The information flow has only increased from Brian Daboll, another former Alabama offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who won a national championship under Nick Saban.
Along with offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Mike Kafka and the entire staff, Daboll is developing the 25th overall pick to be ready for whenever his time comes.
“I’d say the philosophy in general is to throw a lot at all these guys,” Daboll said last month at minicamp. “And then you pull it back and see what kind of sticks and then you break it down a little bit and then you throw it all at them again. And then by the third time they hear it, they’re usually a lot more comfortable with the information. Again, there’s a lot of information for the quarterbacks in any system. But I think throwing it at them, bringing it back, breaking it down in smaller parts and then throwing it back at them or kind of whole part, whole philosophy. I learned that from Coach Saban.”
Daboll added: “He has done excellent. He’s picking up the information. It’s really good to have Russ [Wilson] and Jameis [Winston] and even Tommy [DeVito] because Tommy’s been in the system for a few years here. And he’s kind of the head statesman in terms of that and all the adjustments that take place or the calls. He’s fit right in with those guys. He’s smart. He’s aggressive with the football, which I like. And then the true test will be once we start and there’s live hitting and preseason games and things like that. But he’s progressed since he’s been here to where he is now. He’s made good improvement.”
Dart’s aggression is something that wins over his teammates and coaches, but can also keep the latter up at night. Kiffin recalled everyone taking note when the quarterback would run over linebackers early in his Ole Miss tenure.
“We worked with him a lot on that,” Kiffin said. “That takes some time to get out of him. It’ll still show up once in a while, but he’s learned to play smarter.”
It only comes natural for Dart, whose father, Brandon, played safety at Utah.
“I think there’s a lot of Eli [Manning] in there,” Kiffin said about the two Ole Miss legends. “But then he has that – I’d say, his dad in him, the defensive personality in him where it takes over a little bit and he gets a little aggressive. But most times throughout the week, he’s very calm.”
In terms of leadership, Dart’s charisma is undeniable. Kiffin said the quarterback, who started his college career at USC, developed into what you see today over his three years in Oxford.
“You also gain confidence once you’re the full-time starter and you’re doing really well,” Kiffin said of the program’s all-time leader in passing yards and wins for a starting quarterback. “But he has an amazing impact on people – offense, defense, special teams, media, coaches’ kids. He’s just a really great person. … He doesn’t come in and just try to force it on them. [He leads] by example and he’s a great listener to players. He spends and invests a lot of time with them.”
Kiffin added: “He’s got great parents, a great family. He was raised really well and he has really good awareness, too. He reads rooms really well, reads people really well, so he’s really got the complete package.”