Tennessee Titans To Bring Vince Young Along Slowly - The Tennessean

Titans to set a slow pace for Young
Deliberate plan helped McNair

By PAUL KUHARSKY
Staff Writer The Tennessean

Along with the rest of the Titans' new rookies, Young was expected to arrive in Nashville last night. This morning they begin a two-day rookie orientation that includes two practice sessions.

Young will be asked to start digesting and learning the Titans' playbook, though the team has no intention of rushing him into the lineup on opening day when the Titans face the Jets on Sept. 10.

That's the same plan the team had for Steve McNair when he was drafted third in 1995. The Houston Oilers offensive coordinator at the time, Jerry Rhome, worked with Young as a private coach preparing him for the combine and his pro day leading up to the draft.

''I know back in '95 Coach Fisher had a plan for him; we wanted to bring Steve along,'' Rhome said. ''I think the way the Oilers handled him back in '95-96 was very smart. We brought him along slowly, gave him a little action.

''Then he and I worked together four days a week, probably two and a half hours each day in the offseason after his rookie year, inside and outside. He was a great student and learned quickly, and I think it helped him have a great career.''

Resisting the temptation to use Young before he's ready will be a big theme for Jeff Fisher and his current offensive coordinator, Norm Chow.

Because Fisher has seen the patient plan payoff before, he is more likely to stick with the long-term vision than other coaches around the league who talk of plans to wait on a quarterback but wind up turning to rookies in times of trouble.

McNair missed the early part of his first training camp while his contract was ironed out. The Titans, Young and his agent, Major Adams, have pledged to work diligently to ensure that this quarterback is under contract by the time camp opens in late July.

Titans General Manager Floyd Reese talks often about how damaging playing too early can be to a young quarterback's psyche. While Fisher and his staff will decide if and when Young plays, they are unlikely to hear any whispers from Reese pushing to see him.

"I think the key is that in spite of what you want, he will get there when he gets there,'' Reese said. "And if I want him to be ready for the second preseason game and he says, 'No, I will be ready for the 10th regular-season game,' then there's not much you can do about it.

"The thing that happens with so many of these young quarterbacks is they get thrown out there and end up getting hurt. They're confused. They loose their confidence. When you're done with the whole experiment, you end up with a shipwreck. We're going to make sure that doesn't happen with this kid. If it takes a little bit longer, then it takes a little bit longer, but that's the process.''

Rhome said McNair circa 1995 and Young now are comparable in that they both had a knack in college for leading their teams to comebacks and they both arrived in the NFL with a need for polish.

But McNair's experience in the small program at Alcorn State was certainly different than Young's at Texas, where he led the Longhorns to consecutive Rose Bowls.

''I think Vince is probably a little bit ahead of Steve because Steve came out of a little bit of a smaller school and Vince was playing for the national champions,'' Rhome said with a laugh. ''That might be a little bit different there.''

Rhome said despite his strong rapport with Fisher and Reese left over from his two seasons as the Oilers coordinator in 1995 and 1996, there was no special insight for them to gain from him about Young as they prepared for the draft.

"I visited with them,'' he said. "I think Vince is a good player who's ready. But it wasn't a matter of Jeff or Floyd trying to pick my brain. They knew what they were looking for.''

Said Fisher: "I spoke with Jerry at the (Young's) workout. He's spent a lot of time with Vince, and they have a good relationship. He's very excited for Vince's future and the potential.''

Rhome said he'll watch Young carefully and expects to have fun doing so. He said he hopes to talk to Young periodically but not in any way that would interfere with the Titans coaching.

"If (Fisher) chooses to put Vince out there early, there will be a good reason for it,'' Rhome said. "You never know. I don't know how quickly Vince will progress or what they plan on doing. But I think that the Titans will make good decisions all the way down the line with him. They know they got a great athlete, they know what they'll have to do to work with him.

"He's just like any other rookie coming in. It's the NFL, and he's going to have to develop. He's not going to be any different than all those other No. 1 draft choices coming in. They all want to play.'' n