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http://www.theadvocate.com/sports/story.asp?StoryID=19108
Patience pays off for Southern quarterback Richard
By JOE SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
He's still skinny, but less so. He's still got plenty of little kid in him, but less so. He's still easygoing, maybe more so.
Quincy Richard arrived at Southern University's campus four years ago at the tender age of 17. He's 20 now, still won't turn 21 until October. But nothing ages a kid like taking over an entire football team. All in a span of five months. Bye-bye, babyface.
"He knows now it's his turn. It's all up to him," head coach Pete Richardson said.
Richard has been third on the quarterback depth chart since he was a freshman. As such, you never get enough practice snaps, never get the majority of the coaches' attention. You can always come to practice without the burden of knowing the team is yours.
This is no longer his scenario.
"There's no more Troy (Williams). There's no more (Terrence) Levy. It's now Quincy Richard," wide receivers coach Eric Dooley said. "He's the guy we're looking for to lead us." In the past Richard's always gotten onto the field after injuries. He got three plays in the 1999 Bayou Classic because injuries vaulted him onto the field. And after redshirting in 2000, another round of injuries made him a starter in November 2001.
Five months later, Richard is on the field as the No. 1 quarterback. No waiting behind others, no wondering about the role, no worrying about when his time will come. That, in itself, brings ease of mind.
"I'm a lot more ready," said Richard, who'll be a junior come August. "I've had a lot more reps, a lot more looks, a lot more timing." He is more than a lot more ready. He simply is ready, now. You tell by the way he handles himself. And you tell by the way his teammates respond to him. His emergence, his confidence and his poise this spring have surprised even them.
"He's really grown up," said Al'Trevion Joubert, Richard's roommate and fellow Opelousas native. "He knows his role: He's got to lead us. It's his show, his spot to lose." Richardson will enter his 15th season as a head coach, and his 10th at Southern, in August. Part of the job description as college ball coach is watching boys grow to men, both in body and spirit.
Richardson said Richard looked like "a string bean" as a 170-175-pound freshman. He's 30 pounds heavier now, but the extra weight is absorbed through his 6-foot-3 frame. The maturity seems evenly distributed as well.
What's been constant, though, is Richard's effervescent personality, which easily draws players and friends, and his smarts.
"Good guy. He's a guy you can like a great deal," Dooley said. "He's a kid you won't have to run to class. He's going to be on the Honor Roll, on the Dean List. He's responsible. He's young but yet mature in the aspects you'd hope he'd be mature in. When it's time to go to work, he goes to work." First-year offensive coordinator David Oliver has seen the growth -- though in microwave fashion in comparison to the oven-baked version of the years Richardson and Dooley shared with Richard.
"He's grown up before my eyes, from the time I met him in January to now," Oliver said. "He's certainly caught his stride. He's playing some very good football." Good enough to lead the Jaguars to their first Southwestern Athletic Conference title since 1999? To do that, Richardson would like to see more patience in the pocket, more willingness to let the line work before bolting on the run -- a feel for the speed of the college game that comes mostly from in-game experience. Until that experience comes, Oliver wants, as all coordinators do, Richard to keep soaking in the playbook, keep staring at film in a darkened office.
"You can see him, over a period of three or four years, that maturing level starts to develop," Richardson said.
"He's getting that confidence. And the players understand he'll probably be the individual who'll lead them. Now it's a matter of him stepping in and making the plays." Richard, for his part, said he'll retain some of that little boy exuberance - he is only 20, after all - but that he knows the time has come for him to lead.
"I've grown up a lot here, football, life," Richard said.
Patience pays off for Southern quarterback Richard
By JOE SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
He's still skinny, but less so. He's still got plenty of little kid in him, but less so. He's still easygoing, maybe more so.
Quincy Richard arrived at Southern University's campus four years ago at the tender age of 17. He's 20 now, still won't turn 21 until October. But nothing ages a kid like taking over an entire football team. All in a span of five months. Bye-bye, babyface.
"He knows now it's his turn. It's all up to him," head coach Pete Richardson said.
Richard has been third on the quarterback depth chart since he was a freshman. As such, you never get enough practice snaps, never get the majority of the coaches' attention. You can always come to practice without the burden of knowing the team is yours.
This is no longer his scenario.
"There's no more Troy (Williams). There's no more (Terrence) Levy. It's now Quincy Richard," wide receivers coach Eric Dooley said. "He's the guy we're looking for to lead us." In the past Richard's always gotten onto the field after injuries. He got three plays in the 1999 Bayou Classic because injuries vaulted him onto the field. And after redshirting in 2000, another round of injuries made him a starter in November 2001.
Five months later, Richard is on the field as the No. 1 quarterback. No waiting behind others, no wondering about the role, no worrying about when his time will come. That, in itself, brings ease of mind.
"I'm a lot more ready," said Richard, who'll be a junior come August. "I've had a lot more reps, a lot more looks, a lot more timing." He is more than a lot more ready. He simply is ready, now. You tell by the way he handles himself. And you tell by the way his teammates respond to him. His emergence, his confidence and his poise this spring have surprised even them.
"He's really grown up," said Al'Trevion Joubert, Richard's roommate and fellow Opelousas native. "He knows his role: He's got to lead us. It's his show, his spot to lose." Richardson will enter his 15th season as a head coach, and his 10th at Southern, in August. Part of the job description as college ball coach is watching boys grow to men, both in body and spirit.
Richardson said Richard looked like "a string bean" as a 170-175-pound freshman. He's 30 pounds heavier now, but the extra weight is absorbed through his 6-foot-3 frame. The maturity seems evenly distributed as well.
What's been constant, though, is Richard's effervescent personality, which easily draws players and friends, and his smarts.
"Good guy. He's a guy you can like a great deal," Dooley said. "He's a kid you won't have to run to class. He's going to be on the Honor Roll, on the Dean List. He's responsible. He's young but yet mature in the aspects you'd hope he'd be mature in. When it's time to go to work, he goes to work." First-year offensive coordinator David Oliver has seen the growth -- though in microwave fashion in comparison to the oven-baked version of the years Richardson and Dooley shared with Richard.
"He's grown up before my eyes, from the time I met him in January to now," Oliver said. "He's certainly caught his stride. He's playing some very good football." Good enough to lead the Jaguars to their first Southwestern Athletic Conference title since 1999? To do that, Richardson would like to see more patience in the pocket, more willingness to let the line work before bolting on the run -- a feel for the speed of the college game that comes mostly from in-game experience. Until that experience comes, Oliver wants, as all coordinators do, Richard to keep soaking in the playbook, keep staring at film in a darkened office.
"You can see him, over a period of three or four years, that maturing level starts to develop," Richardson said.
"He's getting that confidence. And the players understand he'll probably be the individual who'll lead them. Now it's a matter of him stepping in and making the plays." Richard, for his part, said he'll retain some of that little boy exuberance - he is only 20, after all - but that he knows the time has come for him to lead.
"I've grown up a lot here, football, life," Richard said.