Oregon Ducks QB Coach Koa Ka’ai Makes Jaws Drop with Ice Cream Question

Do not show hesitancy when choosing your favorite flavor of ice cream, or you could lose your chance to play quarterback for the Oregon Ducks.

Most coaches have their own quirky way of evaluating players, and Oregon Ducks quarterbacks coach Koa Ka’ai is certainly no exception.

Ka’ai recently revealed his methodology for evaluating QB prospects, and let’s say, it’s unique.

“I ask them a question like this all the time. I’m like ‘Hey, do you like Chocolate ice cream or Vanilla ice cream?’ The minute a kid pauses, I don’t really want that kid, because you have some type of conviction, right, wrong, or indifferent, okay,” said Ka’ai.

“So, whether you like chocolate or vanilla, I don’t really care, but if you sit there and you say, ‘Well, coach, I don’t really know. Is it melted? Is it not? What’s the brand?’ What is this kid going to do on third down in front of 110,000 fans? He is probably going to think about it more than he should. You’re not going to have conviction. Like I said, long-winded, I understand, but it’s the mental aspect. That’s what we are really after.”

Okay, a lot to dissect here.

First, there’s a lot to be said for decisiveness on the football field, and NFL and major college teams have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on psychiatrists to figure out what types of questions will reveal that trait.

So, there is every possibility that someone who knows much more about the human brain and how it processes information than you, I, or anyone else, told Ka’ai to ask this question.

But there are a couple of problems with this. First, a player who starts asking questions like, “Is it melted? What’s the brand?” etc, could reveal that he has a strong mindset for situational football. One of the things that Bill Belichick always prized and preached – especially in a quarterback -was having an in-depth understanding of the rules and a team’s exact situation so they would know how to call the right play.

How is asking about the ice cream brand different from diagnosing the defense? Knowing the down and distance? Is the defense showing blitz? Who is the mike linebacker? Where’s my hot read?

Again, I’m nobody, and Koa Ka’ai is a quarterback’s coach, but what’s the harm in having a quarterback who wants to have all the information before he makes a decision?

Secondly, most people like both chocolate and vanilla ice cream. It may not be fair to expect an immediate and decisive response to a question like that. Wouldn’t it be better to ask someone whether they prefer spicy or mild wings? Sushi or no sushi?

It seems like a polarizing question like that would be fairer than two flavors of ice cream that people commonly mix.

In any event, Ducks QB candidates are on notice: Choose your ice cream flavor before the interview.