ITYT: QB trainer JP Tillman on Texas commit Trey Owens' background, competitiveness, toughness
On a special edition of Inside Texas Football, publisher Eric Nahlin talks with JP Tillman, a quarterback guru based in Northwest Houston and the coach of Texas quarterback commit Trey Owens about what the Longhorns pledge brings to the table on and off the field.
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The duo broke down Owens’ strengths and some things he needs to work on to be a contributor for the Longhorns.
Tillman has worked with Owens since third grade. Over the years Owens has grown into his body from his start as a “baby giraffe.”
“I posted a video not too long ago of Trey just kind of on the run and I think that was probably the first year that me and Trey had started working,” Tillman said. “He was tall, tall kid and if you ever met Trey’s dad and mommy you’d say, ‘man, this kid might be a giant.’ Ended up manifesting itself into reality and he turned into a giant.
“He’s been always a kid with high confidence and I think that the biggest thing that I take away from Trey from him is the mental growth and his ‘no quit’ factor in still being able to have confidence on every level even though in the beginning he didn’t see himself be the QB1.”
By the eighth grade Tillman started seeing Owens take form.
“So in ninth grade year he was QB1 but had to kind of split with somebody,” Tillman explained. “So his 10th grade year was really his first time really being a guy, the guy where no one else is coming on the field. And so he really had matured at a fast pace based on how much football experience he’s had.
“And so when you watch him grow, you’re watching this 6-foot-5.5, almost 6-foot-6 guy who has really developed himself into what we see right now. And never and never faulted. You know never kind of quit or never thought differently of itself.”
Tillman said Owens ability to throw from different angles and on the run differentiates him from other young quarterbacks, but so too does his toughness.
“The guy gets up off the ground,” Tillman said. “He’s a Longhorn. That guy is going to Texas, know what I mean? I think you guys definitely won when you talk about a kid with a high ceiling, even though he may be a little underrated. I think that kid there can do any and everything that the guys in the top one through ten can do as far as with their arm, their mind, and their play ability.”
Nahlin discusses how Owens is one of the more underrated Longhorns, if not the most underrated Horn, in the Longhorns’ 2024 class. Tillman then dives into the amount of time needed may be for Owens before he’s ready.
“The years line up to where you’ll have your opportunity, even if it’s not about beating anybody out but being the next guy up,” Tillman said. “I know he’ll put the fire to Arch (Manning) and he’ll put the fire to everybody in the QB room because the kid doesn’t let up.”
Tillman also explains how competing with stars like Manning and Florida commit DJ Lagway has helped Owens become the quarterback he is today.
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Tillman, who trains at Blitz Football in Tomball, can be found @theQBtech.
