Fresno State football sidelined due to COVID-19, but quarterbacks still working out

Fresno State offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was discussing a summer almost void of football. The bad, the good, and yes, there was some good.

Grubb used the case of Bulldogs’ wideout Keric Wheatfall to illustrate his story. Wheatfall, who had an injury-riddled first season at Fresno State is expected to make a big forward leap in 2020, if and when the Bulldogs get back on the field.

The good: Wheatfall spent most of the summer at home just outside Houston, working on routes, getting in and out of his breaks, improving his hands and everything else on the to-do list.

The bad: “He’s working his tail off, but he’s working with someone else’s quarterback,” Grubb said. “They’re the ones getting the subtleties of Keric’s route running down and things like that.”

But that is where the Bulldogs’ Jake Haener comes in, and Ben Wooldridge, as well, at the head of a quarterback room that lacks FBS experience but is as deep as it has been for a while, with freshmen Logan Fife and Jalan Early and JC transfer Braden Wingle.

Working as a team, away from campus

This summer, when working with private quarterback coach John Beck in Los Angeles, Haener brought a number of the Bulldogs’ wideouts with him.

Then, some of their offensive linemen.

“I wanted to get more connected with them,” said Haener, who transferred to Fresno State from Washington last August, arriving after fall camp had started. He ran the scout team most of the year.

“I had the opportunity to throw with a lot of the guys and really understand how they like to get things done, their philosophy on route-running. We got a lot of good timing down. That was really good to get in.”

Beck, who played quarterback at BYU and was a second-round NFL Draft pick in 2007 by the Miami Dolphins, has a long list of NFL quarterbacks that he works with during the offseason.

NFL approach

“Jake approaches everything he does like a pro,” Beck said. “Sometimes we have opportunities to be around collegiate guys and we challenge them to raise their level with the way that they approach things, the urgency that they have, the preparedness, the intensity that they bring to a workout. Jake embodies all of those things with the way that he approaches the things that he does.

“When he brought his guys out it wasn’t, ‘Let’s go throw the ball …’ It was Jake knowing that he didn’t get spring ball, knowing that he wants to be as prepared as possible, so we’re going to come out here and get after it.

“We have NFL teams come do that, Matt Ryan (of the Atlanta Falcons) will bring his team out. Matthew Stafford (of the Detroit Lions) will bring his team out. Jake approached it the very same way with his guys.”

Keeping pace in Mountain West

Haener was in Los Angeles working with Beck for six to seven weeks, working on every element to his game. The Bulldogs’ wideouts came in for a week or so, but it was very productive, and is not to be taken lightly with Fresno State student-athletes still off campus due to the coronavirus pandemic while their Mountain West Conference peers continue to go through workouts and practices.

Haener showed up each day with a script. They ran first downs, second downs, third downs, two-minute offense, red zone. They got through just about everything that they didn’t get a chance to rep back in March during the 15 spring practices that were shut down because of COVID-19.

They did it with a purpose, a direction. As they went along, Beck said, it was evident pieces were connecting.

“There are two elements of timing,” he said. “A quarterback can have good timing, meaning the ability to get the ball out when he’s supposed to. Then there’s a timing which is more like a feeling, a rhythm with your players because each guy is going to come out of breaks differently.

“Some guys are going to be able to chase a ball down when it’s in the air and other guys may not. Some guys have great body control and you can throw him away from defenders, other guys may not. That’s what I saw, Jake getting a better sense of the timing with his guys.

“Jake does a really good job of getting the ball out on time, but now it’s that timing with his guys.”

That timing will be invaluable when the Bulldogs reconvene on the practice field to prepare for a 2020 season that has been postponed by the Mountain West at least until the spring.

Building toward postponed season

While Haener was in Los Angeles, Wooldridge was at home in the Bay Area working with quarterbacks coach Victor James. All of them get together when they can to get in some work – many of the Bulldogs from outside the central San Joaquin Valley returned over the summer and are just waiting for university officials to reopen campus.

“Anytime they can have throwing sessions with our guys is obviously a huge benefit,” said Grubb, who has been going over offense that would have been installed in fall camp in Zoom meetings.

“That’s one of the things that you really miss out on without a spring and a summer. In addition to all the work you’re giving them, they’re going out on their own perfecting routes and getting that timing down with each other.”

Haener and the Bulldogs just want to pile on what they already have put together and see where they are in a team period, with 11 defenders on the field bringing pressures, disguising coverages.

“That’s the last piece for any quarterback – getting an opportunity to really rep it with the guys you’re playing with and getting familiar with how guys run certain routes and what concepts fit each player the best and timing, things just like that,” he said.

“You’ve got to get on the field to understand that. You have to grow as a team and grow the chemistry with the guys around you. I think this time has allowed us to really get into a practice mode and rep what we’re going to start doing whenever we play. When the time does come, we’ll be crisp and ready to roll.”