Passing the Tradition : Brigham Young Doesn’t Miss a Beat as John Walsh Takes Over for Ty Detmer

The family of Brigham Young quarterback John Walsh bristled as they listened to callers on an El Paso sports talk show criticize Walsh before BYU’s opener at Texas El Paso.

“They said they were going to hurt John so bad that his grandchildren were going to come out with bruises,” said Walsh’s father, John.

Walsh’s 11-year-old sister, Sheri, phoned the station to tell them off.

“I’m John Walsh’s little sister calling and the only thing that’s going to get hurt are your feelings when John throws touchdowns,” she said. “The only reason they call you guys Miners is because BYU is going to bury you so bad that they’re going to have to dig your way out.”

Her forecast proved correct as Walsh, making his first college start, passed for three touchdowns and set up a fourth score with a 42-yard pass play as BYU won, 38-28.

The understudy to record-setting quarterback Ty Detmer last season, Walsh, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound sophomore, has gotten off to a fast start, passing for 682 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two games. Walsh is ranked sixth in the nation in total offense (323 yards per game) and eighth in passing efficiency (163.5).

After completing 17 of 28 passes for 302 yards and the three touchdowns against UTEP, Walsh completed 23 of 44 passes for 380 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-38 loss to San Diego State last week.

The Cougars play No. 15 UCLA Saturday at Provo, Utah.

Walsh has thrown three interceptions and has been sacked seven times.

“I really try not to compare myself to Ty Detmer,” Walsh said. “I think it would be unfair because he was a Heisman Trophy winner and I’m only 19 years old. For me to try to compare myself to probably the best quarterback in college football history would be

unfair and I’d probably be down on myself all the time.”

Walsh plays in the same passing attack that has produced All-American quarterbacks Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Marc Wilson, Gifford Nielsen, Robbie Bosco and Detmer, who broke 59 NCAA records.

Walsh also has the advantage of playing with an outstanding receiving corps headed by Eric Drage, third in the nation in receptions and receiving yards, and all-conference tight end Byron Rex.

Walsh beat out four players, including sophomore Steve Clements, a transfer from Texas, for the right to replace Detmer, the 1990 Heisman winner. Walsh was named the starter three days before the opener.

“It was a close call all the way to choose a starter between John and Steve Clements,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “It was a gut feeling. John had been in the program longer and was a little bit more familiar with the system.”

Walsh’s work ethic might have won him the job.

Walsh, who had problems eluding the rush last season, lost 15 pounds over the summer while undergoing a rigorous condition program developed by Marv Marinovich and Steve Clarkson, a former San Jose State quarterback who serves as his personal coach. Clarkson has also tutored Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich, Oregon quarterback Danny O’Neil and San Diego State quarterback Billy Blanton.

Walsh ran on the beach every morning with Marv Marinovich, threw with Clarkson in the afternoon and worked with a martial arts instructor to toughen his mental approach to the game and improve his balance and stamina.

Walsh, who was voted the 1990 Los Angeles Player of the Year after leading Carson High to the City 4-A title, selected BYU over Miami, USC and UCLA.

“I have nothing against UCLA,” Walsh said. “I like the guys they have and I like the coaching staff. They treated me good when they recruited me.”

Miami was Walsh’s first choice, but the Hurricanes signed another quarterback after Walsh delayed accepting a scholarship. UCLA had Tommy Maddox and Walsh figured he would have to wait several years until Maddox graduated or left for the NFL. And USC signed Rob Johnson, so Walsh went to BYU, where he would have to wait one year for Detmer to graduate.

“As I look back on it now, if everybody in the nation wanted me I think I’d choose BYU,” Walsh said. “I think it suits me the best. They have a good passing offense and I like the atmosphere up here.

“This is a 180-degree turn from Carson High. You walk down the street in L.A. and you look somebody in the eye you might be fighting a second later. But here everybody says hello. The pace of life is a lot slower, which I like. In L.A., you’re going 110 miles an hour and you pass up so many things.”

Walsh was viewed as a football mercenary in high school.

After playing his first three seasons at West Torrance High, Walsh transferred to Carson for his senior season and transferred back to West Torrance after the football season ended.

Although it was reported that Walsh switched schools to improve his chances of getting a scholarship, his father said it was for personal reasons.

Walsh’s father had filed for divorce and rented an apartment in Carson. Hal Harkness, City athletic commissioner, said he made Walsh and his son sign a notarized statement saying that they would reside in Carson for the entire 1990-91 school year. They moved back to Torrance after the football season.

“That was a tough time in our lives,” said Walsh’s father, John. “But it’s personal and I don’t like to talk about it. The family did take a lot of heat, but there were personal things that were going on that are really nobody’s business.”

Walsh maintains that he was unfairly criticized by the media.

“The one thing that kind of makes me mad is the reporters,” Walsh said. “If people want to knock somebody for--I’m not saying that I was--trying to improve their chances of getting a scholarship or having one day of being a god, I don’t think that’s very nice.

“There’s a lot of people out there who would just die to have somebody write something about them in the paper. And for people to try to take that away from them, I don’t think that’s very nice at all. If somebody’s trying to do something to better themselves, I think people should stand behind them instead of criticizing them and trying to cut them down.

“I was just trying to do what was best for me. My friends that were my friends still accepted me. The people that were mad at me were not true friends.”

West Torrance officials filed a complaint with the Southern Section, but the protest died because the Walshes followed proper procedure for transferring.

Former West Torrance Coach John Black, who resigned the season after Walsh transferred, declined comment.

“There’s no bitterness, but ever since he left the school, we just said, ‘No comment,’ ” Black said. “We’re trying to be a class operation and we’re not going to put him down or build him up.”

Walsh wasn’t affected by the controversy his senior year, passing for a state single-season record of 4,206 yards and 48 touchdowns while leading Carson to the City 4-A title.

“He was accepted from the start,” said Gene Vollnogle, who coached Walsh at Carson. “If you’re a good football player and you transfer to Carson it’s no problem because they respect and acknowledge somebody who has exceptional talent. If you come in and you’re not very good, they’ll just ignore you. But you couldn’t ignore John Walsh. He was just too good.”

Walsh’s transfer was similar to that of Cal quarterback Perry Klein, who transferred from Palisades to Carson to play football in 1988. Klein left Carson after the football season and transferred to Santa Monica High to play volleyball.

Walsh and Klein are both coached by Clarkson, a former assistant at Palisades and Carson who now works for the International Management Group, a management firm whose clients include Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky.

Clarkson called Walsh an NFL quarterback, saying: “ . . . He’s got the size, the arm strength and all the raw talent that the scouts look for.

“I don’t think he’s going to be there four years.”