Florida's Anthony Richardson Is the 'Whole Package' Says QB Coach Denny Thompson
The future of the Florida Gators football team may one day lie in the hands of now-18-year-old freshman quarterback Anthony Richardson, and if quarterbacks coach Denny Thompson has anything to say about it, that's exactly what will happen.
For many quarterbacks, they'll participate in camps or train with individual coaches, working above and beyond the call of duty to command one aspect of their incredibly expansive game. From learning how to take a snap to perfect a throwing angle that allows the ball to travel distances a typical human would be bewildered by.
But where ought they go to get such detailed training?
That's where Thompson comes in. The 24-year Jacksonville-resident moonlights as a co-host of a local Jacksonville radio show, 'The Sports Den' on 1010XL and 92.5FM with former Florida State Seminoles fullback, James Coleman. He also makes various television appearances on the local news. But, that's certainly not his main gig. Teaching quarterbacks is his primary passion, focus, and everything in between.
"I just fell in love with the process of developing quarterbacks," Thomson told Sports Illustrated - AllGators in a phone interview on Monday. "I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. 'Okay, what's the proper way to develop a quarterback?' and I don't know if I even know that now, but that's been my driving force - not just training these guys, but we take an approach of development from every single aspect."
Perhaps more than modest, Thompson has been coaching quarterbacks on every single level of football full-time over the past 10 years, really taking off with his camp, '6 Points', following years of adversity prior.
He and his wife Angie dealt with and overcame plenty. In 2008, Thompson lost a lot of money in an investment business, which ultimately went under, he was let go from a high school head coaching position due to a recruiting violation in 2010, but it wasn't until after his wife overcame a cancer diagnosis in 2016 when Thompson realized he needed to hunker down. "After we got through that, and really just dialed in to 'Hey, here's what we're doing', it took off from there."
From middle school quarterbacks to the NFL, Thompson and his team have helped develop plenty. Players such as Richardson, Georgia freshman quarterback Carson Beck, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, Georgia Tech freshman Jeff Sims and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Josh Dobbs have all recently participated in Thompson's camp.
"The private training that I do is more quarterback development - we dive into everything - depending on their age - everything from recruiting to media training, to the NFL guys, it's very specific reads and angles and all the stuff that would bore people to death," says Thompson.
Richardson has done group-setting training and private training with 6 Points and Thompson since his junior season of high school. Being from Gainesville (Fla.), the Gators freshman dual-threat quarterback hasn't had to travel very far to receive this expert training, and after his high school coach referred him to Thompson, Richardson got to work.
In a group setting, Thompson says, it can be beneficial for younger quarterbacks, not necessarily for the competition of it all, but because the quarterbacks are able to see how their peers work, feeding, and learning from each other along with building camaraderie. Rivalries, at that point, no longer exist.
When he first laid eyes on Richardson, Thompson saw a raw, but talented quarterback, however, it wasn't until the following summers when Thompson saw his true potential and extraordinary growth.
"Everything from [the] physical attributes of this massive human being that can move effortlessly, and is one of the faster guys that came out last year at the quarterback position in the country, to the things that get overlooked with Anthony, which is really how smart he is. He is extremely intelligent and very coachable."
Since joining the program, Richardson has worked at re-learning his throwing mechanics, or mechanical structure, something that many quarterbacks, from preps to the pros, have struggled to accomplish. Richardson, Thompson says, did just that, and more and it only took him "two weeks" to look "smooth" as if he'd been doing it for 10 years already, something rare and a testament to his cerebral processing and work ethic.
For many quarterbacks Thompson and his team work with, they'll typically go methodically from basics to expert-level training, but not for Richardson.
"It's been one of those things where we'll work on something and then the next session in we normally have to work on it again to make it a habit," said Thompson. "Not with him. We work on something, the next session he comes in and he's perfected. And so it's been a ton of fun progress."
Now at 6-foot-4, 233-pounds, Richardson is one of the more physically-gifted athletes that Thompson has laid eyes on. As he explains it:
It used to be where I would sit there and we would throw, and about five times a session I would just shake my head like, 'Wow, this is crazy'. I don't even do that anymore, because I'm so used to seeing it from him. But I don't see it - I see it from a handful of guys, what Anthony has. It's this talent level, this baseline talent level - and I hate to use the term ceiling. I hate that term -, but, for him, it's endless. It is. I cannot say enough promising things about the future for Anthony, because he's the whole package.
As mentioned earlier, Dobbs has frequented 6 Points as of late. The Jaguars' quarterback has seen first-hand what Richardson can potentially bring to the table, throwing with the freshman quarterback just last week. "Even Josh [Dobbs], he was just like, 'Wow, I mean, this guy just lights it up, and it's effortless'," Thompson recalled. "So I think the future is huge. I think Florida has their future, I believe it is Anthony Richardson."
Richardson will be able to prove just that under head coach Dan Mullen and quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson who Thompson calls an "elite developer". It's because of Johnson's talents as to why Thompson is so excited to see what Richardson can truly be.
The connection between a player's personal-quarterbacks coach and a team-quarterbacks coach can be important, however, Thompson says the conversations between coaches and personal coaches are more so regarding getting Richardson or any quarterback to where their potential lies and the overall plan for their development.
Credit: Tim Casey/UAA Communications - UF Athletics
Thompson's job is "fine-tuning", making sure his mechanics are sound, along with the nuances and details that goes into being a quarterback. While, of course, Johnson and Mullen work closely with the quarterback position during the offseason and into the season, the coaches have plenty of other players to attend to and have a 20-hour rule which limits them further. With a personal coach, Richardson can get all of the one-on-one attention he needs.
Richardson's potential will be realized eventually, and if his senior season of high school in which he threw for eight touchdowns, rushing for seven in just six games or his 924 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns during his junior season, is of any indication, his potential is through the roof.
While redshirt sophomore quarterback Emory Jones will eventually become 'the guy' for the Gators following and/or during this season, Thompson feels that Richardson will absolutely be the guy moving forward, and potential could see some snaps during this season in a similar role to Tim Tebow as a freshman.
"But, long term, this is a guy that can do everything. And so, I think Anthony's the kind of guy that long term you want taking all the snaps and you want his full talent on display. So, I think the future's unbelievable, and not just for Anthony, but in Florida with Anthony."
