John Beck and Max Hall train the next wave of QB Cougar

PROVO, Utah – During last year’s BYU 11-1 football season, Zach Wilson’s off-season job with John Beck as quarterback was one of the big storylines.

When Wilson teamed up with Beck at 3DQB in 2018, Beck taught him about speed in his passes. But the most important thing was to continue to work at a high level during a given season.

Remember, college coaches have a limit on the amount of time they actually spend with players. So if athletes want to do that extra work, turning to a coach is an attractive option.

The three-quarters of BYU vying to replace Zach Wilson in 2021 have worked with QB coaches this offseason.

Jaren Hall trains with BYU Football great John Beck

Jaren Hall has always worked with Quarterback Elite’s Dustin Smith. But along with Smith, Hall is also following in Wilson’s footsteps working with BYU great John Beck.

“So I always train with Dustin Smith,” Hall told KSL Sports. “It’s kind of the coach who really gave me my basics as a quarterback. He was the one who brought me to college and I thank him for everything he taught me. So I still work with him… and I also train with John Beck now.

Beck has become one of the best quarterback coaches in the country. In addition to training with Zach Wilson, he has worked with Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields and a long list of current NFL starting QBs including Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Matt Ryan of the Falcons.

Hall hasn’t been around any of the NFL guys Beck works with, but he enjoyed the chance to work with one of football’s burgeoning quarterback coaches. Don’t ask if Hall makes the long trips to California like Wilson did, Hall prefers to fly to Huntington Beach.

“I’m going to go there every two weeks. Just having the opportunity to learn from him and his plethora of football knowledge and how to be a better quarterback. By using these two and learning as much as possible, it was really helpful. And it kept me focused on the goal.

Baylor Romney gets to work with Rudy Carpenter

Baylor Romney trained with former Arizona State and NFL quarterback Rudy Carpenter. Romney worked with Carpenter last year and worked with former Sun Devil when he got the chance to travel to Arizona this offseason.

“Much of it is just cooling off. You can pick up bad habits yourself, things you don’t really notice, ”Romney said of the value of training with Carpenter. “So a lot of it just perfects certain mechanics and techniques. Then basically the mental part of the game. Make the defenses really realistic and break down different things as you practice. Just so you’re not out there throwing a ball, but just really making him mental instead. “

Jacob Conover works with Max Hall

As Romney meets Carpenter in Arizona, first quarterback Jacob Conover turns to some BYU football legends in Grand Canyon State. Conover trained with former BYU QB Max Hall and Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer.

“Max is my guy right now,” Conover said. “We made a pretty cool relationship with him, Ty and Dennis Pitta there. They all train together [at American Leadership Academy in Arizona]. Just going there to train with the guys who have done it, who have been here before, who have played in the biggest games, it helped me achieve the right thing.

The three guys will put their offseason jobs to the test when they begin fall camp starting Aug. 5, hoping to be the Cougars’ starting quarterback in the opener against Arizona on September 4.

Mitch Harper is a BYU insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.