The Mechanics of Carson Wentz: Tom House
When I began this series on Carson Wentz, my goal was to learn as much as possible about quarterback mechanics so I could be better equipped to talk about Wentz from this mindset.
While I have learned from some of the best in the industry in the past few weeks, I haven't had the chance to talk to someone with the status of Tom House.
House is the founder of 3DQB and has worked with an elite bunch of NFL quarterbacks. That list of quarterbacks includes Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Andrew Luck. House is known as one of the best quarterback trainers in the country and 3DQB has built up an outstanding reputation since he founded it.
For this edition of the series, I talked in-depth with House about the origins of 3DQB, his work with Wentz in the past, and what he is currently working on outside of 3DQB.
The Origins of 3DQB
Believe it or not, House originally had no plans of getting into the quarterback training industry. House actually began his career as a pitcher in the MLB, where he pitched eight seasons from 1971-1978 for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, and Seattle Mariners.
After his playing career concluded, House was interested in becoming a trainer for pitchers. He purchased a three dimensional motion analysis system back in the 1980's and began to capture how pitchers were throwing a baseball.
While he was capturing pitchers with this system, House started to capture anybody who would let him for his database so he would have a wider pool of athletes in the system. This is what led him to NFL quarterbacks:
"Just for the database though, I also captured anybody that would let me." House said. "So we got (Dan) Marino, (Joe) Montana, (Steve) Beuerlein, and (Todd) Marinovich to name a few."
The reason why House began tracking quarterbacks is actually due to the fact that he used footballs as a training piece for pitchers. This was something he was criticized a bit for at the time, but it proved to be an excellent exercise that got him even more involved in the world of football.
"We got a bunch of quarterbacks on the computer because, at that time, we were using a football as a training device." House said. "It was a great cross-trainer because it was heavier than a baseball, so it would build strength, and you couldn’t throw a football wrong and make it spiral."
From the 1980's to the early 2000's, House sat with this information that he gathered. He mostly worked with pitchers, and only occasionally worked with quarterbacks.
"I’d like to say it was well thought out that I got into football because I saw a need for what we were doing, but it came more out of an organic thing." House laughed.
The big breakthrough for House came in the form of future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. House was asked to work with Brees by then San Diego Chargers Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron. The initial work was more focused on mental/emotional side of the game rather than mechanics.
That changed, however, when Brees hurt his shoulder. It was doubtful if Brees would ever be able to even play in the NFL again, and House made a name for himself by helping Brees through that recovery process. Once Brees began tearing it up in New Orleans, House started getting calls from other quarterbacks around the league.
"That was how the word kind of got out." House said. "The quarterback fraternity is a really small fraternity. If you do well with one, you probably have a chance to see most of them."
Here is a clip on how House was able to transition his knowledge of baseball to the NFL game with Drew Brees:
Once quarterbacks began coming to him, House decided to launch 3DQB. Fast forward to today and 3DQB is working/has worked with 28 of the 32 starting quarterbacks, most of their backups, and numerous college and high school quarterbacks across the country.
Work with Carson Wentz + His Insight into the Recent Struggles
In 2017, prior to his near MVP season, Wentz began to work with 3DQB. While Adam Dedeaux was the main trainer over Wentz's work, House was involved in the first couple weeks of the summer session.
It is safe to say that House is a big fan of Wentz:
"There are quarterbacks who are throwers that can't run, there’s quarterbacks who run but can't throw, and there are quarterbacks that can do both." House said. "Carson Wentz is one of the guys who can do both."
Since House wasn't the main person working with Wentz, we talked more generally about how he would approach a situation like Wentz's.
When Wentz began work with 3DQB in 2017, he was a big armed, athletic quarterback who was extremely raw in terms of mechanics and fundamentals. So I asked House about the process he would take in helping a young, talented quarterback build up those mechanics:
"If a player does have an issue, we look at their timing first, then their kinematic sequencing." said House. "Then we look at other variables in the little things that most quarterback coaches teach. From there, we personalize it."
That personalized approach is designed to help quarterbacks in four main corners of their game:
- Movement efficiency
- Functional Strength
- Mental/Emotional
- Nutrition/Sleep for recovery
With these areas of focus, House works on more than just mechanics with these quarterbacks. He, and 3DQB, assists in all areas of a quarterback's game to give them as much of an improvement as possible.
"At (the NFL) level, they are all pretty good. Sometimes a two or three percent improvement can make a huge difference." House said. "It isn’t just mechanics that we work on."
With Carson Wentz, he got up to a really high level with the Philadelphia Eagles after working with 3DQB. He progressed well through training and the result was his best career season in 2017.
"Carson was really good when he showed up, and he got better." House said. "I think with injury and whatever happened in Philadelphia, there was a crisis of confidence."
I then asked House to speculate a bit, since he hasn't worked personally with Wentz in a couple years. I asked him if Wentz's sudden and sharp decline in recent years could possibly be more mental and confidence related rather than skill related.
House gave me an excellent response that should give a lot of hope to Colts fans:
(Losing confidence) is something that is not unusual. It happens in baseball, it happens in golf. It breaks your heart when you watch it going on because you can only do so much until they reach out. It usually takes a village to help these kids navigate the waters that they are in now.
I think the fact that Carson has gone from the Eagles to the Colts, and he’s working with Frank (who was his QB Coach and OC with the Eagles) will go a long way. Chris Ballard and the approach that the Colts have in preparing and sustaining performance.. I think it is a great move for everybody.
From what I understand, he is back in the hunt and doing pretty well in all four corners.
What House is Doing Now
Tom House is working towards retiring from quarterback training and from 3DQB, for the most part. Adam Dedeaux handles that side of the business now, but House isn't completely done with football just yet.
At the moment he is working on the Mustard app, which is a phone app that can essentially bring the training and technology of 3DQB right into the hands of anybody who wants it.
"What we are trying to do with Mustard is democratize what all these elite athletes get. When a quarterback comes to myself or 3DQB for an evaluation, they get mechanics, functional strength, mental/emotional, and nutrition/sleep for recovery." House said. "What Mustard is, we are giving anybody who has a phone the ability to get the same information and instruction that those players get."
The main reasoning for why House is working on the development of this app is to complete a mission statement that he has had since the beginning:
Overall in the world of athletics, most kids stop playing sports by the time they are 14 years old. The numbers are actually 80% of them. The power of playing games is huge to the development of the adolescent’s mind and body.
We feel like the Mustard app will allow kids to play longer because they are getting the same information and instruction that the elite are getting. They are staying healthier, they may have more fun, and it keeps them involved in sports. That’s the big picture there.
With Mustard, House is hoping that this will keep kids more involved in sports at least through the high school level. Knowledge is power and the more kids with the same info that the professionals get, the more likely they will be to stick it out with sports.
The app is currently still in beta testing at the moment but House is, rightfully, very optimistic about the launch and what it could do for people across the world with sports.
"I think it is going to turn out to be one of the best things that I/we have ever done in the last 50 years." said House.
Final Thoughts
Tom House was able to give me a lot of insight for this series not only for quarterback mechanics, but also a look into the mindset of quarterback play. While mechanics and fundamentals are vital for success, so are the other aspects such as mental/emotional and nutrition/sleep.
When it comes to Wentz, House seemed optimistic about his chances with the Colts. While he hasn't been working with Wentz personally, he gave the impression to me that Dedeaux and Wentz are making significant progress this offseason.
House is a legendary quarterback trainer who has had a lot of success working with NFL players. If he is optimistic about Wentz getting back to his old self, that is great news for the future of the team.
See Below for More in This Series:
- The Mechanics of Carson Wentz: Setting the Hallway
- The Mechanics of Carson Wentz: Quarterback Sequencing
- The Mechanics of Carson Wentz: Learning From the Success of Josh Allen
Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.
