Well that's not saying very much. I'll give it to him that he's better than Crompton and anybody else we may have had since Ainge that I don't remember right now. Nobody can debate Bray's physical talent. However, it's his immaturity, lack of leadership, insubordination (if rumors are to be believed), falling apart at critical moments and packing it in when things go south, that I've seen enough of.
Yes all these things. I am well aware of them. In fact, I was one of his leading critics early after his pouting episode late in the Florida game, but I backed off because there was so much piling on by the rest of the fanbase. He deserved the criticism, but not to be shot in front of a firing squad.
I understand your criticism very well. But factor in that (IMO to make himself look good) Dooley did not break Tyler in gradually against top shelf SEC talent. He waited until the meat of the schedule was past in 2010 and then let Bray feast on inferior competition. As oft-repeated, no team that Tyler faces in the last four games of 2010 was even in the top 70 in pass D. It was ridiculous! But yeah, Tyler looked really good in those games. He did okay being thrown in against USCe, but one game does not make a warrior. Fast forward to 2011...Tyler looked decent against a very inexperienced defensive backfield at Florida while having to compensate for losing Hunter. Yet he threw a few picks, and do you recall how many the UF db's dropped? And what about all the PI calls, I think there were at least 6?
Then he looked like crap against Georgia and promptly got injured.
As usual, I am rambling on, but my point is this. Part of the reason Tyler never matured is that Dooley never forced him to. He got an inflated sense of his own talent by never having to play the tough defenses (he missed both LSU and bammer in back to back years). And yes, he's pretty immature to begin with.
Having said all that, the part of your premise that I question is that people in general can never mature or develop or improve themselves. They must always be in some sort of static equilibrium I suppose? It was widely reported that Crompton "found Jesus" his senior year and that this helped him tremendously. And of course, in one of the best things he did, Kiffin and his staff figured out how to tailor the offense for Crompton.
So...Tyler Bray has never won a big game (Cincy and NC State were the biggest wins, unfortunately), but that doesn't mean that he can't, with some personal development and the right coach. And heck, a good coach will force him to develop as a person. It's part of the deal.
Ever think Tyler is a smartass? When your HC says "He should have better aim" as a response to his hitting the windshield of a car, then what the hell does anyone expect?
Smartass coach. Smartass QB.
