The Quarterback Question: Brook or Witt?

Keep Brook Hart at quarterback this season.

The most popular player on a football team is always the backup quarterback.

So goes the saying, at least, the idea being that fans are restless, relentless, and ultimately don’t know what they’re talking about. But sometimes they’re right.

Brook Hart, TC’11, knows that. At least, he knew that last year, when he sat for the first half of the year and watched the offense of Ryan Fodor, DC’09, sputter. After Hart took over, he did some good things as quarterback, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-2 record, including victories over Princeton and Brown, in his five-game stint at the helm.

But Hart’s not the backup anymore. Now the most popular football player on Yale’s campus is Patrick Witt, JE’12, a transfer from the University of Nebraska. And those fans who always want to see the backup quarterback are, once again, right.

Witt comes to Yale with a pretty impressive track record, having starred at a Texas high school and recruited by many Big 12 schools before eventually choosing Nebraska. He is unproven, but his high school success and the caliber of the schools that recruited him suggest that Witt has the potential to be a dynamic offensive threat in the Ivy League.

In most situations, Witt’s pedigree wouldn’t be enough to earn the starting quarterback job. But Yale’s situation isn’t particularly ordinary, and Witt’s transition won’t be quite as difficult as a result. Sure, he will have to learn a new playbook, but given Head Coach Tom Williams’ efforts to revamp the Bulldogs’ offense, so will Hart and every other offensive player. So Witt isn’t at the typical disadvantage there.

Hart does have some experience working with receivers like Jordan Forney, SM’11, who led the Bulldogs with 374 receiving yards last year. But it’s not as if his track record is flawless, or even good enough to merit keeping Witt off the field. Yale averaged 12.2 points in Hart’s five starts, topping the 14-point mark only once. They lost to both Penn and Harvard despite allowing a combined 19 points in both games.

Yale football fans care about two things: beating Harvard and winning the Ivy League title. Under Hart, the Bulldog offense wasn’t good enough last year to accomplish either of those goals. The Athletic Department clearly thinks Yale’s offense underperformed last year, as long-time Head Coach Jack Siedlecki was forced out after the team’s poor play down the stretch. Hart has to be held partly responsible for that—if the only reason the team underperformed was that they had an inexperienced quarterback, than Siedlecki should have been allowed to stick around and watch Hart grow.

Instead, the Bulldogs are starting anew, with a transplant head coach. They should pair him with their transplant quarterback from day one.

By Andrew Kaufman

It’s time for some new blood: Start Patrick Witt.

When the Yale Bulldogs bus down to Washington, D.C. this weekend, it is Brook Hart, TC ’11, who should be taking the snaps. Hart spent some time under center this time a year ago, taking about half the snaps in last season’s opener and completing 14 of 18 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Tough act to follow? Maybe—definitely—but give him the full game, and, even with a substantially inferior performance, the Bulldogs start the season 1-0.

More to the point, Brook Hart played in eight games last season, starting the last five. He led the team with 919 yards and seven touchdowns, while throwing only two interceptions, and set the all-time school season record with a 62.1 completion percentage. While the Bulldogs finished the year in poor form, Hart played quite well. He established himself as a poised and confident leader on and off the field and showed the type of promise that will win games if he has the breakout season that Bulldog fans are hoping for.

Patrick Witt, JE ’12, on the other hand, is an unknown quantity. While Hart was throwing touchdown passes last fall, Witt accumulated all of six completions and 40 yards over the course of his season at Nebraska. And not only has he yet to prove his in-game mettle, but also he lags far behind Hart in confident management of the Bulldogs’ offensive strategy and team chemistry. Furthermore, supplanting Hart with a transfer student could have a damaging effect on the team’s ability to contend seriously for the Ivy League championship.

Continuity of leadership in the Bulldog backfield should not be discounted. On any football team, players look to their quarterback to command and control the offense. Hart’s achievement is a considerable one, and it is easy to underestimate the adjustments that Witt will have to make to step into his shoes—as well as the adjustments his teammates will need to make in order to flow with him. Of course, if things start to head downhill, Coach Williams can hand the ball to Witt, who will no doubt be foaming at the bit for a chance to prove himself.

Speaking of foaming at the bit, Hart has a few things of his own that he’d like to prove to the world. Last year was no cakewalk for the Bulldog offense, and Hart bore quite a bit of criticism for things that were largely not his fault. A feeble offensive line, a correspondingly dismal run game and some ill-advised play-calling were more to blame than Hart’s quarterbacking for the Bulldogs’ low point total. Nevertheless, Hart wears an albatross around his neck, and harsh criticisms have given him all the motivation he needs to remove it. Hart is a fine quarterback, and my bet is that he comes out of the gates this weekend with guns blazing, ready to build the prize season that we missed out on last year.

So, memo to Coach Williams: Give Brook the ball. Patrick Witt is a great resource, and we’re lucky to have him, but building the team around him from day one is less than prudent, and indeed, reckless. Brook Hart had his moments last fall, and this season—given a year’s experience under his belt, and improvements all over the gridiron for the Bulldogs—he will not disappoint.

By Dennis Howe

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