Did ex-Kentucky OC Shannon Dawson fire a shot at former QB Patrick Towles?
Did former Kentucky offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson just throw his old Wildcats quarterback under the bus?
Dawson, who now calls plays for Southern Miss, was fired from the UK coaching staff after a one-year stint in 2015. Kentucky averaged just 24.7 points per game (10th in SEC) and finished 5-7, and it looks like he may have made some controversial comments back in July about former QB Patrick Towles that are just now being shed to light.
“Typically, if I have a good quarterback, I’m a pretty good coach,” he said. “And typically, if I don’t, I’m not a very good coach.”
So… did Dawson mean that Towles is a bad quarterback?
Towles, who left the program for Boston College this offseason and figures to be the Eagles’ starter as a graduate transfer, didn’t exactly light the world on fire with his performance last season. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound senior went 183-of-386 (56.1 percent) for 2,148 yards, nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions and was ultimately benched for redshirt freshman Drew Barker by the end of the year.
Still, it’s not a good look for a coach to rip one of his former players, even if it was inadvertently. Besides, it’s the offensive coordinator’s job to get the most out of his offense, with an emphasis on developing the quarterback, especially at the college level.
Towles reportedly responded to the video by tweeting a frowny face, but that has since been deleted. Towles followed up the deleted tweet with this one, indicating he and his former coach are still close:
https://twitter.com/patty_ice_8/status/765956208264155136