Top Heisman Candidate
TY D'ETMER TO~ That extra year gave Ty some needed maturing time. When he became the Texas High School Football Player-ofthe- Year and Prep All-America, Ty was nineteen. He played freshman football for his dad at Southwest High School in San Antonio, Texas. There was a 30-minute drive to and from school with his dad so there was ample time to discuss football, life and hunting. "My father and I have always been close and when we talked about football he'd tell me what 1 needed to work on. It was never real hard criticism, He'd just go over what 1should know and do. "I really didn't experience any problems playing for my dad. He was really good about it.
I was treated like another player and he allowed me to play all sports. My dad is not a yelling type coach either but more of a teacher." Ty not only lettered three years in football but he was an All-District basketball player and an All-State baseball player. In between times, Ty lettered in golf and track. As a guardforward, he averaged 18 points per game and hit .560 with a 4-0 pitching season in his junior year. In golf tournaments, Ty shot rounds of 90 and ran the 300 meter low hurdles in 42 seconds. Ty unabashedly stated, "I looked forward to them all." With all that going on, you'd think there would be no time left for lifting or school work. Wrong!
Tymaintained a 3.7 CPA and enjoyed lifting. "I needed to do it," said Ty. "I only weighed 160 pounds." He managed to Power Clean 210, Bench 235 and Parallel Squat 300 pounds. Ty remembers, "1 should have stretched more and my dad didn't know too much about plyometrics back then. Now, my dad does plyos. I'd do the whole program, if I were a coach." In fact, being a high school coach is a possibility in Ty's future. As a junior at Southwest High School, Ty led his football team to a 12-1 record with a trip to the Texas Regional Playoffs. His senior year was a little disappointing with 7-3 season but Ty finished his career with a national record of 8,005 yards passing.
You' d think the recruiting process for colleges would have been a nightmare but Ty and his dad did something very unusual. Ty made a list of schools that he wanted to visit during the Summer of 1986 before his senior year. Coach Detmer really admired BYU's passing attack and Robbie Bosco became Tys idol after watching BYU play Air Force. "1 liked the way BYU passed the ball," said Detmer. "Ty Detmer has got to be the most likable guy I've ever met. He's definitely the All-American boy. Ty just won't get into an argument with anybody. He makes you feel good and positive . Ty interacts so well with people. 1 never heard anyone say anything bad about him. He's a little guy with a big heart.
Ty is a leader. After practice, he's the first guy in the weight r.oom . Ty's a 's pa r k plug and has the ability to generate excitement His strength is deceiving. Ty can Bench 270 and Parallel Squat 350 pounds. On his Squats, Ty goes real low and has fine technique. Ty also Power Cleans 220 pounds and has super technique. He's really learned how to accelerate the bar. Ty has earned his way with a great work ethic in the weight room. He really accepts a challenge."
HEISMAN CANDIDATE On th e family Summer vacation. they got In the car and planned on visiting several schools. BYU was the first stop and last stop . "I told dad that BYU was the school and that was it," Ty reflected. So instead of visiting the oth er schoo ls, they w ent fishing. "It was really good for me to make a decision earl y," thou ght Ty. "I just told the other coaches that I'd alread y commi tted to BYU and they backed off." BYU has a strict code of cond uct policy w hich forbids sm ok ing, drugs and alcohol. As ed itor, I asked Ty about his first reaction w hen he learned of BYU's polic y of No No 's. "Well, " said Ty, "I thought it was different.
I liked it and thou ght it was neat to see it. I never heard of any thing like that before. In high schoo l, I stayed a way fro m that kind of s tu ff anyw ay. I never d rank becau se I just plain hated the taste . I also had a good gro u p of friends so BYU, in a way, is just like high school." Ty red- shirted his first year and halfway through the next year he became a starter and finished with 1,252 ya rds and 13 TO pa sses. Ty was also the MVP in the Freedom Bowl leading BYU to a 20-17 victor y over Colorado.
Last year as a sophom or e in elig ibi lity, Ty led th e nation in passing efficiency as he went 265 passes completed out of 412 attempts (64.3%) and 4,560 yards , 32 TO' s and only 15 'int erceptions . Th at b ro ke o r ti ed 13 NCAA r ecords, including m ost p assin g yards by a sop ho mo re , most consecuti v e 300 ya rd ga mes (12 ) a nd m ost ya rd s per com pl etion(l7.2 ya rds) In the H oliday Bowl last year, Ty had 596 yards of tot al offense aga inst Penn State. At th is writ in g, Ty is th e leadin g ca nd ida te for the H eismanTroph y. H e va u lted to th e top s po t a fter BYU completely dom inated Mia mi.
An injure d hand requiring a cas t s lowed Ty d o wn as th e Un ive rs ity of Oreg on beat BYU. Still, Ty manage d to throw fo r over 400 ya rds and two tou chdowns. With all this not ori ety, the pros wo uld like to have an early sho t a t Ty. Ho wever, just as in high schoo l, Ty has mad e an early ada ma n t d ecision . "Sure, it wo uld be exciting to hear the offers a nd thin gs like that but I g uess growing up in Texas, yo u learn to stick to yo ur wo rd a little bit more. I wa nt to gra d ua te first and then deal wi th the pros. I com mitted to BYU for five yea rs . They' ve mad e plan s for me and I've mad e plan s for them ."
COACH LAVELL EDWARDS COMMENTS Coach LaVell Edwards, in his 19th year, is the 3rd winningest activ e coach with a 172-57-1 record at this writing. BYU known also as Quarterb ackU has produced an amazing arr ay of All-America QB's under Coach Edwards: Gary Sheid e, Gifford Nielsen, Jim McMah on, Marc Wilson, Steve Young, and Robbie Bosco. Coach Ed wards makes the following com me n ts about Ty which were ass embled by Marion Dunn of the Provo Daily Herald: "If there' s such a thing as a coach's dream, Ty' s it. I don't think he's hung up on the Heisman Trophy. Ty just prep ares to win. He realiz eswinning will bring the award s. Ty is the bast quarterback in the country.
I know that's a lot to say, but I firmly believ e that. He's as goo d at execu ting, reading and knowing what to do as an ybody I've see n. Ty just makes goo d d ecision s. What sets him apart from oth er quarterbacks is an innate sense of the game , that sense that all great athletes seem to be born with. Ty kno ws wha t he' s doin g. He is humble, yet possesses grea t lead er ship ab ilit y and is well lik ed by his teammates. You could n' t make a mold and have a guy turn ou t any better than Ty."
THE CASE OF THE DETMER PIG HEAD Every year at the end of two-a-da ys a great luau is heldby theB'Y l.J football players. " There are eight polynesians on BYU's varsity team. Five from 'Ionga, one from Samoa and two from Hawaii, so the great luau is authentic with a properly roasted pig. The pig is speared alive in true native tradition just before the Toasting begins. Well Ty saw a real opportunity. For some undetermined reason, he thought of the Godfather movie. It has also·been his long standing belief that it's important to keep things loose. Armed with this logic, Ty cu t the head off the dead pig and took it to Matt Bellini' s h ouse.
Carefull y and methodically Ty puts the pig's head und erneath Bellini's sheets and waits. Bellini Comes home, gets read y for bed and uncovers the p ig head. "I'll tell you what;" Bellini now laughed," It was real evil looking. I was scared and jumped "back." Several weeks later, Bellini got Ty back as he showered him with water at a service station. "Ty's a clown who likes to have fun," said Bellini fondly. "These memorable incidents bond us together with team unity." . Mat Bellini became the most prolific pass receiver in BYU history this season with over 185 career receptions . It's ama zing because he's a running back:"
Belliniis also a serious lifter who trains twice a week in-season and Benches 350 and does a Leg Press with 1000 pounds, I don't know about you but if you ask me, Bellini got Detmer's pig head message, "Catch my passes or else." "
From BFS Magazine — November/December 1990. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
