PODCAST: Heisman Winner Ty Detmer Talks BYU, Heisman, Brett Favre, & More

We recently spoke with Ty Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner from BYU, and a 14-year NFL veteran.

Winning the Heisman as a junior, Detmer had a chance to win two Heisman's. But much like Tim Tebow, he lost out on the trophy in his senior campaign. Now Mark Ingram has an opportunity to win two Heisman's, we wanted to get Ty's opinion on if the voters have an aversion to voting for a previous Heisman winner.

He say's they do because they expect the second year to be much better than the year that they won the Heisman. Unless there's a lot of improvement, the voters probably won't consider it.

When we asked him about this year's Heisman race, he felt that voters were swayed by the last game where Ingram played well and Colt McCoy didn't.

He also admitted that he voted for Colt McCoy as No. 1, because he felt he had a good overall year. Ty Detmer is from Texas, currently lives in Austin, Texas, and admits that he's a little partial to Texas quarterbacks as he had Houston's Case Keenum as No. 2 because he had a great year passing.

He talked about how difficult it will be for a player from a "mid-major" college to win a Heisman, citing that they don't get the exposure and pretty much have to go undefeated to get noticed. He talked about Boise State and TCU going undefeated, but how neither had one stand-out player that was considered for the Heisman.

We then talked about him being spring boarded to the national spotlight when he beat the No. 1 ranked University of Miami early in the year. He shared that he thought BYU's Max Hall may have been in the Heisman race if they went undefeated after beating No. 4 Oklahoma earlier this year.

Ty shared more on his Heisman voting, saying that he had Mark Ingram as third but not based on the SEC Championship Game. Ty felt that Ingram was on the sidelines too much during critical third and close situations, but he still carried Alabama's offense many times throughout the year.

Ty shared his thoughts on BYU's year and previewed the Las Vegas Bowl. His main points being that they had a good year with a couple of disappointing losses, that Oregon State will be a tough matchup for BYU, and that he likes what head coach Bronco Mendenhall has done with the team in getting them back to the old days where they're fun to watch.

When asked how he felt about BYU joining a "major" conference like the Big Ten or Pac 10, he said he'd like to see it from a fan's standpoint, but said you'd have to consider if it's better to be on the top of a "mid-major" or in the middle of a "major" conference since there is a risk that they might not be as dominate by going to a major conference. However, even considering the risk, he still would like to see it happen.

We then transitioned to talk about his professional experiences. We heard a rumor that Brett Favre had once credited Ty Detmer for teaching him how to read defenses and he shared a story that sort of confirms that rumor!

Having played with two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Steve Young and Brett Favre, Ty gave a brief comparison of the two. He said that Steve Young was a perfectionist, knowing every play and completing every pass in practice, whereas Brett Favre would "wing it" but make the plays necessary to win the game. He summed them up by saying they have, "two different styles but with similar results."

Also, having played with Michael Vick for a few years, he also gave us his opinion on him. He said that Vick would be great in short yardage situations and that it took the Eagles a little while to figure that out. He thinks this year has been good for him to get back into the game and to show people that he can still play. He also thinks Michael Vick will want to go to another team next year so he can be a starter.

He also shared his thoughts on Jay Cutler's disappointing season and what's needed for him to turn things around. He did add that it's tough to change teams and sometimes it just takes time.

Ty then shared that he feels high school football is the purest form of football, but that college was the best time for him and that he's disappointed that college football is becoming so commercialized.

He then revealed that he recently accepted a head coaching job in Austin at St. Andrews Episcopal High School. He verified that he will have an unbalanced offense that will lean more towards the pass. No surprise.

And finally when asked about Jim McMahon, he said that from his experiences with him, he's still as wild as ever!

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