Ryan Fitzpatrick Discusses Coaching Influence and Quarterback Development Through Crucible
June 24, 2026
Ryan Fitzpatrick saw his fair share of change throughout his 17-year NFL career.
He played for nine different teams and 10 different offensive coordinators, which included, most notably, Chan Gailey, Bill O’Brien, and Todd Monken, among others. That meant Fitzpatrick was often learning different offenses and the language used in them.
Some challenges come with that much change, but the Harvard alum still threw for nearly 35,000 yards and 223 career touchdowns. That type of success comes from being able to adapt to different scenarios, but also having the right type of quarterback development.
In his post-playing career, Fitzpatrick, along with a team of coaches and developers, is now looking to help the next generation of young quarterbacks with their Crucible application. It’s a 3D mobile simulator that players can use directly on their mobile device to teach decision-making through professional-level football logic.
“There’s really nothing out there that allows them preparation and repetition over and over and over again,” Fitzpatrick said during a recent interview with AFCA’s director of education, Mario Price. “And it’s not just something for young kids. When I say kids, it’s kids in college, it’s guys in the NFL and the UFL that are using this as well. But it’s an app, and we have to meet these kids where they are. You’ve got your phone in your hands 24/7, and it allows you to play a game on your device. It gives you live reps and allows you those mental reps that you’re not able to get in practice.
“It’s been a really cool project to kind of take all of this knowledge from the NFL, my 17 years with the other coaches that have done it for 20-plus years, and condense it into this app where we can not only teach kids concepts, teach kids how to read defenses, but also put it in their own language.”
Crucible allows coaches at all levels to install their own offenses and the languages they use to help their quarterbacks work through certain scenarios. They can customize the scenarios, so players have to work against certain coverages, which aids their development.
The application also provides data that provides feedback on where players can improve their decision-making.
“Let’s say you have a couple of empty concepts going into a high-school game, college game, pro game, whatever it is, and we’re going to teach you what that concept is,” Fitzpatrick said. “You can put it in your own terminology, and then you can practice. So, there are six different defenses that you are going to see this weekend, or at least expect to see this weekend. So we’re going to randomize the six defenses, and you’re going to play the same play over and over and over again. You can sit there for 30 minutes and get 200 reps on the same play, right? It’s just going to be a different defense every time and your decision-making in terms of the timing and where you’re making your mistakes.”
Along with learning the decision-making process of any offense, Crucible also tests the time it takes to make those decisions. As quarterbacks progress through the three different levels included in the application, they are challenged to make quicker decisions in the scenarios presented to them.
“In some of the reps you’re taking, if you’re on that pro level, you’re going to get sacked a few times during this game because you’re not processing fast enough, you’re not thinking about it fast enough,” Fitzpatrick said. “I like that aspect of it too, where you can graduate levels and all of a sudden you see a ton of improvement at the high school level from the kids, and all of a sudden you ratchet it up to the college level, to the pro level, and they’ve got to quicken up that processing speed even more.”
Along with the motivation to help develop quarterbacks, Fitzpatrick said the goal of Crucible was to meet kids where they are in today’s society. With almost every teenager owning a phone or tablet, they now have access to a tool that can help them develop.
“I think we’ve really fallen into something here that kids enjoy that they can do over and over and over again,” Fitzpatrick said. It just gives you great feedback as a coach, as well.”
This content was created in partnership with Crucible. More information about Crucible can be found at crucibletech.com.
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
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Ryan Fitzpatrick saw his fair share of change throughout his 17-year NFL career.
He played for nine different teams and 10 different offensive coordinators, which included, most notably, Chan Gailey, Bill O’Brien, and Todd Monken, among others. That meant Fitzpatrick was often learning different offenses and the language used in them.
Some challenges come with that much change, but the Harvard alum still threw for nearly 35,000 yards and 223 career touchdowns. That type of success comes from being able to adapt to different scenarios, but also having the right type of quarterback development.
In his post-playing career, Fitzpatrick, along with a team of coaches and developers, is now looking to help the next generation of young quarterbacks with their Crucible application. It’s a 3D mobile simulator that players can use directly on their mobile device to teach decision-making through professional-level football logic.
“There’s really nothing out there that allows them preparation and repetition over and over and over again,” Fitzpatrick said during a recent interview with AFCA’s director of education, Mario Price. “And it’s not just something for young kids. When I say kids, it’s kids in college, it’s guys in the NFL and the UFL that are using this as well. But it’s an app, and we have to meet these kids where they are. You’ve got your phone in your hands 24/7, and it allows you to play a game on your device. It gives you live reps and allows you those mental reps that you’re not able to get in practice.
“It’s been a really cool project to kind of take all of this knowledge from the NFL, my 17 years with the other coaches that have done it for 20-plus years, and condense it into this app where we can not only teach kids concepts, teach kids how to read defenses, but also put it in their own language.”
Crucible allows coaches at all levels to install their own offenses and the languages they use to help their quarterbacks work through certain scenarios. They can customize the scenarios, so players have to work against certain coverages, which aids their development.
The application also provides data that provides feedback on where players can improve their decision-making.
“Let’s say you have a couple of empty concepts going into a high-school game, college game, pro game, whatever it is, and we’re going to teach you what that concept is,” Fitzpatrick said. “You can put it in your own terminology, and then you can practice. So, there are six different defenses that you are going to see this weekend, or at least expect to see this weekend. So we’re going to randomize the six defenses, and you’re going to play the same play over and over and over again. You can sit there for 30 minutes and get 200 reps on the same play, right? It’s just going to be a different defense every time and your decision-making in terms of the timing and where you’re making your mistakes.”
Along with learning the decision-making process of any offense, Crucible also tests the time it takes to make those decisions. As quarterbacks progress through the three different levels included in the application, they are challenged to make quicker decisions in the scenarios presented to them.
“In some of the reps you’re taking, if you’re on that pro level, you’re going to get sacked a few times during this game because you’re not processing fast enough, you’re not thinking about it fast enough,” Fitzpatrick said. “I like that aspect of it too, where you can graduate levels and all of a sudden you see a ton of improvement at the high school level from the kids, and all of a sudden you ratchet it up to the college level, to the pro level, and they’ve got to quicken up that processing speed even more.”
Along with the motivation to help develop quarterbacks, Fitzpatrick said the goal of Crucible was to meet kids where they are in today’s society. With almost every teenager owning a phone or tablet, they now have access to a tool that can help them develop.
“I think we’ve really fallen into something here that kids enjoy that they can do over and over and over again,” Fitzpatrick said. It just gives you great feedback as a coach, as well.”
This content was created in partnership with Crucible. More information about Crucible can be found at crucibletech.com.
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
