Oldie,
That last line says it all. I'm still laughing. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that coaches allow their own egos to convince them that they can turn an average 6-3 guy into a QB rather than take a shorter kid who already has good mechanics, nice feet, high football IQ and a record as a proven leader and winner. I've covered some combines back when coaches could still attend and the coaches would be drooling over tall kids who had bad throwing motions, slow, clumsy feet and were generally awkward athletically. Some of those guys couldn't even consistently throw a spiral and ended up getting offers from numerous major programs. I've followed their careers, and many of them never took a snap. At the same time, smaller guys who could get the ball where it needed to be and on time (and looked good doing it) would draw very little attention from most in attendance.
Someone said this earlier and I think they are right. The emergence of the recruiting services has changed the view of most football coaches. There are so many fans (and especially donors) involved in the business of who their team recruits that it has become almost impossible to take any recruit, especially a quarterback, as a long shot. Fans want the guys who these recruiting services call the best in the land. Coaches want their program to have a highly ranked recruiting class each year, as named by the recruiting services. The message is clear. Either recruit and commit who the recruiting services tell you are the best prospects or risk looking like you should be replaced. Coaches no longer keep their jobs by just winning games. They also get another chance when National Signing Day comes around. A coach who had a bad year can point to a highly ranked recruiting class and, in many cases, get a reprieve.
When I see how many of these highly ranked recruits go on to be busts, I can't help but think that most coaches make a mistake by ignoring the smaller guys who might end up the next Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Doug Flutie, Fran Tarkenton, Bart Starr, Colt McCoy, Kellen Moore, Joe Montana, etc. Knowing what we know about recruiting today, though, shorter QBs should look for their best opportunity to play and it seems that will usually require them to lower their own standards.