Feb. 25, 2007
Kolb turns his focus to preparing for NFL
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - University of Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb can't quit fiddling with his platinum wedding ring. Newly married to his high school sweetheart, Whitney Huddleston, Kolb still is adjusting to the feel of it.
"It's a little big in this cold weather. My fingers are shrinking," said Kolb, who was married Feb. 10 in Stephenville. "I'm getting used to it, though, and definitely getting used to Whitney being around every day."
Likewise, Kolb is growing used to being wed to his center.
The Stephenville High School graduate put up big numbers in coach Art Briles' spread offense both in high school and in college, but he did it mostly out of the shotgun.
As soon as his senior season at UH ended, Kolb began getting the feel for taking snaps from under center. He has been working with Jerry Rhome, who spent 33 years in the NFL as a quarterback and then as an offensive assistant coach. Rhome tutored Vince Young last year before the Tennessee Titans made Young the third overall draft pick.
"It's not like it's another language or something," Rhome said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's throwing the ball.... It's no different than the system and the principles that the University of Texas had with Vince Young, and look what he's done. He stepped right into the Titans' offense, and it doesn't seem to that me he's having too many problems."
In his only season with Briles at Stephenville High, Kolb moved up to the varsity for the final six games and played in three games on a 16-0 state championship team. Briles left in 2000 to become a Texas Tech assistant, but Kolb still flourished in the system. He passed for 5,743 yards and 44 touchdowns in his final two high school seasons and turned down a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State -- where he had committed -- to follow Briles to UH.
Kolb started 36 games for the Cougars, passing for 9,155 yards and 55 touchdowns. On 1,494 plays with Kolb, Houston gained 9,752 yards. Kolb led the Cougars to the conference championship and a berth in the Liberty Bowl last season.
Kolb has been compared to David Klingler and Andre Ware, productive UH quarterbacks who were first-round NFL busts. Klingler played in only 33 NFL games and Ware, a Heisman Trophy winner, in only 14. They combined for just 5,106 yards and 21 touchdowns passing in their NFL careers.
They have forced Kolb to spend this week trying to convince scouts he's not another "system" quarterback.
"I expected it," Kolb said. "People try to plug me in with David Klingler and Andre Ware, two great players who didn't have as highly successful NFL careers as they would have liked. But that's not even the same system. It's even different coaches. It's just the same school.
"I'll take every challenge they want to throw at me to let them say that I can change, and I feel like I can. I'm very [eager] to get in a system to prove that."
Kolb has a chance to be the third quarterback taken in the draft behind LSU's JaMarcus Russell and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. Kolb's performance at the Senior Bowl got him off to a good start in distancing himself from other prospects such as Ohio State's Troy Smith, Stanford's Trent Edwards and Michigan State's Drew Stanton.
His workout for NFL scouts today can do even more for Kolb's draft status.
"Kolb is prototypical -- 6-3, 220 -- with a strong arm and good mobility," said Jeff Ireland, the Cowboys' vice president of pro and college scouting. "He's tough physically and mentally. I think what he needs to do the most here is to explain to everybody what he was required to do in Houston's system. I think once people realize how much they challenged him, they're really going to be impressed with what he did."
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760 cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
Kolb turns his focus to preparing for NFL
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - University of Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb can't quit fiddling with his platinum wedding ring. Newly married to his high school sweetheart, Whitney Huddleston, Kolb still is adjusting to the feel of it.
"It's a little big in this cold weather. My fingers are shrinking," said Kolb, who was married Feb. 10 in Stephenville. "I'm getting used to it, though, and definitely getting used to Whitney being around every day."
Likewise, Kolb is growing used to being wed to his center.
The Stephenville High School graduate put up big numbers in coach Art Briles' spread offense both in high school and in college, but he did it mostly out of the shotgun.
As soon as his senior season at UH ended, Kolb began getting the feel for taking snaps from under center. He has been working with Jerry Rhome, who spent 33 years in the NFL as a quarterback and then as an offensive assistant coach. Rhome tutored Vince Young last year before the Tennessee Titans made Young the third overall draft pick.
"It's not like it's another language or something," Rhome said in a telephone interview Saturday. "It's throwing the ball.... It's no different than the system and the principles that the University of Texas had with Vince Young, and look what he's done. He stepped right into the Titans' offense, and it doesn't seem to that me he's having too many problems."
In his only season with Briles at Stephenville High, Kolb moved up to the varsity for the final six games and played in three games on a 16-0 state championship team. Briles left in 2000 to become a Texas Tech assistant, but Kolb still flourished in the system. He passed for 5,743 yards and 44 touchdowns in his final two high school seasons and turned down a scholarship offer from Oklahoma State -- where he had committed -- to follow Briles to UH.
Kolb started 36 games for the Cougars, passing for 9,155 yards and 55 touchdowns. On 1,494 plays with Kolb, Houston gained 9,752 yards. Kolb led the Cougars to the conference championship and a berth in the Liberty Bowl last season.
Kolb has been compared to David Klingler and Andre Ware, productive UH quarterbacks who were first-round NFL busts. Klingler played in only 33 NFL games and Ware, a Heisman Trophy winner, in only 14. They combined for just 5,106 yards and 21 touchdowns passing in their NFL careers.
They have forced Kolb to spend this week trying to convince scouts he's not another "system" quarterback.
"I expected it," Kolb said. "People try to plug me in with David Klingler and Andre Ware, two great players who didn't have as highly successful NFL careers as they would have liked. But that's not even the same system. It's even different coaches. It's just the same school.
"I'll take every challenge they want to throw at me to let them say that I can change, and I feel like I can. I'm very [eager] to get in a system to prove that."
Kolb has a chance to be the third quarterback taken in the draft behind LSU's JaMarcus Russell and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. Kolb's performance at the Senior Bowl got him off to a good start in distancing himself from other prospects such as Ohio State's Troy Smith, Stanford's Trent Edwards and Michigan State's Drew Stanton.
His workout for NFL scouts today can do even more for Kolb's draft status.
"Kolb is prototypical -- 6-3, 220 -- with a strong arm and good mobility," said Jeff Ireland, the Cowboys' vice president of pro and college scouting. "He's tough physically and mentally. I think what he needs to do the most here is to explain to everybody what he was required to do in Houston's system. I think once people realize how much they challenged him, they're really going to be impressed with what he did."
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760 cjwilliams@star-telegram.com
