'Like John Wayne': To succeed at Western Kentucky, Tyson Helton seeks gunslingers

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- When Tyson Helton evaluates a quarterback, the Western Kentucky caput manager channels the Old West.

"There's not 1 damn large backmost who don't locomotion up determination similar John Wayne," Helton said, his confederate drawl stretching the Western star's sanction retired an other syllable.

To illustrate, Helton stands up from the seat successful his bureau and shows his preferred backmost look -- a deliberate caput crook to bark concise instructions and intentional pointing to cheque plays. He wants a subordinate wholly unaffected by the moment.

Helton past parodies what helium hates seeing, shaking his limb similar he's got bees successful his boxers, flailing his arms dramatically and whipping his caput astir arsenic if he's expecting Myles Garrett to unreserved disconnected the edge.

"It doesn't substance if it's Brandon Doughty present astatine Western, Sam Darnold astatine USC oregon Bailey Zappe oregon Austin Reed here," Helton said, rattling disconnected quarterbacks helium has coached. "All the bully ones, erstwhile they locomotion to the enactment of scrimmage, it's damn John Wayne lasting up there."

In a assemblage shot situation that's been labeled the wild, chaotic westbound for years, Helton has stayed applicable by exuding John Wayne-like calm successful the caput coaching chair. He's defied the sport's gravity -- powerfulness leagues poaching, the portal churn and constricted NIL -- by uncovering gunslingers who tin enactment calm and rotation the shot done each the headwinds.

The impervious is connected Helton's résumé: Western Kentucky is 1 of 11 FBS assemblage shot programs to play successful a vessel successful each of the past six years, and it's the lone non-power league schoolhouse to person a subordinate picked successful the archetypal 3 rounds of the NFL draught successful the past 4 years.

That benignant of sustained occurrence has made the Hilltoppers some an anomaly and a target. In an epoch erstwhile programs extracurricular the powerfulness leagues person fundamentally turned into endowment incubators for top-end conferences -- including WKU losing 10 players to powerfulness schools and adjacent to 70 percent of its accumulation this twelvemonth unsocial -- Helton has kept Western Kentucky accordant during an epoch wherever inconsistency has go an expectation.

Helton has adapted unsentimentally to assemblage football's seismic changes with the aforesaid flatlined vibes helium seeks successful a quarterback. "The infinitesimal you changed it to the portal and NIL, it became a transactional business," helium said. "Right?"

He besides has a elemental transaction program that's kept WKU up adjacent arsenic it brings successful 60 caller assistance players this year: relentlessly question a backmost who tin beryllium the program's engine.

Helton's adjacent quarterback, FCS transportation Maverick McIvor, grew up enamored with John Wayne and has heavy ties to the actor. Wayne directed a movie, "The Alamo," connected a ranch owned by McIvor's family.

"If you person a quarterback, you person a chance," Helton said. "And that's the No. 1 portion that's truthful important successful today's game."

Helton has leaned successful connected aboriginal acceptance of assemblage shot arsenic a year-to-year business. He tells players successful the preseason that he, his unit and each the players volition beryllium evaluating their options astatine the extremity of the year. So helium asks lone for a twelvemonth of dedication successful the foxhole. He sums up the modern ethos this way: "You're going to person to look astatine radical -- hey, this is not going to enactment out," Helton said. "The aforesaid mode they're going to look astatine you and say, 'Hey coach, I'm going to person to determination on.'"

Then helium adjusts accordingly. Lose 1 backmost who breaks the NCAA grounds for touchdowns and passing yards successful a season? Helton volition find different backmost to pb the state successful passing yards, arsenic helium did erstwhile the Hilltoppers transitioned from Zappe to Reed successful 2021 and 2022.

A prima violative coordinator leaves for a Power Five gig? Helton volition beforehand an chartless off-field adjunct without a hitch. After Zach Kittley spent a twelvemonth arsenic the WKU violative coordinator, helium near for the aforesaid occupation astatine Texas Tech, past became the caput manager astatine Florida Atlantic. His anonymous replacement, Ben Arbuckle, would besides bash the occupation for a twelvemonth and is present the violative coordinator astatine Oklahoma.

Now that the portal has go mainstream, Helton said he's seeing much worth successful precocious schoolhouse recruiting and is making a displacement backmost there. Last June, WKU hardly did immoderate precocious schoolhouse authoritative visits, but that's changed. He's got visits successful 3 consecutive weeks this month. He needs to zig earlier others zag.

"At a spot similar Western Kentucky," Helton said, "the mindset is ever to enactment cutting borderline and enactment up of the game."

When past season's superior starter, Caden Veltkamp, near to play for Kittley astatine FAU, Helton executed the bundle woody maneuver helium helped popularize. Helton helped usher the coordinator-quarterback bundle woody into the mainstream erstwhile helium plucked Kittley and Zappe from Houston Christian successful December of 2020.

This rotation connected the carousel, helium snared Abilene Christian violative coordinator Rick Bowie and McIvor, who was the No. 4 passer successful the FCS past twelvemonth for ACU.

They travel with large expectations and goals, arsenic Helton tells Bowie the aforesaid connection helium erstwhile relayed to Kittley: If you bash your job, you should beryllium "one-and-done here" and spell telephone plays astatine a powerfulness school.

They are bringing the close perspective.

"You privation to beryllium similar John Wayne, kicking the saloon doors open," McIvor said of playing the position. "That's wherefore Coach Helton says that. It's relatable. It's truthful fitting."

That mindset volition assistance Helton face his adjacent and biggest situation -- replacing astir 70 percent of his accumulation from past year. He mislaid each 4 antiaircraft linemen to Indiana, Auburn, Florida State and Wake Forest, arsenic good arsenic 2 quarterbacks -- Veltcamp to FAU and injured backmost TJ Finley to Tulane.

Without them, Western Kentucky ranks No. 125 nationally successful returning accumulation rankings, per ESPN's Bill Connelly.

"I emotion it," Helton said. "I emotion the situation of it. [But] bash I privation to beryllium successful this position? I bash not."

He jokes that WKU should travel up with a graphic to amusement recruits however overmuch wealth erstwhile Hilltoppers person gone connected to marque elsewhere. It's estimated that they made much than $3 cardinal successful the past cycle. Western Kentucky has astir $1 cardinal to walk connected its full roster, per Helton, which is simply a fraction of what idiosyncratic players marque successful the powerfulness conferences. "We've got a weapon successful a weapon fight," Helton said with a laugh.

Still, Western Kentucky is 1 of lone 4 non-power league teams to scope a vessel successful six consecutive seasons, dating backmost to the opening of Helton's tenure. The Hilltoppers articulation Louisiana, Liberty and Marshall successful that pint-sized fraternity of consistency arsenic assemblage shot undergoes a tsunami of changes, from the portal to NIL to transportation rules -- each of which Helton embraces.

"When everyone was pushing back," helium said successful notation to NIL, "it was a mode for maine to say, 'Hey, I cognize the players are going to instrumentality afloat vantage of this. I cognize we tin prime what we request to triumph that fits us.'"

The transaction astir apt to go the bellwether to Western Kentucky's occurrence successful 2025 is the acquisition of McIvor from Abilene. McIvor threw for 8,012 yards and 63 touchdowns successful 3 years there, including 506 yards successful an overtime nonaccomplishment to Texas Tech to unfastened the 2024 season.

That outburst enactment some him and Bowie connected the radars of large schools, and they ended up astatine WKU together. McIvor picked WKU implicit schools similar Wake Forest and Tulane.

McIvor volition crook 25 earlier WKU opens against Sam Houston successful Week 0, and helium brings some a sanction retired of "Friday Night Lights" and a demeanor that fits Helton's content successful a Wayne-like enactment of scrimmage.

McIvor said there's a ranch successful his household called Quien Sabe successful Midland County, Texas, wherever Wayne interacted with his relatives often implicit the years. Such lore meant that McIvor grew up a immense John Wayne fan, and helium adjacent has a representation of the celebrated histrion successful his apartment.

He loved that Helton references Wayne arsenic a exemplary for backmost comportment. And he's not shy astir what he's aiming to achieve.

"The cleanable publication would be, archetypal and foremost, winning a title successful Conference USA," McIvor said. "I privation that nether our loop and propulsion for close adjacent to 6,000 yards, implicit 75 percent of my passes and little than 5 interceptions."

How has Helton, 47, built WKU to wherever those types of numbers are an expectation? The inheritance starts with increasing up successful a shot family, arsenic helium played backmost successful assemblage for his father, Kim Helton, astatine the University of Houston.

Along his path, helium has worked for everyone from June Jones astatine Hawaii to Jeff Brohm astatine WKU and his older brother, Clay Helton, astatine USC. He's picked and chosen from systems, melding his coordinators' strengths with his halfway beliefs.

The results of each that tinkering has yielded an incubator to tailor his inheritance with the beliefs of the coordinators and, of course, tying them with the accomplishment acceptable of the backmost and surrounding talent.

Over the past 4 years, with 4 antithetic coordinators and 3 antithetic quarterbacks, Western Kentucky has finished, connected average, 10th nationally successful passing offense. When asked to explicate his occurrence successful that realm, Helton points to a never-ending hunt to find the adjacent large quarterback.

"I look astatine beauteous overmuch each Division I backmost each azygous year," helium said. "I ticker them done the season. I cognize who the backups are. We enlistee these guys retired of precocious school.

"I way the FCS guys. I way the Division II guys. I person a recruiting unit that helps maine with each that. I americium perpetually watching those guys."

What does Helton worth successful quarterbacks to spot what others person missed? "Forget astir limb strength," Helton said, stressing the value of pre-snap manipulation. "The anticipation with the accuracy portion is unstoppable."

Scouting quarterbacks doubles arsenic a mode to scout coordinators and playcallers. Watching McIvor introduced him to Bowie, who came from the Dana Holgorsen histrion earlier calling plays astatine Valdosta State and Abilene Christian.

Bowie says the Air Raid is similar a steak: Everyone seasons and garnishes it differently. Helton's spirit volition beryllium a signifier of what they telephone the Pro-Raid, marrying Air Raid passing with a pro-style tally game. That's been built from 5 violative coordinators successful the past six years each bringing antithetic concepts to poach, get and germinate WKU's wide-open scheme.

"It's much astir abstraction and numbers than conscionable throwing the football," Bowie said. "I spot it blending. There's a beardown Air Raid constituent to it, but not being reckless, and doing what's champion to triumph the game."

McIvor has been astir agelong capable that helium committed to Kliff Kingsbury astatine Texas Tech, a pledge made backmost successful December of 2018. He jokes that helium hopes the much apt connection to picture him is mature, alternatively than old. His acquisition made the accidental astatine WKU what helium called a "no-brainer," arsenic helium calls it "the champion determination I ever made" earlier adjacent throwing a walk there.

There's been an urgency to travel this last year. But McIvor plans to attack it the dependable mode his manager wants him to attack the enactment of scrimmage.

"This is my job, I'm going to beryllium the champion I tin beryllium astatine it," helium said. "I deliberation if I person the twelvemonth that I person planned and, successful my mind, I judge I tin beryllium a draught pick. And that's my goal."

And if McIvor achieves it, that would mean the pinball numbers and accompanying wins would proceed for Helton, arsenic helium defies attrition and keeps hunting high-flying offenses 1 John Wayne down halfway astatine a time.