David Cutcliffe knows the primary rap on his most recent pupil. There was a palpable harrumph in his voice when he addressed it.
"As a football coach, I'll tell you he has plenty of arm to play in that league. Plenty of arm," Cutcliffe said of Tennessee's Erik Ainge, the Jets' fifth-round draft choice, during an interview with Newsday on Thursday.
Cutcliffe has some experience in evaluating and mentoring successful quarterbacks. A pair of his students won the last two Super Bowls: Peyton and Eli Manning.
"He [Ainge] was very gifted," said Duke coach Cutcliffe, who served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator when Peyton played in Knoxville and was Eli's head coach at Ole Miss. "I've been around a lot of gifted quarterbacks and he's very gifted as well. I wish I would have had him four years instead of two."
Ainge is happy about the two years he got, crediting much of his development to Cutcliffe. The 6-5 Ainge started his entire freshman season, then shared time with Rick Clausen during a disappointing sophomore season. Ainge was named the starter before his junior year, which coincided with Cutcliffe's arrival on campus.
Ainge remembered how Cutcliffe taught the new offense. "All we watched were '03 Ole Miss cuts from Eli's senior year," Ainge said yesterday. "That was easy for me because I could get the play, watch the coverage, watch Eli, and Eli threw it to the right guy almost every single time. So it was really easy for me picking it up watching his tape."
Ainge also remembered talking to Peyton Manning to get the lowdown on Cutcliffe.
"Peyton gave some good advice right when coach Cut got there. He said, 'Hey, whatever he says, shut up and do it and everything will work out,'" Ainge said with a laugh. "There's going to be times where you hate him, times where you love him, but he knows what he's doing, so just tuck your tail and do what you need to do."
Ainge did. In 2006, his first season under Cutcliffe, his completion percentage rose to .670 from .455, his QB rating jumped to 151.95 from 89.94 and his touchdown passes went to 19 from five.
Ainge followed that with one of college football's more underrated seasons in 2007, throwing for 3,522 yards with 31 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Two of those picks, including one returned for the go-ahead score, came in the fourth quarter of Tennessee's 21-14 loss to eventual national champion LSU in the SEC championship game.
Cutcliffe said Ainge showed his mental toughness - which also has been questioned by scouts - by driving the Vols back down the field after that final interception and putting them in position to score. "That's an indicator of being not only tough but mentally tough," Cutcliffe said.
Cutcliffe said the most important development he saw in Ainge the last two years was the quarterback's ability to take everything in.
"When you look at Peyton or Eli or any of the good quarterbacks, they see the field well," Cutcliffe said. "They see things at a speed not all of us can see at. Erik is just now learning to use that and will continue to learn that."
And if Ainge makes the unlikely - though not unprecedented - leap from late-round pick to having a solid NFL career, most of the plaudits will go to Cutcliffe.
"One thing that helps me out from coach Cut in getting to the next level is he's coached those other guys and they played early," Ainge said. "I'm not saying anything about myself comparing to those guys ... it's just he knows how to get quarterbacks ready to play football and so that's really helped me out. He changed how I play the game."
