Len Dawson knows the answer, the only correct answer to such a loaded question.
"If you give the title to one school, somebody else is going to claim it anyway," the Pro Football Hall of Famer said.
When people debate which school deserves to be called Quarterback U, Dawson's alma mater, Purdue, probably doesn't get much consideration. Higher-profile programs like Miami and USC first come to mind for many, along with perhaps Notre Dame, Alabama or Michigan.
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Truth be told, a case can be made for all of those schools, just as a case can be made for Purdue. It all depends on the criteria used.
The purpose of this project is to provide as much cold, hard data as possible so every fan can come to his or her own conclusion about the Quarterback U debate. It's easy to blurt out the popular answer, "Miami," when someone asks, but study the statistics on these two pages carefully and you may find yourself jumping on another team's bandwagon, perhaps even Purdue's.
The starting point
Fact Box
About this project
Cory Giger's "Quarterback U" project started with one simple thought: How does Penn State compare to other college programs when it comes to producing NFL starting quarterbacks? Nearly 100 hours of research later, the Mirror presents a comprehensive breakdown comparing college-to-NFL quarterback success.
This project encompasses the entire Super Bowl era. Every quarterback who started at least one game in the NFL (and old AFL) during the past 43 years is listed here.
Two guidelines were followed in the research:
1. Every NFL starting quarterback for every year from 1966 -- the regular season leading up to the first Super Bowl -- through 2008 is included. Any games a quarterback started prior to 1966 are not counted in his or his alma mater's totals. The number of starts by Johnny Unitas, for example, take into account only the latter part of his career (1966-73) and not those prior to the Super Bowl era.
2. If a quarterback attended more than one college, the final one was used as his representative school. For instance, Jeff Hostetler transferred from Penn State to West Virginia, so he counts as a Mountaineer and not a Nittany Lion. This distinction was made to avoid giving multiple schools credit for one player's success.
Primary research sources: Pro-Football-Reference.com, NFL.com, NFL official team Web sites, NFL team media guides
-----------------------------
The NFL experience
Complete list of every NFL starting QB during the Super Bowl era (1966-present), broken down by school attended, total number for the school and how many regular-season games each started.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN (1)
Clint Longley 2
AKRON (1)
Charlie Frye 20
ALABAMA (8)
Ken Stabler 146
Joe Namath 121
Richard Todd 108
Bart Starr 59
Scott Hunter 42
Jeff Rutledge 10
Brodie Croyle 8
Steve Sloan 1
ALABAMA STATE (1)
Tarvaris Jackson 19
ALCORN STATE (1)
Steve McNair 153
ARIZONA (1)
Bill Demory 1
ARIZONA STATE (8)
Jake Plummer 136
Danny White 92
Mike Pagel 54
Mark Malone 53
Paul Justin 10
Andrew Walter 9
Todd Hons 3
Jeff Van Raaphorst 1
ARKANSAS (5)
Joe Ferguson 171
Scott Bull 7
Mike Kirkland 2
Clint Stoerner 2
Ronnie Lee South 1
ARKANSAS STATE (1)
Cleo Lemon 8
AUBURN (4)
Jason Campbell 36
Dieter Brock 15
Pat Sullivan 5
Dick Wood 4
AUGUSTANA (1)
Ken Anderson 172
BAYLOR (5)
Cody Carlson 19
Don Trull 15
Buddy Humphrey 5
Cotton Davidson 4
Brad Goebel 2
BOSTON COLLEGE (9)
Matt Hasselbeck 103
Doug Flutie 66
Jack Concannon 44
Matt Ryan 16
Glenn Foley 9
Mike Kruczek 7
Gary Marangi 7
Tim Hasselbeck 5
Shawn Halloran 2
BOWLING GREEN (1)
Brian McClure 1
BUFFALO (1)
John Stofa 9
BYU (7)
Steve Young 143
Jim McMahon 97
Marc Wilson 60
Virgil Carter 30
Ty Detmer 25
Gifford Nielsen 14
John Beck 4
CALIFORNIA (6)
Craig Morton 144
Steve Bartkowski 127
Joe Kapp 48
Kyle Boller 42
Aaron Rodgers 16
Gale Gilbert 4
CALIFORNIA-DAVIS (3)
Ken O'Brien 110
Mike Moroski 9
J.T. O'Sullivan 8
CAL POLY-POMONA (1)
Jim Zorn 106
CAL POLY-SAN LUIS OBISPO (1)
Don Milan 1
CAL-STATE NORTHRIDGE (2)
Max Choboian 7
Bruce Lemmerman 2
CENTRAL FLORIDA (1)
Daunte Culpepper 95
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (1)
Gary Hogeboom 37
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (1)
Jon Kitna 115
CINCINNATI (2)
Greg Cook 11
Jacky Lee 5
CLEMSON (1)
Steve Fuller 42
COASTAL CAROLINA (1)
Tyler Thigpen 11
COLORADO (2)
Kordell Stewart 87
Koy Detmer 8
COLORADO STATE (2)
Kelly Stouffer 16
Moses Moreno 3
COLUMBIA (2)
Marty Domres 32
John Witkowski 1
CONNECTICUT (1)
Dan Orlovsky 7
CORNELL (1)
Gary Wood 7
C.W. POST (1)
Jim LeClair 4
DARTMOUTH (2)
Jay Fiedler 60
Jeff Kemp 29
DELAWARE (4)
Rich Gannon 132
Scott Brunner 30
Joe Flacco 16
Jeff Komlo 16
DUKE (6)
Sonny Jurgensen 81
Dave Brown 60
Al Woodall 19
Anthony Dilweg 7
Scotty Glacken 1
Leo Hart 1
EAST CAROLINA (2)
Jeff Blake 100
David Garrard 46
EASTERN ILLINOIS (2)
Tony Romo 39
Jeff Christensen 2
EASTERN MICHIGAN (1)
Charlie Batch 50
FISK (1)
J.J. Jones 1
FLORIDA (8)
Steve Spurrier 38
Rex Grossman 31
Shane Matthews 22
John Reaves 17
Doug Johnson 11
Danny Wuerffel 10
Jesse Palmer 3
Kay Stephenson 3
FLORIDA A&M (1)
Quinn Gray 4
FLORIDA STATE (6)
Brad Johnson 125
Steve Tensi 33
Gary Huff 28
Danny Kanell 24
Chris Weinke 20
Peter Tom Willis 3
FRESNO STATE (4)
Trent Dilfer 113
David Carr 79
Billy Volek 10
Kevin Sweeney 4
FURMAN (2)
David Whitehurst 37
Sam Wyche 9
GEORGIA (6)
Fran Tarkenton 174
Quincy Carter 34
Matt Robinson 20
Eric Zeier 12
Zeke Bratkowski 10
Larry Rakestraw 4
GEORGIA TECH (1)
Mike Kelley 1
GRAMBLING STATE (2)
Doug Williams 81
James Harris 41
HARVARD (1)
Ryan Fitzpatrick 15
HOFSTRA (1)
Don Gault 1
HOUSTON (2)
David Klingler 24
Andre Ware 6
IDAHO (1)
John Friesz 38
ILLINOIS (6)
Jeff George 124
Tony Eason 51
Jack Trudeau 49
Dave Wilson 31
Mike Taliaferro 25
Kurt Kittner 4
INDIANA (3)
Trent Green 113
Babe Laufenberg 7
Steve Bradley 1
IOWA (2)
Chuck Long 21
Mark Vlasic 4
IOWA STATE (4)
David Archer 23
Sage Rosenfels 12
Seneca Wallace 12
Tim Van Galder 5
KANSAS (3)
John Hadl 135
Bobby Douglass 53
Frank Seurer 2
KANSAS STATE (4)
Steve Grogan 135
Lynn Dickey 111
Dennis Morrison 2
Dan Manucci 1
KENTUCKY (4)
Tim Couch 59
Babe Parilli 25
Rick Norton 11
George Blanda 9
LEHIGH (1)
Kim McQuilken 7
LOUISVILLE (5)
Johnny Unitas 66
Browning Nagle 14
Chris Redman 10
Ed Rubbert 3
Dave Ragone 2
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (1)
Jake Delhomme 81
LOUISIANA-MONROE (3)
Stan Humphries 81
Bubby Brister 75
Doug Pederson 17
LSU (6)
Bert Jones 96
David Woodley 53
JaMarcus Russell 16
Tom Hodson 12
Alan Risher 3
Matt Mauck 1
LOUISIANA TECH (4)
Terry Bradshaw 158
Tim Rattay 18
Luke McCown 7
Mickey Slaughter 1
MAINE (1)
Mike Buck 1
MARSHALL (2)
Chad Pennington 77
Byron Leftwich 46
MARYLAND (9)
Boomer Esiason 173
Neil O'Donnell 100
Bob Avellini 50
Dick Shiner 27
Frank Reich 20
Stan Gelbaugh 12
Shaun Hill 10
Scott Zolak 7
Chuck Pastrana 3
MASSACHUSETTS (2)
Greg Landry 98
John McCormick 6
MEMPHIS (1)
Steve Matthews 1
MIAMI, FLA. (10)
Vinny Testaverde 214
Jim Kelly 160
Bernie Kosar 108
Steve Walsh 38
Craig Erickson 35
Ken Dorsey 13
George Mira 5
Larry Lawrence 2
Brock Berlin 1
Scott Covington 1
MIAMI, OHIO (1)
Ben Roethlisberger 71
MICHIGAN (8)
Jim Harbaugh 140
Tom Brady 111
Brian Griese 83
Elvis Grbac 70
Todd Collins 20
Larry Cipa 2
Drew Henson 1
John Navarre 1
MICHIGAN STATE (4)
Tony Banks 78
Earl Morrall 45
Jim Miller 27
Jim Ninowski 2
MICHIGAN TECH (1)
Dave Walter 2
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (2)
Kelly Holcomb 24
Jonathan Quinn 6
MILTON (1)
Dave Krieg 175
MINNESOTA (1)
Mike Hohensee 2
MINOT STATE (1)
Randy Hedberg 4
MISSISSIPPI (4)
Archie Manning 139
Eli Manning 71
John Fourcade 11
Norris Weese 7
MISSISSIPPI STATE (1)
Joe Reed 19
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE (2)
Parnell Dickinson 1
Willie Totten 1
MISSOURI (2)
Steve Pisarkiewicz 4
Gary Lane 1
MISSOURI SOUTHERN (1)
Mike Loyd 1
MONTANA (1)
Brent Pease 3
MOREHEAD STATE (2)
Phil Simms 159
Adrian Breen 1
NAVY (1)
Roger Staubach 114
NEBRASKA (6)
Vince Ferragamo 53
Jerry Tagge 12
Bruce Mathison 9
Dennis Claridge 3
David Humm 1
Terry Luck 1
NEW MEXICO (2)
Stoney Case 6
Steve Myer 4
NEW MEXICO STATE (3)
Charley Johnson 75
Joe Pisarcik 30
Cliff Olander 1
NICHOLLS STATE (1)
Doug Hudson 1
N.C. STATE (3)
Roman Gabriel 135
Erik Kramer 67
Philip Rivers 48
NORTHERN COLORADO (1)
Bill Kenney 77
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (1)
Jerry Golsteyn 9
NORTHERN IOWA (1)
Kurt Warner 101
NORTH TEXAS (1)
Steve Ramsey 31
NORTHWESTERN (1)
Randy Dean 2
NORTHWESTERN STATE (1)
Bobby Hebert 100
NOTRE DAME (13)
Joe Montana 164
Joe Theismann 124
Steve Beuerlein 102
Daryle Lamonica 84
Rick Mirer 68
Terry Hanratty 18
Blair Kiel 3
Brady Quinn 3
Ed Rutkowski 3
George Izo 2
John Huarte 1
Jarious Jackson 1
Rusty Lisch 1
OCCIDENTAL (1)
Jack Kemp 36
OHIO STATE (7)
Mike Tomczak 73
Kent Graham 38
Bobby Hoying 13
Tom Tupa 13
Art Schlichter 6
Craig Krenzel 5
Troy Smith 2
OKLAHOMA STATE (1)
Rusty Hilger 14
OREGON (9)
Dan Fouts 171
Chris Miller 92
Joey Harrington 76
Bob Berry 53
Akili Smith 17
A.J. Feeley 15
Kellen Clemens 8
Tony Graziani 5
Bill Musgrave 1
OREGON STATE (3)
Derek Anderson 27
Matt Moore 3
Erik Wilhelm 1
PACIFIC (4)
Bob Lee 29
Tom Flores 14
Craig Whelihan 14
Carlos Brown 3
PENN (1)
Jim Crocicchia 1
PENN STATE (6)
Kerry Collins 164
Todd Blackledge 29
Pete Liske 28
Milt Plum 12
Tom Sherman 7
John Hufnagel 1
PITTSBURGH (4)
Dan Marino 240
Matt Cavanaugh 19
Alex Van Pelt 11
Matt Lytle 1
PORTLAND STATE (2)
Neil Lomax 101
June Jones 5
PRINCETON (1)
Jason Garrett 9
PURDUE (9)
Jim Everett 153
Bob Griese 151
Drew Brees 106
Len Dawson 104
Mike Phipps 72
Gary Danielson 60
Kyle Orton 33
Scott Campbell 13
Mark Herrmann 12
RICE (4)
Tommy Kramer 110
Frank Ryan 30
Donald Hollas 8
King Hill 4
RICHMOND (2)
Ron Smith 7
Bob Bleier 2
RUTGERS (2)
Ray Lucas 15
Mike McMahon 14
ST. CLOUD STATE (1)
Todd Bouman 6
SAM HOUSTON STATE (1)
Josh McCown 31
SAN DIEGO STATE (7)
Brian Sipe 111
Dennis Shaw 37
Don Horn 15
Jesse Freitas 7
Dan McGwire 5
Craig Penrose 4
Matt Kofler 1
SAN JOSE STATE (3)
Steve DeBerg 140
Jeff Garcia 116
Ed Luther 9
SANTA CLARA (1)
Dan Pastorini 122
SMU (2)
Mike Livingston 75
Don Meredith 37
SOUTH CAROLINA (2)
Anthony Wright 19
Bill Troup 11
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (1)
Mike Busch 1
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (1)
Jim Hart 180
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (2)
Brett Favre 269
Reggie Collier 1
STANFORD (10)
John Elway 231
Jim Plunkett 144
John Brodie 86
Steve Dils 27
Trent Edwards 23
Mike Boryla 19
Chad Hutchinson 14
Turk Schonert 12
Steve Stenstrom 10
Randy Fasani 1
SYRACUSE (3)
Donovan McNabb 128
Todd Philcox 5
Jim Del Gaizo 3
TCU (1)
Kent Nix 18
TEMPLE (1)
Henry Burris 1
TENNESSEE (5)
Peyton Manning 176
Heath Shuler 22
Pat Ryan 19
Bobby Scott 14
Dewey Warren 4
TENNESSEE STATE (1)
Joe Gilliam 7
TEXAS (2)
Vince Young 29
Chris Simms 15
TEXAS A&M (3)
Ed Hargett 7
Gary Kubiak 5
Bucky Richardson 4
TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE (3)
Wade Wilson 69
Kyle Mackey 4
Will Cureton 1
TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE (1)
Randy Johnson 48
TEXAS SOUTHERN (1)
Dave Mays 4
TEXAS STATE (1)
Spergon Wynn 3
TEXAS TECH (1)
Billy Joe Tolliver 47
TOLEDO (1)
Bruce Gradkowski 12
TULANE (4)
J.P. Losman 33
Shaun King 24
Patrick Ramsey 24
Ken Karcher 3
TULSA (5)
Gus Frerotte 93
T.J. Rubley 7
Rick Arrington 5
Jerry Rhome 5
Jeb Blount 4
UCLA (10)
Troy Aikman 165
Billy Kilmer 114
Jay Schroeder 99
Steve Bono 42
Tommy Maddox 36
Cade McNown 15
Tom Ramsey 5
Rick Neuheisel 2
David Norrie 2
Matt Stevens 2
UNLV (2)
Randall Cunningham 135
Glenn Carano 1
USC (15)
Rodney Peete 87
Carson Palmer 65
Bill Nelsen 60
Pat Haden 55
Vince Evans 39
Pete Beathard 32
Rob Johnson 29
Paul McDonald 21
Matt Leinart 16
Matt Cassel 15
Rudy Bukich 14
Sean Salisbury 12
Todd Marinovich 8
Mike Rae 8
Scott Tinsley 2
U.S. INTERNATIONAL (1)
Wayne Clark 5
UTAH (3)
Scott Mitchell 71
Alex Smith 30
Terry Nofsinger 6
UTAH STATE (4)
Eric Hipple 57
Bill Munson 47
Bob Gagliano 13
Tony Adams 10
UTEP (2)
Gary Keithley 2
Sammy Garza 1
VANDERBILT (1)
Jay Cutler 37
VIRGINIA (6)
Aaron Brooks 90
Don Majkowski 57
Gary Cuozzo 38
Matt Schaub 24
Bob Davis 14
Scott Secules 4
VIRGINIA TECH (4)
Michael Vick 67
Don Strock 22
Will Furrer 2
Jim Druckenmiller 1
WAKE FOREST (2)
Norm Snead 99
Karl Sweetan 18
WASHINGTON (12)
Warren Moon 203
Chris Chandler 152
Mark Brunell 150
Steve Pelluer 30
Damon Huard 27
Hugh Millen 25
Billy Joe Hobert 17
Brock Huard 4
Tom Flick 3
Cary Conklin 2
Cody Pickett 2
Marques Tuiasosopo 2
WASHINGTON STATE (5)
Drew Bledsoe 193
Mark Rypien 78
Ryan Leaf 21
Jack Thompson 21
Timm Rosenbach 20
WEBER STATE (2)
Jamie Martin 8
Jeff Carlson 3
WEST VIRGINIA (3)
Marc Bulger 87
Jeff Hostetler 83
Oliver Luck 9
WICHITA STATE (1)
Tom Owen 9
WILIIAM & MARY (1)
Dan Darragh 11
WISCONSIN (4)
Randy Wright 32
Brooks Bollinger 10
Ron Vander Kelen 4
Neil Graff 2
XAVIER (1)
George Wilson 7
YALE (1)
Joe Dufek 5
YOUNGSTOWN STATE (2)
Ron Jaworski 143
Cliff Stoudt 20
-----------------------------
Quarterback factories
Most NFL starting QBs by school:
(Note: Penn State has had 6 and Pittsburgh 4.)
USC 15
Notre Dame 13
Washington 12
Miami, Fla. 10
Stanford 10
UCLA 10
Boston College 9
Maryland 9
Oregon 9
Purdue 9
Michigan 8
Alabama 8
Arizona State 8
Florida 8
BYU 7
Ohio State 7
San Diego State 7
-------------------------
Most games NFL games started by alums:
Purdue 704
Washington 617
Miami, Fla. 577
Notre Dame 574
Stanford 567
Alabama 495
UCLA 482
USC 463
Oregon 438
Michigan 428
Maryland 402
California 381
BYU 373
Arizona State 358
Washington State 333
Illinois 284
Pittsburgh 271
Southern Mississippi 270
San Jose State 265
Boston College 259
Georgia 254
N.C. State 250
Kansas State 249
Penn State 241
Tennessee 235
Florida State 233
---------------------------
Big Ten breakdown
Purdue the top team, while Penn State's Kerry Collins has started more NFL games than any other QB from the conference.
Comparing Big Ten teams
School NFL starters NFL games
Purdue 9 704
Michigan 8 428
Ohio State 7 150
Illinois 6 284
Penn State 6 241
Wisconsin 4 48
Michigan State 4 152
Indiana 3 121
Iowa 2 25
Minnesota 1 2
Northwestern 1 2
---------------------------
Big Ten QBs with most NFL starts
Name School Games
Kerry Collins Penn State 164
Jim Everett Purdue 153
Bob Griese Purdue 151
Jim Harbaugh Michigan 140
Jeff George Illinois 124
Trent Green Indiana 113
Tom Brady Michigan 111
Drew Brees Purdue 106
Len Dawson Purdue 104
Brian Griese Micigan 83
Tony Banks Michigan State 78
Mike Tomczak Ohio State 73
Mike Phipps Purdue 72
Elvis Grbac Michigan 70
Gary Danielson Purdue 60
----------------------
Heisman Trophies
QB winners by school since 1966:
Florida (3): Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, Tim Tebow
Florida State (2): Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke
Miami, Fla. (2): Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta
Oklahoma (2): Sam Bradford, Jason White
USC (2): Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart
Auburn (1): Pat Sullivan
Boston College (1): Doug Flutie
BYU (1): Ty Detmer
Houston (1): Andre Ware
Nebraska (1): Eric Crouch
Ohio State (1): Troy Smith
Stanford (1): Jim Plunkett
UCLA (1): Gary Beban
------------------------------
National championships
Since 1966 (either AP, UPI, Coaches or BCS) vs. number of total NFL starters:
School national titles NFL starters
USC 6 15
Miami, Fla. 5 10
Nebraska 5 6
Alabama 4 8
Notre Dame 4 13
Oklahoma 4 0
Florida 3 8
Texas 3 2
Ohio State 2 7
Florida State 2 6
LSU 2 6
Penn State 2 6
BYU 1 7
Clemson 1 1
Colorado 1 2
Georgia 1 6
Georgia Tech 1 1
Michigan 1 8
Pittsburgh 1 4
Tennessee 1 5
Washington 1 12
NOTEWORTHY
Stanford 0 10
UCLA 0 10
Boston College 0 9
Maryland 0 9
Oregon 0 9
Purdue 0 9
-----------------------------
NFL Hall of Famers
Who played since 1966:
Alabama (2): Joe Namath, Bart Starr
Purdue (2): Len Dawson, Bob Griese
BYU (1): Steve Young
Duke (1): Sonny Jurgensen
Georgia (1): Fran Tarkenton
Kentucky (1): George Blanda
Louisiana Tech (1): Terry Bradshaw
Louisville (1): Johnny Unitas
Miami, Fla. (1): Jim Kelly
Navy (1): Roger Staubach
Notre Dame (1): Joe Montana
Oregon (1): Dan Fouts
Pittsburgh (1): Dan Marino
Stanford (1): John Elway
UCLA (1): Troy Aikman
Washington (1): Warren Moon
---------------------------
Lombardi luminaries
Super Bowls won by starting QB alum:
Notre Dame (5): Joe Montana 4, Joe Theismann
Alabama (4): Bart Starr 2, Joe Namath, Ken Stabler
Louisiana Tech (4): Terry Bradshaw 4
Stanford (4): John Elway 2,
Jim Plunkett 2
Michigan (3): Tom Brady 3
Purdue (3): Bob Griese 2, Len Dawson
UCLA (3): Troy Aikman 3
BYU (2): Jim McMahon, Steve Young
Miami, Ohio (2): Ben Roethlisberger 2
Navy (2): Roger Staubach 2
Florida State (1): Brad Johnson
Fresno State (1): Trent Dilfer
Grambling State (1): Doug Williams
Louisville (1): Johnny Unitas
Mississippi (1): Eli Manning
Morehead State (1): Phil Simms
Northern Iowa (1): Kurt Warner
Southern Mississippi (1): Brett Favre
Tennessee (1): Peyton Manning
Washington State (1): Mark Rypien
West Virginia (1): Jeff Hostetler
No team should be included in the debate unless it has produced numerous quality NFL quarterbacks. College success alone cannot be enough.
Oklahoma, for instance, has had two Heisman Trophy winners (Jason White, Sam Bradford), and the Sooners have won four national titles since 1966. But here's a fascinating tidbit: Oklahoma has not had an alum start a game at quarterback in the NFL since Jack Jacobs way back in 1949.
"You're kidding," Dawson said when told that surprising fact.
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Furthermore, Texas has produced only two NFL starting quarterbacks during the Super Bowl era (Vince Young, Chris Simms). To put that in perspective, Division II Texas A&M-Commerce has turned out three NFL starters (Wade Wilson, Kyle Mackey, Will Cureton), which is more than Oklahoma and Texas combined.
"The NFL was looking at a different type of quarterback than the wishbone we ran at Oklahoma," said Galen Hall, the Sooners' offensive coordinator from 1966-83 and now Penn State's offensive coordinator. "That might have something to do with the Oklahoma thing. Now they're throwing the football, and you'll probably see a quarterback from Oklahoma start in the NFL sometime soon."
NFL draft analyst Chris Steuber from scout.com said many quarterbacks, like Oklahoma's White, have skills that "don't translate well" from college to the pros. A lot of them excel in a system that works for a college program, but that system may not be used by NFL teams.
"In college today, a lot of teams don't really care about what the pros do," Steuber said. "The spread formation doesn't exactly work in the NFL, but it's very effective in the college game."
Double dose of success
Unlike an Oklahoma or Texas, the leading contenders for Quarterback U distinction all have produced a bunch of NFL starters.
Some people may include every quarterback who made it to the NFL as proof of a school's strong pipeline. But rather than boast about backups who rarely got off the bench, the better measure of success is the number of starters.
USC tops the list with 15 alums who have started at least one NFL game, followed by Notre Dame (13) and Washington (12).
Taking over the marquee position at a powerhouse program can create a lot of pressure on a young quarterback. Jimmy Clausen went to Notre Dame in 2007 as the No. 1 high school recruit in the nation, and he'll enter his junior season still trying to live up to the hype.
"There's always pressure at Notre Dame," Clausen said.
Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis, who mentored Tom Brady with the New England Patriots, put the pressure facing Clausen in perspective.
"When you come in as a freshman quarterback, especially here at Notre Dame, especially with the hype ... sometimes we forget that these are just teen-agers," Weis said. "We treat them like it's Tom Brady or Peyton Manning."
Purdue, one of Notre Dame's biggest rivals, belongs in the Quarterback U debate for two reasons. Boilermaker alums have started more NFL games (704) than any other school, and Purdue is the only program to have four quarterbacks start at least 100 games (Jim Everett, Bob Griese, Drew Brees, Dawson).
The passing attack was a big part of Purdue football more than 50 years ago - long before most other schools - and continued under recently retired head coach Joe Tiller.
"Purdue was one of the few schools that threw the football," Dawson said. "Being from Ohio, I was recruited by Ohio State. Woody Hayes was the coach, and he was running the Split-T.
"Hank Stram was one of my coaches at Purdue, along with Bobby DeMoss, an ex-quarterback at Purdue. They let me throw the ball."
While schools like Purdue have a long tradition of throwing the ball, others like Penn State are just the opposite. Joe Paterno built the Nittany Lions into a national power primarily with a strong running game and defense.
"We were 3 yards and a cloud of dust for a lot of years," Penn State alum Kerry Collins said. "It's not that way anymore."
Collins helped spearhead that change at PSU during his All-America career and guided the Lions to an undefeated season in 1994. Getting set for his 15th pro season, Collins has started more games in the NFL (164) than any other Big Ten quarterback during the Super Bowl era.
All things considered
Every school with a legitimate claim to the Quarterback U title has at least one blemish on its resume.
USC has never produced a Super Bowl-winning quarterback or Hall of Famer, and its most successful alum was Rodney Peete.
Miami has no Super Bowl champs - unfortunately for Jim Kelly (0-for-4) - and one of its Heisman Trophy winners, Gino Torretta, never started a game in the NFL.
Neither Alabama nor Purdue has produced a Heisman Trophy winner. Also, Purdue hasn't won a national championship, and Alabama hasn't had a standout quarterback in three decades (since Richard Todd in 1976).
Brady has given Michigan's resume a boost with three Super Bowl titles, but the Wolverines' eight NFL starters and 428 starts lag behind many other schools.
Stanford, led by John Elway and Jim Plunkett, has a strong overall claim with four Super Bowls, 10 NFL starters, 567 starts and a Heisman Trophy. All of those good signal callers, however, failed to lead the Cardinal to a national championship.
Washington ranks third with 12 NFL starters, second with 617 starts and is the only school to produce three quarterbacks with at least 150 starts (Warren Moon, Chris Chandler, Mark Brunell). The Huskies, though, have never had a Heisman Trophy or Super Bowl winner.
Notre Dame, surprisingly, has not had a Heisman Trophy quarterback during the Super Bowl era.
Florida leads with three Heisman Trophy winners, but no Gator quarterback has started more than 38 games in the NFL or won a Super Bowl.
"I don't think there's a school that has a formula for it," said Penn State's Hall, a pro quarterback himself from 1962-63. "You can't say, 'Go to this school, you're going to be an NFL quarterback.' I don't believe that."
Dawson was asked if he believes one school has distinguished itself enough over the others to be called Quarterback U. He replied, "If you find out the answer, let me know."
Here you go, sir:
The data suggests no.
Cory Giger can be reached at 949-7031 and cgsports12@aol.com.
