Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is always the calm, quiet guy standing next to the team’s quarterbacks at practice. He’s the guy in the background for Chip Kelly. The former Cleveland Browns head coach was Andy Reid’s “Quarterback Whisperer” for nearly a decade as he oversaw the play of Donovan McNabb and the rest of the Birds quarterbacks. Now he plays that role for Kelly.
He’s up in the box during the games on the phone with Kelly, but before the game and at halftime he keeps the quarterbacks calm, clearheaded and confident as they go about leading the team’s offense on the field. You see him encouraging them and correcting them, but he does it gingerly, so as not to damage their psyches.
Shurmur has been studying quarterbacks for more than three decades now and he was definitely the guy who sold Bradford to Kelly. Check out some of the comments he made about Bradford to Dave Spadaro of PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
“He’s a good decision-maker and a very accurate passer.”
“He’s more athletic and more mobile than you think.”
“He’s a quick thinker and he’s a quick good decision maker and he understands the importance of executing quickly. For those reasons he’ll be a good fit for us.”
“What you’ll find with Sam. He’s a very competitive guy. He’s a very talented guy and he works extremely hard, That’s probably the foundation of what Sam is.”
Shurmur was the offensive coordinator for the Rams in 2010 when they made Bradford the first pick in the draft. During his interview with Spadaro, Shurmur takes us through the process the Rams used to evaluate the former Heisman Trophy winner.
“We had the first pick in the draft”, Shurmur said. “Sam was a very, very impressive player in college. We had about six or seven exposures to him. He would come to our building. We’d go visit him on campus. We’d see him at the combine. We went and visited him at his training site.”
“He played at Oklahoma, so he played on a large stage”, Shurmur said in response to a question about how Bradford handled all the attention and pressure. “It really didn’t phase him. It wasn’t too big for him. We had A.J. Feeley at the time was his backup. He and A.J. worked together. He became his backup. Sam became the opening day starter. He handled it really well.”
“We got to know him in detail” Shurmur emphasized.
My ears perked up when I heard Shurmur talk about Bradford’s leadership abilities. Remember that Feeley said Bradford needs to learn to be a more forceful leader than he was a few years ago in St. Louis.
“He’s got this rare ability to lead”, Shurmur said. “Where I think he makes people around him better.”
I’m interested in seeing how Bradford deals with criticism here in Philly. Will he take it as a challenge to get more focused or will it be distracting to him?
Bradford’s former offensive coordinator was impressed with the quarterback’s rookie performance back in 2010.
“He did a great job for us”, Shurmur told Spadaro. “He helped us win 7 games in that first year, coming off a horrible year the year before. We fell a few plays short of winning the division with him as a rookie quarterback. He was rookie of the year. He’s a tremendous player, tremendous person. I think as the people in town get to know him. He’s got this quiet confidence, a great charisma about him.
“He’s going to play really good football. People are going to enjoy having him here.”
“He comes from a shot gun style offense in college, which is very similar to what we do here. In fact, we put in some of the principles he did real well in college into the offense in St. Louis in that first year. So he’s going to come here with a lot of background of what we do. We’re going to be able to connect the dots very quickly.
I just interviewed Sam Bradford High School Coach, who went on to say
“Sam’s a nice Kid, He work’s real hard in the Classroom and on the Field, just a real Pleasure to Coach him”…
I want to read how great his workout at Oaklahoma was again. I fell it is very relevant to his situation 6 years later.
Did you guys know he was line leader in kindergarten? his leadership skills were evident even way back then!
Don’t forget that Sam Bradford won a Summer Internship to work for Bill Gates
and Microsoft in the Summer of 2005 and was 1 of only 3 People in the US to ever have a “Microsoft Chip” Inserted in the base of their Skull
(1 being Bill Gates himself, 2 is Sam Bradford and the other Person has not been revealed as yet, though it’s been rumored that Chip Kelly had a chip inserted back in 2009 when he was Coaching at U of Oregon)
Apparently Bradford was never once caught during pre-school “What time is it Mr. Wolf” activities…demonstrating his athletic activity even then.
His pre-school counsellors tell of how quick he was to grasp “Calendar time” and always stuck the sun and raincloud stickers in the right places. Well before the other children in the group.
The only knock teachers ever found on him was his high ABSENCE rate… was great in school but missed a lot of time!
The selling of Sam the Gimp Bradford coming to Eagles fans everyday all day until his next damn knee injury. SMDH
Thanks for the article Gary. There is little doubt that Shurmer is one of the big reasons that Bradford is here, and one of the keys if he is going to be a success. For the sake of the team and its fanbase, I hope that he will be able to play injury free and to a level that Kelly expects and is able to utilize. There are a lot of new parts that Kelly has added to this offense, and while we have never been known as a patient fanbase, we will need some patience to see how everything is able to jell. I expect to see this offense have some consistency problems early, but that by mid season I look for Bradford, Murray, Ertz, Sproles and Matthews to be operating like a machine.
I really hope Bradford can stay healthy like the rest of Eagle fans. Sanchez I feel we know the ceiling as we did with Foles under center. We knew we would compete, that points could be scored, but we would struggle to beat the better teams and a deep run in the playoffs would be difficult.
There is so much “unknown” about what Bradford can do, the “known” element takes you right back to the injury history which triggers fear that the Eagles season is really “one” offensive play at a time.
Yes Jeff, I would have to believe that most fans have concerns about Sam’s health. Truthfully I actual have a similar feel to the way that I felt with Vick back in 2011…he showed flashes of great play and there was talk that under Andy and MM he was a changed QB, but the injury history was always there. My real fear is that we have seen this movie before and we know how it ends.
CAN SOMEONE START A FEED ABOUT THE PHILLIES? I know most you probably aren’t keeping tabs on this team, and rightfully so because they stink. But I thought this was a Philadelphia sports website, not a site for a bunch of Eagles fans to bitch and moan about stuff that wont matter for MONTHS!
The Phillies have Won 2 in Row…
They are 10 Games below .500 at 13-23 and in the basement of the NL East
and just Protmoted 3B M Franko up from AAA to play everyday at 3B while sending Cody Asche down to Lehigh to learn to play LF..
Paulman, predictions for who…
Leads the Phils in BA, HR, RBI when the season comes to an end..
Batting Average (Minimum of 350 At-Bats) — Freddy Galvis
Home Runs – Ryan Howard – 24 HR’s
RBI’s – Ryan Howard – 76 RBI’s
Good Re-Cap Sean…
I think when Dom Brown comes up, that Grady Sizemore will be released
Then once the Trade Deadline comes and goes, maybe they call Ashe back up to rotate in the OF with Herrera,Brown, Revere, Francouer..
I think that Hamels, Harrange & Papelbon can all be moved for Prospects
as well as OF Revere and Francouer to Playoff Contending Teams needing help there to solidify their Bench’s
I don’t think that they can Trade Howard or Utley to anyone
Those statements are true Paulman but they don’t scratch the surface of what’s going on with this team.
First off, Chase Utley is batting .120, which is dead last in the entire MLB. It’s obvious that it’s not a slump but rather that Chase has lost all seriousness and patience at the plate.
Second, Ryne Sandburg should be fired because he continuously bats Chase Utley in the 3 spot, and his inability to hit this season has contributed to the Phillies being the team that has scored the least runs in the entire MLB BY FAR!
Third, Ben Revere has picked up his play in late April/May, per usual, and had inceased his batting average .040 points in the last month. Also is stealing based like a champ.
Fourth, Freddy Galvis has been the MVP of the team so far. He is batting .353 and has been stellar at shortstop. A guy who was once an offensive liability is now 5th in the National League in batting average. His solid defense has remained. Last night he went 3 for 3 with a walk. Revere went 2-4. Chase Utley went 0 for 4 in the 3 spot, which essentially killed this teams ability to score any runs. Freddy Glavis has been an All Star thus far.
Fifth, As I predicted, Aaron Harang has found the fountain of youth and has been pitching great. His $5 million dollar contract has made him a decent trade chip for a second tier prospect. Not bad for a 37 year old inning eater.
Sixth, it’s clear that Cole Hamels isn’t happen. He still gets no runs support. His body language says it all. He needs to be dealt in the next two months or else we will never get anything valuable for him.
Seven, aside from Chase Utley’s abysmal batting average, Marlon Byrd and Jimmy Rollins are in the bottom 10 in the MLB in batting average as well. Imagine if we held on to these guys? Our season would be an even bigger joke.
Eight, the Giles-Papelbon combo has been dominant all season long besides last night. If we have the lead in the 7th, you can almost guarantee these guys will finish it off. Lovin it.
Nine, fire Ruben. That is all
Oh did I mention fire Ruben?
sean, benching utley is not a ruben or sandberg decision.. that is above their paygrade. Utley will be benched, retire or released by about july 15-30….It will be some sort of mutual understanding but he is done, the phils will have an infield of hernandez, franco, galvis, crawford moving forward galvis has taken to some coaching finally and been hitting well..the outfield will have a combination of asche, herrara, revere and the guy from reading (name escapes me).. they need some combination of galvis, franco, hernandez, crawford etc to be the real deal….
Where’s Dom Brown & Darren Ruf ? Are they still in Phils Future?
Ruf is batting .185 which is awful for a first basemen. He has very little power in his bar and won’t be on this team 2 years from now.
Dom Brown started the season in AAA after an ankle/leg injury limited him in most of spring training. Still, after regaining health and the Phils having a lackluster outfield, Dom Brown has struggled and has done nothing to warrant a call up.
I’m not saying we should bench or trade Chase. I just don’t want to see him batting 3rd if the guys who bat 1-2 have been getting base a lot.
Sandburg must be reading my comments, because Utley batted 6th last night and went 1-3. They batted Sizemore in the 3 spot which is a mistake as well. He went hitless. Idk why Sandburg is using traditional baseball ideologies while setting this line up. On this team, the 3 spot doesn’t have to be a hitter with power and little base running ability.
If I’m the Phils I’m putting Adubel Cabrera in that spot. The guy seems to hit a lot of doubles and has a solid BA .275. He’s been pretty good this year with runners in scoring position. Has quality at bats and stays patient. I’m also fine with keeping Howard at 4 because he’s the only true power hitter on this team. Yes he strikes out a lot, but he has been hitting more fly balls into the outfield this year which could potentially bring home a runner on third. We will see if Sandburg reads this again and follows my advice. 3 game win streak y’all. Can we make it 4? Probably not lol
Trade Hamels to the Padres where he belongs. He grew up here in SD and it’s only right for him to come back home and pitch for his home town team. And yes Sean, fire that dirt ball once and for all. Ruben Amaro should have been released of his duties 2 yrs ago
Cole Hamels to Padres for OF Will Myers and a Pitching Prosoect
The Padres have a deep pitching staff and don’t need Hamels contract on their books. I see potential suitors as the Red Sox, Dodgers, or Angels. Personally, I would love to see a trade to Seattle, and if they would eat a lot of his contract, I would want Taijuan Walker from Seattle. I see him as a future 20 win guy. Kid is 24-25 years old and has nasty stuff.
Sean, you have to give sanberg and the staff some credit. Gal is has finally taken to coaching. He may actually turn into a MLB hitter. It doesn’t matter who hits where at this point and oh BTW….sanberg isn’t reading GCOBB
Yeah, the same Galvis, that I said 2-3 years ago, that should have been given a chance everyday, & Aramis Ramirez should have been signed, but your hero re-signed JStroll, to an ill-advised, unwarranted, stupid contract. I told you he’s a great defensive SS, with pop, & if given A SHOT, Rollins won’t be missed! But, you ripped me, calling him a bum, & wasn’t a MLB player. Keep spinning, spin-master, maybe 1 day, you’ll be right, & have a f#@^ing clue.
Actually galvis was not ready. He was a 200 hitter. You also endorsed Rollins if it wasn’t a 5 year deal… You just seem to forget things conveniently … You endorsed pap, doc, pence…. Then when things go south you act like an asshole…. Typical
Neither was OF Dom Brown who was brought up
A good Season or two before he was ready..
Phils in hindsight should have kept him down on the Farm
As they already had a solid Team and really didn’t to rush him
Up at the time..
I always thought that Manager Charlie/R Dubee overused and ruined the young arms & confidence of potentially good young relievers in Mark Stutes, Bastard
but I guess you can say that about a lot of young Players..
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH……
1st numbnuts, I have NEVER ONCE endorsed JStroll, in my life. Said then, that he needed to go in FA, & Ramirez should have been signed.
2nd, I endorsed Pap, not the $$$$/ contract/ not trading him.
3rd, loved Doc & Pence, & never had an issue with either of them, just your boy toys incompetence in trading Pence, when he shouldn’t have, & got trash in return!!!! Joseph was the wild card, but had concussion issues, even then. Stop making shit up, you clueless, know nothing, @$$clown, to fit your failed arguments, spin doctoring, & excuse making, for your boy toy hero Ruin 2morrow! You ARE, WERE, & ALWAYS WILL BE WRONG! Admit it fool! But you ain’t man enough, so you won’t…..
BTW, clownboy, Galvis was ready, & wasn’t given a chance, & was buried, because of JStroll, being re-signed by your failure, hero, boy toy Ruin 2morrow. Get your head out of his fart box, & stop man hole plugging! You are clueless, & don’t have a clue of what you speak!
“I never once endorsed Jstroll in my life..” except of course when you did….
DCar
October 12, 2011 – 4:17 am
Absolutely not!!! 2-3 at a price! If not see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!
This was in response to an article that said “should the phils sign rollins for 5 years… to which you responded with the 2-3 years comment… I believe his contract was for 3 years with a 4th option… oops…
Where is the endorsement, & the rest of the conversation?? 2-3 years at a low price, is far different, than bidding against yourself, & signing him to a 3 year, with a very attainable option, at $11M per, with him gaining his 10-5 rights during the contract. I did not want him back, you jackoff!! Stop cherry picking comments, omiting others, to try to support your spinning, boot licking & 3-4 years at being wrong & not man enough to admit it!!!! Go some more research, loser, & find a clue. I’m sick & tired of arguing with your irrational, delusional, clueless, ass!!!!
3 years at 11 million is quite a good price for a player of that caliber– he won a GG on that contract averaged 25 SB and hit some home runs… they trade his option year and got a couple of decent arms…
so the fact that they gave him an option year is the cost of doing business.
Galicia finally adhered to coaching dan berg should get some credit
Denny, if you read the comments above, this is what I’m talking about with some of the commenters on this site. I love a good sports debate, but arguing over he said- she said BS from years ago is just stupid. Why can’t we talk about the current state of this team? Why can’t we discuss different opinions on what it will take to turn this team around?
Say what you want about the past, but guess what, you can’t change it so you might as well accept it and move forward. Its weird seeing old men argue like 3 year olds.
current state… Ok looks like Galvis may be able to finally play- as I said earlier, give him and Sandberg/staff some credit. we need franco to be the real deal, looks like a lot of good arms on the farm — we need a catcher, Joseph will never be ok… maybe an IF of franco, Crawford, Galvis and ??, OF Asche, CF (forgot his name on the farm) and TBD in right….
Biggest things for this current year: 1. Don’t let Utley get 500 ABs, 2. trade hamels for a number 1 prospect 3. Trade Pap for a good prospect 4. Howard for something…