June 29, 2017
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By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just how difficult is it to play quarterback?
“I think it’s the most demanding position in all of sport,” said Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig.
Ludwig knows a thing or two about the subject. He has served as offensive coordinator at seven different schools over a three-decade span. Entering his third season at Vanderbilt, Ludwig stands to have one of the SEC’s most experienced quarterbacks, junior Kyle Shurmur, at his disposal in 2017.
The difficulties of playing quarterback are no secret to Shurmur, whose father, Pat, is the current offense coordinator with the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. In fact, Shurmur embraces the challenge.
“I love it,” Shurmur said. “That’s why I play the position.”
Vanderbilt would love to see Shurmur shine during his third season as a starter. In 2016, Shurmur started 13 games and set a Vanderbilt sophomore record by throwing for 2,409 yards. He was particularly effective in the second half of the year, when he completed 79 of 129 passes (61.2 percent) for 1,162 yards and five touchdowns against Auburn, Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee. He threw for a career-high 416 yards in a 45-34 win over the Vols, the most by a Vanderbilt quarterback since 2006.
Now Shurmur enters the fall well-versed in the intricacies of his duties. Just a rising junior, the 6-4, 227-pound economics major already has 18 career starts under his belt. That experience has helped Shurmur work to perfect the finer points of his craft.
“There are a lot of details that go into it, mentally, physically, emotionally, everything,” Shurmur said. “But that’s the beauty of playing quarterback. That’s why you get too much glory for your team’s success and too much blame for the failures.”
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Shurmur didn’t have much time to adjust to the college game. As a true freshman, he was thrust into the starting role for Vanderbilt’s final five games of 2015 and performed well enough to earn the job back in preseason camp last summer. Shurmur’s play in the second half of 2016 coincided with the Dores closing the year on a 4-2 run, which secured the program’s first bowl berth under coach Derek Mason.
“I learned the most about myself, my team and football in general last year alone,” Shurmur said.
Ludwig said that maturation led to more responsibilities for Shurmur this offseason.
“We’re trying to give him more options on the line of scrimmage to get us in a better place,” Ludwig said. “We want to allow him to audible on the line of scrimmage and change protections at the line of scrimmage. Kyle’s done a great job with that. He’s just a very smart and hardworking quarterback.”
Of course, Shurmur knows that work only goes so far. Football remains a team sport, and the junior expects to have plenty of weapons on his side in 2017. His top nine pass-catchers return, including senior receivers C.J. Duncan, Trent Sherfield and Caleb Scott. Plus, Vanderbilt’s all-time leading rusher, Ralph Webb, reprises his role in the backfield. The Commodores expect to shake up the SEC East if all 11 players do their jobs on offense.
That’s the key to Vanderbilt’s success, Shurmur says.
“Quarterback is the ultimate position where you rely on other guys and they rely on you just as much,” Shurmur said. “With our team, the chemistry that we’ve built over the last two or three years, I think it’s going to be huge for all of us.”
Zac Ellis is the Writer and Digital Media Editor for Vanderbilt Athletics. Check out his story archive and follow him on Twitter here.
