Henning, Beathard Put Their Money on Tolliver

The future is now, and torturous as that may be in the coming weeks, it is Billy Joe Tolliver.

There will be no more quarterback debate. No more Mark Vlasic.

While sentiment among fans may run deep for Vlasic, his comeback story and the steady Dan Fouts-like poise he strikes, it carries no impact with the Chargers.

Barring injury, the rest of the season will be dedicated to the education of the strong-armed Tolliver. It’s a decision that has been made by Coach Dan Henning, and one that has been solidly seconded by General Manager Bobby Beathard.

“It’s nothing negative about Mark; he’s a fine quarterback,” Beathard said. “But you just have to hope your judgment is right. And I think the decision that Billy’s got to be the guy is a wise one.”

It’s business, and Beathard has been acclaimed as one of the best in the business in assessing talent.

“Looking ahead, I think Tolliver is a big-time guy,” Beathard said. “And it’s a great opportunity now for Billy to get this much experience early in his career.

“You had to go with the decision to start Vlasic to open the season,” he said. “He deserved that; he outplayed Billy. But what we learned, without hurting Mark, is maybe that’s as high as you go there. I don’t know if Mark’s capable of being the big-play quarterback. Billy is.”

There remains tremendous respect and admiration for Vlasic within the organization, but if Tolliver stumbles in Cleveland or against Houston, it won’t open the door any wider for Vlasic’s return to the starting lineup.

And Tolliver will stumble. He threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns against the Bengals, but his interception at the Cincinnati two-yard line gutted the Chargers’ chances of icing their first victory.

He still throws the football too hard when the situation demands the delicate touch, and like Nolan Ryan on a bad night, his fastball is going to sail high and over the head of a wide-open receiver every so often.

“I don’t think there are many teams that have decided to go with a young quarterback that don’t pay the price early on,” Beathard said. “It presents a challenge for the coach, and for the players, because you can’t let yourself get down because of mistakes.”

The public, however, may not be so understanding. They have seen poise and promise in Vlasic, and he was 2-0 before suffering a serious knee injury in 1988. And when the Chargers began this exhibition season 3-0, it was the comeback kid standing in the spotlight.

“We have some big-time weapons and we have to have some hope in a game that we can make the big play,” Beathard said. “And I’m not sure with Vlasic anybody thought he had big-play capability. Billy has, and that makes him exciting. And he’s going to get better and better.

“We’re not a team,” he said, “that has the luxury of keeping Billy on the bench and feeding him piecemeal or whatever. It’s throw him in.”

On-the-job training in the National Football League can have a stunning effect on the psyche of a young quarterback. But land sakes, we’re talking about a hard-headed Texan here.

“Fortunately for Billy and the team,” Beathard said, “he’s got the temperment that you can do this.

“Billy’s not the kind of kid who is going to be crushed or lose confidence when he makes mistakes. I think he takes losses hard because he’s a competitor and he doesn’t want to be the guy that is the biggest reason for letting the team down. But we won’t look at him in that way.”

The opposition will. It will understand that its best chance of defeating the Chargers will be to stay away from the defense, and go after the inexperienced quarterback. Make him make mistakes, and its prospects for victory improve immensely.

“You have to live with some of that,” Beathard said. “But our game plans are designed for two things. It’s to take advantage of Billy’s big-play capability, and also to give him support. To put him in positions where everything isn’t resting on his shoulders.”

The Redskins adopted a similar approach in 1985 with an inexperienced Jay Schroeder, and he threw for 4,109 yards. “The system took a lot of pressure off him,” Beathard said. “And I think that’s what the coaches want to do here with Billy.”

The pressure, however, is on the Chargers. For the third year in a row, they have opened the season 0-2. They have blown a 14-10 lead in Dallas, and a 13-0 lead against the Bengals in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Held scoreless to date in second-half play, the Chargers now go against a Brown defense that has yet to allow a point in either the third or fourth quarters.

“You never feel happy after a loss, but I’m sure feeling different than how I felt after Dallas,” Beathard said. “After Dallas I really wondered what was going on. I was really down. But this last game gave me hope that we have something here if we can cut down on the mistakes.

“I thought the team played hard against Cincinnati, but it’s typical of a team that’s not there yet,” he said. “The Bengals made some mistakes and overcame them; we made some mistakes and couldn’t overcome them.”

Patience does not come easy to Beathard, but history reminds him of its payoff. In 1981 he hired Joe Gibbs to be the Redskins’ head coach, and after Gibbs’ first five games on the sideline, Washington was 0-5.

“You don’t think it was hard in Washington? I was called every name in the book,” Beathard said. “But you have to make your plans and follow them.”

The Redskins stayed on course and finished 8-8 that season. The following year they won the Super Bowl.

“We have to look down the road; if we don’t, we’re making a big mistake,” Beathard said. “We’ve got a young and inexperienced quarterback and there’s going to be things that happen. All the pieces are not there in personnel, but hell, I’d love to win Sunday. And we can.

“I don’t like to see fans disappointed, and I know it’s not the start everybody wanted,” he said. “But we’ll get there. You’d like it all to happen in giant steps--it’s just impossible. But we’ll get there.”