Broken Arrow QB Scotty Gilkey gets Coaching Session with Cowboys’ All-Pro Tony Romo

When we last checked in with Broken Arrow High School’s Scotty Gilkey he was recovering from an offseason sports hernia surgery and had just come back from an unofficial visit to Louisiana Monroe. Healing in time to demonstrate his pocket skills to college coaches over the summer, the 6’5”, 210 pound, gunslinger got a little time in with NFL All-Pro quarterback Tony Romo to tweak a couple of things before taking off on a pivotal college camp circuit at Valley Ranch.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview I sat down with Scotty to get the inside scoop on the one-on-one coaching session with Tony Romo and how the one-day college camp schedule is shaping up.

 

Scotty, when we last talked you were healing from a sports hernia surgery. Based on yesterday’s throwing session with Tony Romo I’m guessing you are healing nicely?

“I’m getting better, I’m progressing well. I’m at about 90 percent. Throwing with Tony was the first time I’ve thrown pain free since the surgery.”

There was a lot of attention given on social media yesterday to the coaching session you got with Tony. Give us the lowdown, what tweaks were made?

“We got there and sat down for a little bit. We went over the things I need to work on and the things I wanted to work on. He changed my release, making it quicker. His coaching made a bigger difference, I still have to work on it but my release became quicker. We worked on throwing to the sidelines and to the outside. We worked on that a lot. That was the main throw. A lot of ball placing.”

What did Tony change about your release?

“I have a very high release. I’m 6’5”, I don’t need a high release like I’m 4’11”. Now I’m bringing the ball back but not as far so it won’t be as high, it’ll be quicker. I’m not reaching way back with it like I was before.”

Did Tony work on any other tweaks to your mechanics?

“We worked on keeping the front arm tighter. It wasn’t that bad. He wanted to mess with it a little bit. A little bit on footwork and drops. He showed me a couple things there.”

How long did you work?

“We were out there for 1.5 to 2 hours.”

Who was running the routes for you?

“My dad (Scott) was catching for me, he wasn’t running. We just worked on placement throwing, no routes.”

Last time you met with him you told me you guys did some film study. Did you do any film study this time around?

“We didn’t do any film study. We have a couple more visits planned out over the summer. He’s a busy guy. I was lucky to get him this time. We just worked on my mechanics.”

When do you plan on working with Tony again?

“Probably in a couple weeks. I’ll work on my release until then. I don’t want to be the exact same when we met again. I’ll work on the things he showed me then plan another trip to work on new stuff.”

Last time we spoke you had offers from Eastern Illinois, LA-Monroe, Louisville with a lot of schools showing interest in you (Oklahoma, Texas, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Mississippi State, Alabama, Tennessee, LSU, Bowling Green Central Arkansas, Harvard, and Columbia. Any new schools to add to the list?

“Illinois, Southern Miss, and Notre Dame have been showing a lot of interest. Harvard has really been showing a lot of interest lately, that’s been really good.”

Do you have any one-day college camps scheduled yet?

“We have a plan to go to Notre Dame this summer. All the other camps, we have a few in mind, but not sure yet which ones I will attend. We’ll see what happens. We’ll hit Louisville again this year.”

What have you been doing to prepare for the camps?

“Keon Hatcher is back in town from Arkansas (Razorbacks). I was throwing with him today. Throwing to the guys from college is always good. It helps me know what it’s like working with college guys and helps me throw against college defensive backs.”

 

Written by Ryan Wright

Photo credit: Scotty Gilkey