By Ross Jones and Sid Saraf, FOXSports.com Since Tim Tebow’s release from the New York Jets in late April, no serious offers have been made for the quarterback. In fact, some teams have made it clear they are keeping far away from the polarizing player. Tebow’s high school coach, Craig Howard, has heard the chatter and is very worried that Tebow won’t find a home for the 2013 NFL season.
THE LATEST ON TEBOW • H.S. coach worries about Tebow • Jaworski wooing Tebow for Soul? • Giants co-owner blames Jets • Jags not wavering on Tebow • Forbes: Tebow most influential • Tebow officially a free agent • Jets cut Tebow after one season • Tebow nixes speech at church “I don’t think he ever got a good chance with the Jets,” Howard told FOXSports.com in an exclusive interview. “I’m hoping that some team will pick him up, but I worry that they won’t because of all the drama and all the circus that surrounds him. They’re afraid of him now. I don’t know. But I still believe if he gets the right opportunity he will ignite a team.” Howard, who currently is the head coach at Southern Oregon University, coached Tebow at Nease High School (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) and has been instrumental in his development. “I hope and pray that he gets on a team. The other day, I was looking at a YouTube video of the 95-yard drive that Tebow engineered against the Jets when he was with the Denver Broncos. I was watching that and I brought in some of my coaches, and I said, ‘Come here and watch this drive.’ And I said, ‘This looks like Nease High School stuff.’ He was running the option and throwing the ball and they were empty and he was running for a first down on a third-and-1, and running the Power O and they were doing all the things he did in high school on a 95-yard drive against the Jets." The Jets made the long-anticipated move, releasing Tebow last month just one year after acquiring him in a trade with the Broncos. During the offseason, the Jets had reportedly given Tebow’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, permission to seek trades with other teams, but none materialized. “Let the kid play,” Howard said. “Let him compete. He’s just gotta find the right opportunity. I don’t know where that is. I really don’t.” When asked if Howard thinks Tebow will ever get another opportunity to win a starting job, the coach quipped: “No. That’s what my gut says, ‘No.’ I just worry about it because of all those NFL, Merril Hoge-statements have been made and people are afraid of him. I worry that that he won’t.” Even if the NFL has seen the last of Tebow, Howard believes that he will make a bigger impact off the field because of how special of a person he is. “He has a beautiful life ahead of him and really he has his priorities in order,” Howard said. “His faith is first, his family is second. Football is not the No. 1 priority in Tim Tebow’s life. “He’s still young and he’s going to do special things outside of football and his impact will be greater off the field than it ever was on the field because he is a special young man.”
