Quarterback 'controversy' not quite the same debate

The discussion began the day training camp opened. Which quarterback is better? Who should be the starter?

An earnest debate carried on, with all sides engaged. Everybody has an opinion when it comes to the quarterback, arguably the most important position in team sports. Fans argued about the merits of each player. Media questioned the coaches weekly. Coaches questioned each other.

Finally, a resolution this week.

We're not talking Rex Grossman and Brian Griese and the wrung-out spectacle the Bears' quandary has become. Rather, this was a back-and-forth audition, high school style, between Batavia's Jack Creed and Jordan Coffey.

Some of my media brethren went so far as to call it a quarterback "controversy."

Controversy? Uh, no. At least not at the high school level. And, in the opinion of Batavia coach Mike Gaspari, the argument of Grossman vs. Griese doesn't qualify, either. Maybe a conflict of opinion among fans, but certainly not a controversy.

"I laugh when I hear it put that way," Gaspari said of comparing the QB situations with the Bears and his Bulldogs. "Obviously, the (Bears') coaching staff felt -- until now -- that Grossman was their best quarterback. A coach will always play the better player. No matter what. Because they want to win."

But "better" was undetermined during Batavia's first month of the season. Until a few weeks ago, neither Creed nor Coffey had distinguished himself enough to clearly have the edge. So Gaspari rotated them, playing the hot hand or just going on gut instinct from series to series.

Somehow, that got labeled as a "controversy." But these guys aren't franchise players whose team has invested millions in them. Fans aren't paying hundreds of dollars for tickets to their games. They don't play under the intense scrutiny of national media. Nor are their careers on the line. They're high school guys who, for now, are playing football for fun.

Controversy?

"That's ridiculous; it never was a controversy," Gaspari said with a chuckle. "People want to make it into that, but that's not what it is. It's a competitive thing between players at the high school level."

And, actually, it was a pretty healthy competition. Everybody -- perhaps other than Creed -- made the logical assumption that Coffey, the immensely-talented, strong-armed junior, had already been anointed No. 1 based on his performance in last year's state championship game when he took over for injured starter Alex Schroeder.

Coffey was plenty impressive, throwing for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the Class 6A championship game. And he was largely responsible for getting Batavia there. Two weeks earlier, his 70-yard TD pass to Alex Warner with just over a minute left gave Batavia an unforgettable comeback win over St. Viator.

But in retrospect, it was a strong-armed slingshot -- a Hail Mary type pass that resulted in a storybook finish. A fabled play, but certainly not a precursor to QB greatness.

"Based on how he played at the end of last season, I think everybody assumed Jordan would just come out and light it up this year," Gaspari said. "But that was little more than one game. He was relatively inexperienced when we started this season."

Also, Coffey was viewed as the underdog on the stage in Champaign, the sophomore backup just out there wingin' it. If he could ride to the rescue, it would be a fairy tale for the ages. If not, no big deal. The pressure and expectations would have been much different had Coffey been the season-long starter.

Now he is. And he's found that performing at a high level consistently for an entire season is a little different than a 48-minute game.

But the great potential he flashed a year ago is quickly starting to materialize. He's thrown six TD passes in the last two games. Two weeks ago against Rochelle, he threw for more than 300 yards in the second half. He's definitely emerged as a bona fide starter, while Creed has established himself on defense.

This "controversy" was actually a case of Creed pushing Coffey to be better -- which is why Gaspari accurately describes the situation -- and others like it -- as beneficial.

"It wouldn't have been fair to either one for me to just insert Jordan in there as the starter to begin the season," said Gaspari. "Jack had worked himself into a position where he could compete with Jordan -- he even went out for track last spring just to prepare himself for football.

"Jordan is tremendously talented. It just took him a while to start playing well and for the (QB situation) to iron itself out. The best part of the whole thing is that Jack Creed forced Jordan to get better. I don't think he'd be playing as well as he is now without the competition he had from Jack."

And, what do you know? The debate has played itself out, with nothing controversial about it.