Tanner Morgan’s journey to becoming the starting quarterback on the University of Minnesota football team started before he reached the age of 10. While others were running around just “being kids,” Morgan was working with a specialized coach on fundamentals: footwork, drops and throwing. 

Now go back a generation to another star quarterback for the Gophers. Adam Weber didn't have a trainer or quarterback coach. He didn't even know whether he would be playing quarterback long-term until he got to ninth grade. He's not sure he would have been as dedicated as Morgan.

The names Tanner Morgan and Adam Weber fill the program’s record book, which has won national championships and is one of the most storied programs in the country. Weber is the all-time leader in yards and touchdowns; Morgan has the most wins.

The quarterback position is the most important and nuanced position in America's most popular sport. It has undergone a rapid reinvention in recent years. As Morgan's experience shows, those with the physical attributes and skills to make it to a major college program, and possibly to the NFL, increasingly are singled out early. Players are faster and stronger. And while the quarterback has long been a high-profile position on any team, the advent of social media has revolutionized recruitment and made the focus even more intense. In the pro game, for those who make it that far, stars like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes do things that few could have imagined. 

Youth football is a quarterback’s first steps

Starting as early as second grade, rambunctious kids are able to expend energy on the youth football field. Often, the quarterback is the coach's son; sometimes it's the most athletic player on the field. Once players are identified as quarterback material, that's usually where they stick.

For youngsters like Morgan, whose college career ended last fall, it starts getting serious with a throwing coach, a sports psychologist or more commonly an all-around quarterback coach. 

Morgan's first football coach was Mike Parker, who played at the University of Kentucky and worked for Pro Football Focus (an analytical football website). “That started in third, fourth grade; basic fundamentals for a long time. Coach Parker was the first guy that I worked with. He taught me how to throw. We would do footwork and drops, just teaching me the basic fundamentals of playing quarterback really helped me at a young age,” Morgan said.

Morgan recalls he also was a “nasty” pitcher in Little League, but his father advised him to switch to third base to preserve his arm for throwing on the football field. 

High school is often where players first begin to refine their skills — and quarterbacks get a taste of being a celebrity, on the field and off. Both Morgan and Weber started for their teams as high school freshmen, and both say their parents helped them. Weber's father toured the opposing team's stadium with him before his first start to acclimate him. Morgan's dad, uncle and brother were all on coaching staff at Hazard High School in eastern Kentucky, but he still was one of the youngest kids at the school.

"There are a lot of great football players that come from that area, and a lot of strong dudes," Morgan said. "So I had to adapt quickly."

If they want to do it, Morgan said he highly recommends the kind of specialized training he had.  Getting to the highest level is a journey that starts at the ground level. 

Even though he might not have been as dedicated, Weber is impressed with the next generations of quarterbacks. 

“Things have changed drastically,” Weber said. “I was always doing other stuff. I would rather go play a pickup basketball game, than do an hour with a specialized trainer. I commend kids these days. There is a lot asked of them and a lot of pressure with them when it comes to money spent.”