Coach Turner Gill announces quarterback
- Aug. 20, 2010
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The Jayhawks finally have some clarity for the upcoming football season.
Coach Turner Gill said his Thursday media availability would be longer because he had some announcements. One of those involved the main offseason question mark: who will replace Todd Reesing at quarterback?
Sophomore quarterback Kale Pick was announced as the starter Thursday. Pick beat out Jordan Webb for the spot after Webb failed to make plays in practice and turned over the ball. -Mike Gunnoe
“Kale Pick is definitely the guy who has earned the position,” Gill said of his choice.
This is only four days after saying that he did not have a timetable for determining the leading arm.
The decision was made yesterday after a summer and fall camp that has been silent when it came to naming a starting lineup. The news from camp all preseason was that every position was up for grabs until now.
Along with Pick’s promotion, senior Angus Quigley got the head running back position making the offensive picture a bit clearer.
For Gill, Pick won the job with ball security and the intangibles that coaches look for in quarterbacks, ousting Jordan Webb.
“That was my goal coming into camp, not turning the ball over and taking care of business,” Pick said.
Practice repetitions at quarterback were split up evenly between Webb and Pick up to this point in camp. Players and coaches failed to come up with significant differences between the two quarterbacks until recently.
Pick’s ability to make plays for himself elevated him past Webb, who turned the ball over in a couple drills during the battle for the starting job according to Gill.
“I definitely had a smile when I received the news,” Pick said. “I’m excited, and I think we’re going to have a good team this year.”
Sophomore quarterback Pick said he didn’t want to come to KU unless he had a chance to start. And although he has now accomplished that goal, he said he can’t be satisfied at this point.
“I just have to keep pushing my teammates, and that will just make our team better,” Pick said.
Pick’s teammates have noticed the leadership abilities that have come to light during this fall camp. They have been adamant they don’t care who takes the helm but support anyone that does.
Even though Pick isn’t one of the team captains, the team is still looking to him to lead it.
“He’s definitely been taking command on the offense,” senior cornerback Chris Harris said. “The quarterback is the automatic leader, so we’ll expect him to lead too.”
Webb wasn’t available for comment Thursday, but not even Pick was speaking to his teammate he beat out for the starting job.
“I’m giving him his space,” Pick said.
Edited by Abby Davenport
