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Gold and Black Illustrated Vol28, Digital1

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1 34 day Purdue's Cradle of Quarterbacks tradition began. "Bob was the conduit to all the great ones after he coached, too," Griese said. "Why does a (1980 All-Ameri- can) Mark Herrmann come to Purdue? Why does a Drew Brees come to Purdue? It is because DeMo set the table, he started the tradition and it never has stopped resonat- ing. "Maybe Purdue did more than I am aware, but I often wonder why (Purdue) didn't use him more as a quarter- back consultant after his coaching days. It might have been a missed opportunity, because he was such a great mentor to coaches and players." Said Ron Meyer, who worked with DeM- oss as a player and assistant coach from 1961-70: "Bob DeMoss just might be the greatest quarterbacks coach in the histo- ry of college football. I mean, look at the track record, you simply can't beat it. It's no overstatement." But just what made DeMoss a success- ful quarterbacks coach? In a word: Adaptability. "He was always able to adapt to the skill level of players he had," said Meyer, who moved from Purdue and eventually was the head coach at UNLV, SMU and for the Patriots and Colts in the NFL. "If his quar- terback was more comfortable throwing on the run, he would roll him out. If he was a pocket passer, Bob devised a scheme that worked best. "Heck, he even let an All-American like Phipps basi- cally serve as a pulling guard on the toss sweeps to Leroy (Keyes). He knew Mike had a big body and didn't mind hitting people, so he let him do it. He just put guys in the best position to be successful and constantly played to his strengths." As a play-caller, DeMoss had a knack for exploiting de- Ron DiGravio (1961-63) Most efficient passer under DeMoss Bob Griese (1964-66) NFL and College Hall of Famer Mike Phipps (1967-69) All-American and Heisman runner-up Gary Danielson (1970-72) Long NFL career and top college FB broadcaster Tom Campbell

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