Taking a look at Philip Montgomery’s top quarterbacks

The first quarterback that Philip Montgomery would work with as a FBS coordinator would go on to become Houston’s leading passer during his time on campus. Kolb’s freshman season would see him throw his second-highest touchdown total in a season.

Kolb’s sophomore season would see a decline across the board, but it would still turn out to be a solid year. Kolb completed 56% of his passes and would throw five of his 11 touchdown passes to Vincent Marshall, who also accounted for 37% of receving yards on the season with 1,044. Another fun note about this season, is that Kolb completed 25 passes to current TCU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles in 2004.

Kolb’s stats picked up during his junior campaign at Houston, as he would reach a personal high in passing attempts and passing yards. He would not have a 1,000-yard receiver this season, but he would spread the wealth to eight receivers who reeled in at least 100 yards worth of catches.

Kolb’s final year at Houston would be his best. Kolb reached personal-highs in completions, attempts, yards, and touchdown-to-interception ratio. He would again have eight receivers who ended the season with over 100 yards of receptions, with Vincent Marshall leading the way for the third-straight season. The 2006 season would mark the beginning of Philip Montgomery’s positive track record with quarterbacks.

By the end of his collegiate career, Case Keenum would go on to shatter Kolb’s passing record, a record that still holds true today. Montgomery would only be around for one season of Keenum’s historic career, but left he and Houston fans with solid ground to work on. This would be an up-and-down season for Keenum, as he split time with Blake Joseph in 2007. Joseph also had a productive season at quarterback by passing for 1,324 yards and nine touchdowns.

In Montgomery’s first season as offensive coordinator at Baylor, the record may not have shown it, but the world would be introduced to RG3. Griffin would pass for over 200 yards in five of the Bears’ 12 games, and he would have at least one receiver with 100 yards in two games.

Baylor needed to call an audible at quarterback in 2009. Griffin started the season, but it ended abruptly after it was discovered that he had a torn ACL following the Bears’ 68-13 win over Northwestern State in week three. Nick Florence and Blake Szymanski would split time in Griffin’s absence, but Florence would take the bulk of the action.

Griffin bounced back in a big way following his ACL injury in 2009 by completing 67% of his passes and by rushing for 635 yards. He also had two great targets to throw to in Kendall Wright and Josh Gordon, who combined to catch 14 of Griffin’s 22 touchdowns.

Baylor fans had plenty of reasons to smile in 2011. Not only did the Bears end the season with 10 wins, but college football’s most exciting player of the season also won the Heisman Trophy. Griffin would go on to throw for 37 TD (a Montgomery-coached QB record), and would be the first Montgomery-coached quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards on his way to winning the coveted award. Griffin passed for no less than 212 yards in every game that season, and would throw for over 400 yards four times.

Good things come to those who wait. That was the case for Nick Florence in 2012. He filled in for Robert Griffin III in 2009 following his knee injury, and would assume the role of QB1 in 2012 after Griffin’s Heisman-winning season. He threw for over 172 yards in all 13 games the Bears played that season, with his best performance being a 581 yard, 5 TD game against West Virginia. Wide receiver Terrance Williams caught 17 of Florence’s 29 passes in the game for 314 yards and two touchdowns.

Baylor posted the nation’s top scoring offense in 2013 with 52.4 points per game, and Bryce Petty was a large reason why. Baylor scored 69-or-more points in their first four games that season, and Petty threw for over 300 yards in 10 of Baylor’s 13 games.

Montgomery’s final season at Baylor would produce another 11-win season, a top offense, and a fantastic passing season from Bryce Petty. Petty followed up his 2013 statline with 10-more 200-plus yard performances, and even had two games of over 500 yards. Petty started in all but one game in 2014. In his absence, Baylor quarterback Seth Russell threw for 438 yards in the Bears’ 70-6 win over Northwestern State.

Montgomery set the tone early for offense in his first season as head coach. His first quarterback, Dane Evans, set records for a Philip Montgomery-coached QB in pass attempts and yards, which is saying alot considering he had coached Case Keenum, Robert Griffin III, and Bryce Petty before coming to Tulsa. Evans threw for over 400 yards in three games, and over 300 yards in six games. Tulsa also had a top-25 offense that season by scoring 37.2 points per contest.

Evans was instrumental in the Golden Hurricane taking a giant step forward in 2016. Tulsa would improve their win total from six wins to 10 wins, and would see a boost in poinst per game from 37 to 42. Evans would pass for over 200 yards in 10 of Tulsa’s 13 games, and would have two 1,000 yard receivers in Keevan Lucas and Josh Atkinson.

The 2017 season would begin a two-year span of using multiple quarterbacks to find the right fit. Chad President started in the first four games of the season before Skipper took over. President would also start the final game of the season after Skipper suffered a concussion against USF on November 16 in Tampa. President passed for 921 yards and 3 TD in seven games.

So… a quarterback from Collinsville, Oklahoma named Boomer isn’t playing for the Sooners? That concept is as strange as the QB room at Tulsa in 2018. Much like 2017, Montgomery started one quarterback for four games before making way for another. Skipper began the season for the Golden Hurricane by passing for 716 yards, but a four touchdown to six interception ratio was not enough to keep his job. Boomer took over and would throw for over 1,300 yards and would lead Tulsa to two of its’ three wins that season. He had a strong ending to the 2018 season by throwing for over 200 yards in the final two games of the season.

The classic Philip Montgomery quarterback model returned to Tulsa in 2019 when Zach Smith took the reigns of the offense. He reached 3,279 yards passing by having five games of 300-or-more yards, and five more games of over 200-yards passing. Keylon Stokes would reel in over 1,000 yards of receptions, and joined four others who had over 200 yards worth of catches.

Despite playing in a pandemic-shortended season in 2020, Smith still found ways to be productive. He was 53 yards shy of a 2,000-yard season despite playing in just nine games. He would also lead Tulsa to a six-win season and a bowl game in 2020.

The first season of the Davis Brin era got off to a slow start, as the Golden Hurricane would lose its’ first three games, including one to UC-Davis of the FCS level. But Tulsa would bounce back to become bowl eligible and earn a win over Old Dominion in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, putting them at seven wins for the season. Brin would have nine games of over 200-yards passing, with his season high being a 428-yard effort against Ohio State.

During his tenure at Tulsa, Montgomery saw an excrusiating relationship build between his quarterbacks and the injury bug. Brin battled an ankle injury earlier in the season, but a shoulder injury in Tulsa’s loss to SMU on October 29 is what ultimately did him in. He was able to pass for over 2,000 yards, however, before his injury. Braylon Braxton did a great job filling in for Brin by passing for 1,133 yards and 10 touchdowns over the final five games of the season.