Texas DC Vance Bedford: Johnny Manziel played backyard ball in college

New Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford expressed concern on Sunday about Johnny Manziel’s ability to succeed in the NFL.

Bedford, who played college ball at Texas and was most recently Charlie Strong’s defensive coordinator at Louisville, was on the subject of spread offense quarterbacks in the NFL when he brought up Manziel.

Here’s how his tweets went:

How many spread Qbs have success in the NFL. You must play under center

— Vance Bedford (@CoachBedfordUT) May 4, 2014

Manziel is a top 10 pick by the scouts. I wish him the best. He played backyard ball for 3 years. Now he will have to learn how to be a Qb

— Vance Bedford (@CoachBedfordUT) May 5, 2014

After Bedford’s tweet about Manziel began circulating, Bedford defended himself and said he wasn’t taking a shot at Manziel:

No one took a@shot at manziel. Get a life people. Spread qbs have struggled in the NFL. The eagles run the spread in the NFL

— Vance Bedford (@CoachBedfordUT) May 5, 2014

Say what you want, Bedford, but saying Manziel played “backyard ball” and that he will have to “learn how to be a Qb” sounds an awful lot like a shot to me. And if it’s not a shot at Manziel, then it’s a shot at A&M/the spread offense in general.

I’m not sure what Bedford has to gain from those comments, but maybe he just likes playing NFL draft analyst on his Twitter account.