Winston Gamso To Walk-On

[OC Mustang]

He is defintely 6'4"

How novel...a quarterback...who is tall.
How existential.

[SMU_is_bowling]

Over the top even, to see a QB that tall!

[me@smu]

Just to go all the way back to his stats...someone asked about TD passes.

Gamso threw 32 tds to 6 ints his senior year. No matter the technique, hard to argue his productivity

[PonyPatrol]

For what it's worth, I like that two of our freshman QB's appeared in the 4A, and 5A Texas state finals. Never hurts to have well coached, productive winners against good competition...especially at QB.

[gostangs]

This is a nice addition as a walk on. He has good zip on the ball and is accurate - is still working on mechanics. This guy will work his butt off - all the off field and character things will be perfect - and he will improve. I would not call him at all uncoordinated - but he will not be a scramble guy. More of the Freiberger type.

[expony18]

For what it's worth, I like that two of our freshman QB's appeared in the 4A, and 5A Texas state finals. Never hurts to have well coached, productive winners against good competition...especially at QB.

like Duke Hasson (westlake)

[PonyPride]

Just to go all the way back to his stats...someone asked about TD passes.

Gamso threw 32 tds to 6 ints his senior year. No matter the technique, hard to argue his productivity

So add them up:

Winston Gamso - 32 & 6
Bo Levi Mitchell - 37 & 4
Braden Smith - 26 & 3

So the three incoming freshman quarterbacks have a combined line (as high school seniors) of 95 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Please choose your favorite profanity or exclamation and apply it liberally.

[jimmieho]

According to Coach Jones book, and the QB Coach, they really take the QB's through a lot of unique footwork drills. They work heavily on coordination drills, hip drills, etc. I think anyone with the opportunity to work with Jones and Dan Morrison, QB Coach, will do just find. If they are coachable, work hard at what they tell them to work on, who know what these guys will produce.
March 17th I'll be watching spring ball QB drills.

[kent dorfman]

For what it's worth, I like that two of our freshman QB's appeared in the 4A, and 5A Texas state finals. Never hurts to have well coached, productive winners against good competition...especially at QB.


Listened to the HP/Lake Travis game on the radio. HP got hosed bad by the refs and should have won that game.

[OC Mustang]

According to Coach Jones book, and the QB Coach, they really take the QB's through a lot of unique footwork drills. They work heavily on coordination drills, hip drills, etc. I think anyone with the opportunity to work with Jones and Dan Morrison, QB Coach, will do just find. If they are coachable, work hard at what they tell them to work on, who know what these guys will produce.
March 17th I'll be watching spring ball QB drills.

This makes sense. Klingler at Houston was used as a model for a Kinesiology grad student who was studying athletic efficiency. Particularly, the idea was that there was/is a perfectly efficient throwing motion that conserves energy, has optimum control, and employs optimum kinetics such that every throwing motion achieves the most power for each and every throw. He has some ridiculously efficient throwing motion such that he could toss a football 40-50 yards 30+ times in a row seconds after each other without significant fatigue.

That kind of coordination and footwork drilling would, IMHO, produce more accurate, stronger passes without a dropoff in strength due to fatigue during a game.

Don't know if they apply that much science to it, but even if they don't, you get the picture. They can achieve better results with some minor tweaks. Think what they can do with a QB or two that they don't have to undo some bad habits and can start fresh. Wow.

[Mustangunner]

We had mentioned Gamso several times during the recruiting season. As many of you know HP won the 4A title this year with Winston at the helm. With an injury to last year's starter, this was Gamso's first full season as the 1st string QB, and he put up excellent numbers en route to a very successful season.

Might have flown under the radar a bit since he had no experience prior to this season. Great size, very good arm - he will play QB. Also, never hurts the local interest to pick up kids who were stars at HP....

HP lost the title game this year...

[Texas QB]

I have worked with Winston at a quarterback camp and worked with him individually for a couple of hours. I also was able to go to a couple of HP's playoff games and their spring game to watch him play. In all of these games, I was specifically watching Winston and his mechanics, decision making, etc. SMU is getting a good quarterback that I'm confident can be very successful at the Division 1 level.

As for the knock on his feet, you have to remember that Winston is a 6'5" 225 pound high school senior and he is actually very technically sound in his footwork. He has a great frame and I think the more he matures, you will see this good technique translate into quick feet, but I would definitely not describe him right now as clumsy at all. When you watch him play, you can see that he isn't clumsy, but is a good runner and possesses deceptively good speed for someone his size.

A lot of times when you watch a high school game, you can see a receiver come open from the stands and then the quarterback sees it and delivers. At the games I went to, Winston showed good timing with his wr's and most of the time got rid of the ball before you could see a wr come open. Also, if I have a high school quarterback with Winston's size, I would have no problem with him trying to hold onto the ball when nobody is open to keep a play alive if he is a good decision maker. He broke a lot of tackles and kept plays going to find receivers down the field when I watched.

Go watch him throw and you don't need anyone to tell you about his arm strength and accuracy. The most encouraging thing I would say for SMU fans is the work ethic and character they are getting from a player like Winston. Having someone naturally gifted with his size, arm, and mind is great, but SMU is also getting someone who is very motivated to improve and will never be any trouble off the field.

[Roach]

Thanks for the report, Jason.
Good stuff.

[TBill55]

I think Winston Gamso is a steal. The kid is a class act and has shown the ability to compile incredible stats for someone who got limited time to prove himself. As far as getting a chance because someone else was injured, isn't that the way so many great football players have shined. He compiled almost 3,000 yards in an abbreviated season with a completion rate of .643...that's phenomenal. Since major colleges start looking at prospects years in advance, Gamso had already passed by that period of scrutiny. With a little time and experience, I think you'll see Gamso contribute and achieve for the Ponies!

[jimhagle]

The bottom line is for probably atleast the next year or two our QB is going to have to be good at scrambling and we all know why. That will rule out a few of the guys in the short-term.