Daviess County Coach and former Kentucky Wesleyan Panther Dalton Oliver wrapped up his 2021 summer qb workshop with local quarterbacks across all ages this week, including Daviess County’s own, Joe Humphreys.
This is the first true year as a set workshop, but the idea for the legitimate camp came from workouts during the pandemic in 2020.
“During COVID last year when there was a lot of down time I’d always work out quarterback stuff by myself and growing up I always wished I had somebody [like me] around here,” Oliver said. “If there was someone I wasn’t connected with them, so I figured with my experience I’d be a resource with these guys.”
Oliver really wanted to share his knowledge with as many kids as possible and have them steadily improve, especially with the fall season approaching.
Daviess County’s No. 1 quarterback Joe Humphreys has helped him with that, by being the inspiration to do more camps like this after the bond they’ve grown starting last summer.
“That’s kind of who I first got into training with, so really he’s almost my partner in it all,” Oliver said. “So I really started off going into it as I’m gonna workout, Joe came along and it turned into me training Joe, it’s been successful, so I’ve applied it to some of the DC kids I’m training now. Just trying to spread the wealth a little bit, spread the knowledge.”
Humphreys is grateful to have someone like Oliver who can coach him while also being able to help younger generations grow as well.
“It’s a great pleasure to be able to work underneath somebody like Coach O with his abilities and his resume that he has playing pro football and having an incredible college career with all the passing records at Kentucky Wesleyan,” Humphreys said. “But it’s also great to be at the spot that I’m in right now to be able to teach what I’ve learned to these younger kids and make an impact on them.”
The camps focus on the core fundamentals of the position with the younger groups, while making sure to keep them entertained as well.
“I like to keep it fun and keep it real fundamental,” Oliver said. “A lot of the stuff is them just finding their feet. I think quarterback starts with your feet up. So with the younger guys I’ve been trying to focus on fundamentals with arm mechanics, but more so your footwork and keeping balance within your base.”
Oliver said that he plans to have more camps in the future, hoping to make an even bigger impact on some of the student-athletes not just at Daviess County, but the county as a whole.
“Most definitely, especially in the summers when there is a lot more time,” Oliver said. “Me being a teacher and a football coach I have a lot more time in the summers, but I’m looking into doing some things in the winter. And I’ve obviously built a relationship with these kids and I just told them a second ago if they ever got questions or wanna work on something feel free to reach out and if they’ve got something going on in the fall and it works with both our schedules then we’ll definitely figure it out.”
All of those who showed up are looking to soak up Oliver’s football knowledge, but to Humphreys it’s more than that and he hopes that other camp attendees understand that as well.
“I’d say character is what I’ve learned most out of everything,” Humphreys said. “He’s taught me lots about football obviously, but how to be a great quarterback and a great man is probably what I’ve learned the most from him.”
