TCU’s Jerry Kill sees similarities between Max Duggan and former Heisman finalist
Jerry Kill offered an interesting comparison for TCU quarterback Max Duggan on Monday — former Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch.
No pressure for Duggan but … Lynch was a Heisman Trophy finalist his senior season in 2013. He was in the Heisman conversation as a junior in 2012.
Kill didn’t coach Lynch those seasons, leaving NIU for Minnesota following the 2010 season, but Kill was the man who gave Lynch a scholarship offer to NIU. Kill spent two seasons with Lynch when he redshirted in 2009 and served as a backup in 2010.
“We ran a similar offense when we had Jordan and [Duggan] is kind of the same type of kid,” said Kill, who is in his first year at TCU as a special assistant to coach Gary Patterson.
“He knows what he needs to work on. He’s definitely got a chip on his shoulder and he’s taken a lot of heat, but it comes with the position.”
Kill is referring to TCU’s offense and Duggan getting ripped by NFL executives when evaluating former receiver Jalen Reagor’s film throughout the pre-draft process. But Kill has been around long enough to know that quarterbacks take significant strides from their first to second season.
Duggan, after all, went through the expected growing pains as a true freshman in 2019. The same can be said for QBs that Kill has coached over the years, or even watched from afar such as former TCU QBs Andy Dalton and Trevone Boykin.
“Sometimes the first year is tough,” Kill said. “The second year is where you make your most improvement and [Duggan] has all the capabilities and talent. He’s a tough kid. He studies the game. We’ve just got to coach him better and he’s got to get better.
“He’s got all the ‘want-to’ in the world. We’re excited about that.”
Duggan flashed his potential at times as a true freshman. He had impressive performances in leading TCU to victories over Texas and Texas Tech, and then seemingly regressed his final two starts at Oklahoma and against West Virginia.
Duggan was just 22-of-57 passing for 209 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions those final two games. Against Texas and Texas Tech, though, he was 44-of-69 for 596 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
Kill was brought in to “fix” those inconsistencies on offense. He only had four spring practices before the sports world was shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Kill, though, is all-in on the belief that Duggan is TCU’s quarterback of the future.
“We’ve got to do what he does best at the end of the day,” Kill said. “A good coach does what his kids do best and that was hard to figure out in four days. When this thing starts, we’ve got a lot of work to do to find out what our offensive people can do and get them in the best position to be successful.”
