Camp more than a passing fancy

15-city tour offers young QBs tips on making the grade

By Nick Canepa, UNION-TRIBUNE COLUMNIST
Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 12:33 a.m.

Nelvin C. Cepeda / UNION-TRIBUNE

Quarterbacks in the youth-group category wait their turn to show off their stuff at a camp held at Helix High School as part of Steve Clarkson’s nationwide “Dreammaker Tour.”

LA MESA — It’s more like football’s “American Idol,” played out on a football field and in a classroom. But, while the ultimate goal behind Steve Clarkson’s 15-city “Dreammaker Tour” is to find the best young quarterbacks in the United States, it exists to teach them there’s more to the most important position in sports than a live arm and tight spiral.

There’s interaction with your peers, doing well in school, dedication to your craft and the hope that, through osmosis, parents who tend to push their kids learn not to take it too far.

Clarkson, the quarterback guru who has tutored the likes of Matt Leinart, Matt Cassel, Josh Freeman, Jimmy Clausen, Terrelle Pryor, Jake Locker and Matt Barkley, isn’t looking for a Todd Marinovich, pushed into being a quarterback while still in a bassinet.

And so, Saturday morning on Helix High’s field, Clarkson played host to 74 quarterbacks, ranging in age from 6 to 17, most of them from California, a few from Arizona and Nevada, one from as far away as Pennsylvania. Some, such as St. Augustine High junior Evan Crower, who has committed to Stanford, know where they’re going. Others, such as Del Mar’s Sandy Plashkes, all of 13 and considered a diamond in the making by Clarkson, are here trying to find the way.

If you watched the April NFL draft, then you know there’s a shortage of talented quarterbacks. Clarkson figures that, if he can get to kids at an early age and teach them all that goes into the making of a top QB, there will be more to choose from. What’s a $150 fee for his camp when one day you could be making Philip Rivers money?

We were out on the field watching Sandy Plashkes throw. The kid has a gun.

Photo by Nelvin C. Cepeda - UNION-TRIBUNE

Clarkson says playing quarterback takes more than a good arm. “It’s having an understanding. What I look for in kids is how they relate, how they communicate. I’m looking for personality, how they interact with one another.”

“It’s more than that,” said Clarkson, 48, who from 1979-82 played quarterback for Jack Elway (John’s dad) at San Jose State. “It’s having an understanding. What I look for in kids is how they relate, how they communicate. I’m looking for personality, how they interact with one another. These kids already have been coached.

“Some of these kids are well-prepared. It’s like breathing to them; they do it naturally. We’re quietly educating parents without them knowing it — what it’s like to be a child prodigy, what it’s like to be recruited. It’s as much about the parents as anything.”

This is Clarkson’s third stop on his nationwide tour. When it ends in New York, the top seven (“Super 7”) quarterbacks in the country will be selected and whisked to Maui, where they’ll be evaluated by the likes of Joe Montana and Warren Moon.

“It’s not just about the top seven quarterbacks,” Clarkson said. “It’s more about kids trying to do something with their lives.”

Clarkson introduced me to one of the parents, Dan Plashkes, father of Sandy, who’s on hand to learn all he can. He has the right attitude.

“I wanted my son to compete against other quarterbacks, to see where he stands with his peer group,” Plashkes said. “(Former San Diego State QB) Billy Blanton has been his coach since he was 8. Billy was coached by Steve.

“I don’t coach my kids. If my kids fail, as long as they’re trying and having a great time, that’s fine. I’m not a coaching master. His (Sandy’s) GPA is 4.0-plus; he has the mental skill set.

Photo by Nelvin C. Cepeda - UNION-TRIBUNE

Evan Crower, a junior at St. Augustine High School, participates in Saturday’s quarterback camp at Helix High School in La Mesa.

If he can use his excellent brain to be a quarterback, let’s also use it to help his education and his ability to collaborate with others. This is an interesting route we’ve chosen.”

Perhaps you’ve heard of David Sills? David, from Wilmington, Del., is a 13-year-old phenom who already has committed to USC. Clarkson has been coaching and advising David and his family for three years, and it was Clarkson, while visiting Radio Row at the Super Bowl, who told USC coach Lane Kiffin to check out Sills on YouTube.

“I told Lane, ‘This kid is good, but I may be too close,’ ” Clarkson said. “Lane looked at the kid and asked me how old he is. I told him, “13.” He said: “No way. This kid is doing check-downs and finding third and fourth receivers.” He told me he was going to offer him a scholarship. I told him, “Are you crazy?” He said, “Look, I’ve seen you work with other kids, and he’s light-years ahead of other guys you’ve worked with.”

“I told David’s parents, told them it’s never been done before, and that they would take the heat, not me. They thought about it for eight hours and then called me and told me David wants to go to USC. He’s in the eighth grade.”

Not all kids are David Sills, of course, but a whole lot of the best quarterbacks in the coming years are going to graduate from the Steve Clarkson academy. And maybe not just in the United States.

“This is a talent search,” Clarkson said. “I’d like to take it to Europe. There are 35,000 American football clubs in Europe alone. I’d like to find the next great players overseas.”

All we’re missing are Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest. Then again, maybe not.

Nick Canepa: (619)-293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com