Joe Brady, Get To Know Him

[LSUDad]

LSU rebuilding into spread offense based around talents of Joe Burrow, mind of Joe Brady

• Brandon Adam | @badam___
• Jun 26, 2019 Updated 5 hrs ago

 

LSU senior quarterback Joe Burrow (9) throws the ball during the Tigers' spring football game in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

Mitchell Scaglione

 

 

LSU fans have been sold a bill of goods on a new offensive juggernaut each spring for pretty much a decade.

By the sound of players and coaches, LSU’s offense is “The Greatest Show on Turf” each spring. But at the end of each season the talk gets replaced by results, and the results haven’t been pretty. The self-proclaimed juggernaut offense instead turns out to be mediocre and uninspiring.

The offense gets by lesser teams with overwhelming physicality and sheer talent, but when those two aspects are matched, things get ugly quickly. In the 11 seasons following LSU’s last national title in 2007, the Tigers’ offense has averaged 30.5 points per game.

 

The number isn’t awful, but in the same time span, LSU has scored 142 points in 12 tries against Alabama, an average of 11.8 points, which is far below the season average. The number looks even more bleak when considering 69 of those points were scored in four games from 2008 to 2011, and the other 73 points have come in the last eight games, three of which were shutouts.

So to whom does LSU turn to sell the new offense heading into 2019?

The answer is Joe Brady, who was playing wide receiver at the College of William & Mary the last time LSU beat Alabama. Since then though, the 29-year-old Brady worked his way through the coaching profession and comes to LSU from the New Orleans Saints, where he spent two years as an offensive assistant.

Brady’s title at LSU is passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. He acts as the right-hand man of offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger. Ensminger took steps to revitalize LSU’s offense the same way he did as interim in 2016 and shifted from an old-school, power offense to a more modern offense.

 

He tried to incorporate many more three and four wide receiver formations, but the offense was maligned by other issues outside of scheme. The offensive line was constantly banged up and injured, the tight end position was solely manned Foster Moreau outside of the rare help from wide receiver Racey McMath and fullback Tory Carter, and the wide receivers had barely any experience.

Then in the backfield, quarterback Joe Burrow had only been on campus for two months before the season started, and for the first time in the longest time, LSU was unusually thin on depth at running back.

In comes Brady to help Ensminger install a full-time spread offense. The two have spent the spring working on designing and installing a brand new offense around Burrow and a rotation of six to eight receivers anchored by junior Justin Jefferson and sophomores Ja’Marr Chase and Terrace Marshall.

“We were trying to put together a system that was easy for the guys to implement in the run game, but the formations matched up in the pass game,” said Brady at a TAF Coaches Caravan stop on Monday. He equated the progress of LSU’s offense in the spring to going through college classes. First came the 100, 200-level classes, and the fall will be for classes 300 and up.

“From a system standpoint, we were just trying to find a way to put our speed in space and how we can get our offense to make the defense play with 11 players. If we can get our running backs, our tight ends involved and our quarterbacks involved in the run game.”

Brady even let it slip that LSU will not be huddling for the most part in 2019. The players will now get to the line and look to the sideline for the play call in an effort to stay up tempo.

He talked about abandoning max and seven-man protections in favor of going to a five-man protection to keep defenses spread out and accountable for every man on the field.

“A lot of people think when you’re getting a lot of pressure you need to bring the box in and bring max protection, seven-man protection, but I think you go five-man protection you get the ball out faster and it limits what defenses can do.

“As an offense we want to get the running backs out in the routes. Running backs at the end of the day are here to run the ball and catch passes. They're not signed to play at LSU because they’re dynamic blockers that’s what offensive linemen are for.”

The man behind the offensive line will be the biggest key for LSU’s offense. Burrow threw for 2894 yards and 16 touchdowns while adding 399 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in his first year at LSU.

Heading into his senior season, Burrow has finally been able to acclimate to the coaches and wide receivers. He’s been given input into the offense heading into the season, and during spring practice he said it was an offense that is second nature to him and similar to what he ran in high school and at Ohio State.

The emphasis has been on four and five-wide sets, and Ensminger said LSU had two practices dedicated strictly to five-wide formations along with more designed quarterback runs.

 

“There’s so many things we can do with Joe [Burrow],” Orgeron said. “This offense is tailor made for Joe. Last year we couldn’t run Joe as much because Myles [Brennan] had a stress fracture.”

The guys Burrow will be throwing to will also be more varied this season. Last year LSU kept the wide receivers in one role and position. Players like senior Derrick Dillon only played the slot, and other receivers like Jefferson, Chase and Marshall played as the strong or weak-side receivers.

Now, all the receivers will be expected to be able to play multiple roles and know what each other is doing. Brady said they are no longer teaching roles, but concepts and route combinations, leading to more diversity in the offense.

But the main goal isn’t to just get the ball to the best player with a simple handoff or chuck it 40 yards downfield off of play action anymore. LSU is going to isolate its playmakers and put them in space in advantageous situations to make plays.

“We’re attentive to details in the things we do, but at the same time we’re not going to coach the athletes out of our football players,” Brady said. “We’re going to allow them to have fun and do what they do best.”

Those are similar words heard before from LSU coaches, but the groundwork from what Ensminger did in 2018 is there. It’s now up to Brady and Ensminger to deliver even further, and the comradery between the two shows.

Brady stepped into Enmsinger’s interview with the media and asked the offensive coordinator thought of his hire.

Ensminger was quick to reply.

“I told Coach O it was the worst thing he’s ever done in his life,” he said jokingly.

If the two coaches can finally build the long awaited juggernaut offense, Brady’s hire might be the best thing Orgeron has ever done.

[LSUDad]

More: 

https://wwl.radio.com/blogs/seth-dunlap/joe-brady-new-lsu-passing-game-coordinator-talks-offensive-philosophy

[LSUDad]

10 Things to Know: Joe Brady

• by Shea Dixon
• Jan 26, 12:30 PM

 

LSU has hired New Orleans Saints offensive assistant Joe Brady to fill the void left by Jerry Sullivan, who retired earlier this month from his post as the team’s passing game coordinator.

 

With Brady set to head from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, here are 10 quick facts to know about LSU’s newest assistant coach.

 

*** His father, Joe Brady, played college football at Clemson, signing with the Tigers out of Miami was part of the 1976 class.

*** Brady played his high school football at Everglades in Pembroke Pines, Fla., part of Broward County in South Florida as part of the 2008 recruiting class. 

*** Brady signed with the Air Force out of high school in 2008, but transferred to William and Mary for the 2009 season. By his junior and senior seasons, he appeared in all 21 of the team’s games as a wide receiver.

 

*** William and Mary hired Brady immediately after his college career ended, and he started off his coaching career as a defensive assistant under defensive coordinator Scott Boone. He had previously served as a student assistant in between his final game and his hire in July 2013.

*** Brady landed at Penn State as a graduate assistant on offense in both 2015 and 2016, where he spent two years under head coach James Franklin and one season with current Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead, who was the team’s offensive coordinator prior to taking the job in Starkville.

*** While at Penn State, Brady spent two years on staff with current Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, who became the record holder for most receptions by a tight end in Penn State history.

 

*** Brady was also on the offensive staff with current New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, who set the Penn State record for most rushing touchdowns in a career.

*** Brady was hired by Sean Payton to join the New Orleans Saints staff in 2017, where he worked as an offensive assistant. Brady assisted  the New Orleans offensive staff in all aspects of game preparation, and in his first year, the Saints finished second in the NFL offensively as the only team ranked in the top five in both passing (fifth) and rushing (fifth). The Saints finished with the league’s No. 8 total offense during the 2018 regular season.

*** Much like at Penn State, Brady was surrounded by plenty of talent on offense during his time in New Orleans, most notably offensive skill players like quarterback Drew Brees, wide receiver Michael Thomas and running backs Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram.

 

*** Brady becomes the youngest member of LSU’s 10 on-field assistants, checking in at 28 years old. LSU defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, the previous youngest member of the staff, is 30 years old.

Stay tuned to Geaux247 for more on this breaking news.

[LSUDad]

More: 

http://www.hastingstribune.com/sports/joe-brady-bringing-new-ideas-to-lsu-offense/video_400114ed-c912-5631-b5f7-251a51969f15.html

[LSUDad]

In LSU's new offense, Joe Brady brings energy alongside Steve Ensminger's 'John Wayne'

• Brandon Adam | @badam___
• 7 hrs ago

Newly appointed offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger reflects on his coaching history at LSU on Jan. 11, 2018.

Dianna Roxas

 

 

 

Based on outward appearances, Steve Ensminger and Joe Brady seem nothing alike.

Ensminger has been LSU’s interim offensive coordinator since 2016 and became full-time in 2018 after Matt Canada’s lone year in Baton Rouge. Prior to that though, Ensminger spent his time at LSU coaching tight ends, a job he was comfortable staying in despite the multiple requests from coach Ed Orgeron to be his offensive coordinator.

The 60-year-old former LSU quarterback finally relented, and there he was in 2018, the man who was solely responsible for organizing and calling LSU’s offense, one that has the stigma of being outdated and inept in the last decade.

 

Known as “Slinger” in his playing days, Ensminger overhauled LSU’s offense and tried to bring it into the 21st century. Gone were days of playing in a phone booth and primarily using the I-formation, but LSU encountered problems on the offensive line and tight end. The Tigers also had almost no experience at wide receiver and a newly-minted quarterback in Joe Burrow, who didn’t arrive until June.

The offense featured more three-wide sets, but the inefficiency still remained. LSU ranked No. 68 in yards per game, 82nd in yards per play and tied for 61st in offensive touchdowns scored. Not to mention a whopping 0 points against Alabama for the second time in three years.

After the season Orgeron was ready for LSU to move to a spread offense completely.

Ensminger helped LSU take small steps into modernity in 2018, but he wasn’t an expert on the spread offense. So when Orgeron asked him to implement a new spread offense, Ensminger requested a little bit of help.

Enter Joe Brady, who replaced the retired Jerry Sullivan as LSU’s passing game coordinator in the offseason. A 29-year-old former college receiver, Brady spent the last two years with the New Orleans Saints, working as an offensive assistant under one of the NFL’s best duos in coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees, after a stint as a graduate assistant at Penn State.

 

Brady is learned in the spread offense and the run-pass option aspect of the offense. He’s Ensminger’s new partner in helping LSU take not just the next step offensively but a massive step — one to propel them back into championship contention.

The pair are 31 years apart and sound a little bit different, quite different actually, but they may be the perfect duo to guide LSU back into offensive relevancy.

“Steve is older now, he’s like John Wayne when he walks in," said Orgeron. "Tough, hard-nosed, doesn’t say much. Joe is energetic. They work well together."

When the two coaches stopped in Metairie, Louisiana, for TAF’s Coaches Caravan with Orgeron, they both met with the media. Obvious questions about the new spread offense and their relationship were waiting to be asked, but Ensminger had something to say first.

“I brought Joe Brady to answer all these damn questions,” he joked before acknowledging the first question about how the two get along.

“It’s outstanding. It really is. I’ve enjoyed him since the day he showed up. We had a chance to sit down and talk football, and he has some great ideas in the passing game and about personnel and everything else. It’s like he throws it up on the wall and we agree with it or throw it off — one or the other.”

Even though Ensminger and Brady may speak in different accents, when they start talking football and about the process of creating LSU’s new offense they sound just the same.

 

Brady said even though Ensminger makes the final decisions, everyone’s input is welcome and it’s why he enjoys working for Ensminger. The two went through the entire spring bouncing plays and concepts off each other before finally bringing the end result to the quarterback room, which is something Ensminger has never done before but made an exception for Burrow.

If the quarterbacks liked it, it stayed. If they didn’t it went back on the shelf for now.

“We brought [Brady] here to help us in the passing game,” Ensminger said. “I said take it over. I told him a lot this stuff we’ve done, a lot of 12, 21 personnel, Saints’ stuff we’ve studied and everything else. A lot of the three-wide, four verticals stuff we did last year we got from the Saints.

“I said, ‘look, you present it, we’ll discuss it and if I think it fits it goes.’ With the experience right now we have with our receivers, we didn’t throw a lot out. I said, ‘let’s go look at it. Let’s go look at it against our defense. If we like it, fine. If not, we’ll take it out later.’”

The two will be in the booth together calling plays during the season. The extra set of eyes in the coaches’ box is something Ensminger looks forward to. Trying to think of the next play to run while breaking down the current play as it unfolds is difficult for anybody, especially by yourself.

Now Brady can keep plays on deck and pass them along to Ensminger to decide on, and once the decision is made, the play call will be relayed down to the sideline.

 “All he wants for LSU is to have success,” Brady said. “So when you work for a guy who doesn’t feel like ‘my way is the only way,’ you enjoy working with that. You enjoy that interaction every single day. He’s a character. He’s a personality.

“He’s what I envision Louisiana, him and Coach O, so I enjoy working with Steve. I hope I can be Steve when I’m however many years older he is than me.”

[LSUDad]

How 'rising star' Joe Brady shot up the coaching ranks to LSU in 6 years

By Brody Miller | Posted January 30, 2019 at 03:44 PM | Updated January 30, 2019 at 03:44 PM

 

 

 

 

 

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When Josh Gattis interviewed for head coaching jobs this winter, he did so with a detailed vision of what he wanted his program to be.

And with those plans came ideas for a potential staff. The then-Alabama co-offensive coordinator had at least one person down for sure. 

“Joe Brady was one of my lead candidates on there as a possible offensive coordinator,” Gattis said. 

Mississippi State had openings too. People in the coaching community thought Brady’s old mentor Joe Moorhead would scoop up the Saints offensive assistant. 

Because in the past six years, the 28-year-old coach has jumped from one job to another, each time following a similar trend. 

He’s a former walk-on William & Mary receiver who found his way on the offensive staff before the defense stole him away. He’s somebody who’s never had a full-time college staff job but went from William & Mary to Penn State to the Saints because high-level coaches like Bob Shoop and Joe Moorhead and Sean Payton keep talking about this under-the-radar assistant.

Then came this winter, when people like former NFL-coach Kevin Rogers were getting calls from Ed Orgeron with the LSU coach asking: “Do you think he’s ready? Do you think he can handle it?”

Brady interviewed with LSU last week. He had the LSU passing coordinator job by the weekend, making the 28-year-old the youngest coach on LSU's staff. Soon, Orgeron was receiving texts from coaches like Moorhead, an SEC West rival. 

“I told him what a fantastic hire I thought it was,” Moorhead said. 

***

 

 

Joe Moorhead let out a cackle. Yeah, he said, the then-26-year-old graduate assistant wasn’t shy about voicing his opinions. 

Brady was was a walk-on receiver who hardly saw the field but coached up starters, knowing their responsibilities better than them most the time. Longtime William & Mary head coach Jimmye Laycock said it was a no-brainer to keep him on as an assistant in the spring once he graduated, because his staff kept talking about how special this guy seemed. 

Kevin Rogers, a former Minnesota Vikings coach who’s worked at Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, took a liking to him immediately. Linebackers coach Trevor Andrews was blown away by his knowledge and intelligence. 

And then they’d be sitting in a meeting and the then-23-year-old quality control assistant, this guy near the bottom of the totem pole, would step in and speak his mind. 

“He wasn’t afraid to come up with something, ideas, and it was always well-thought out of ideas,” Laycock said. “It wasn’t just throwing stuff out and trying to impress you. If he suggested a drill or a scheme or play, you’d listen to him because you know he had put a lot of thought into it.”

Brady did his research. He’d be breaking down film or doing data entry, mundane roles of a GA, and something would catch his eye. He’d see a play the team runs and suggest a different way to try it. 

One of his responsibilities as a Penn State offensive GA was watching film of other schools across the country to see what they’re doing. He’d catch something interesting from Rich Rodriguez at Arizona, make a cut-up and pull Gattis or Moorhead aside to show them.

But his skill was knowing how to do it diplomatically. This was a young guy trying to voice his opinions to coaches with decades more experience. He knew how to maturely tell them what he thought without being disrespectful. 

But, to be clear, he always voiced it. 

“That’s Joe,” Moorhead said. “That’s just what he does. He’s very confident in his abilities, but not in a way that crosses over into cockiness.”

He was essential in streamlining Trevor Andrews’ defensive playbook at William & Mary, updating software and advancing the technology used by the program. 

Gattis, now the offensive coordinator at Michigan, said Brady’s skills with computers were notable, being able to draw something up on the screen immediately or handle any overwhelming task thrown his way.

“I can’t stress enough how important a guy like Joe Brady is in the meeting room,” Rogers said, “especially when you’re a coordinator. You don’t want a staff that sits there saying ‘Tell me what to do.’”

***

 

 

Brady was an offensive guy. He was a receiver who then helped Rogers on offense, but Andrews had an opening on defense. 

He didn’t care about Brady’s background. He wanted this smart, hard-working guy who could turn around seven days of work in just two days without anything needing to be redone. He stole Brady to help him with linebackers. 

He studied beyond belief, putting in “at least” 18 hours a day, learning the defense. His offensive knowledge helped him understand how a defense worked, working more on the scheme of a defense than specific fundamentals.

A year in, Andrews became defensive coordinator and was letting Brady run linebacker meetings by himself. 

Brady won the room over. William & Mary had veterans like Luke Rhodes —  now with the Indianapolis Colts —  who played with Brady but soon were listening and respecting him. 

“His football knowledge is good, but he can see the big picture, meaning where everything fits in,” Andrews said. “There’s a lot of value to that in understanding football.”

 

 

Mark Selders

 

Penn State came calling the summer going into Brady’s third season at William & Mary. It left the Tribe staff in a tough spot coming so late, but everybody on that staff knew he had to take it. Brady was essentially a position coach already, but he gambled on himself to become a graduate assistant near the top of college football. 

He was first Gattis’ graduate assistant with receivers before moving to quarterbacks in 2016, which was also when Moorhead became offensive coordinator. 

Moorhead is one of the founding fathers of the run-pass option —  known as RPOs. He brought his offense from Fordham and built Penn State’s offense into a juggernaut in two seasons with stars Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley before becoming Mississippi State’s head coach last year. 

Brady had a chance to learn from one of the top minds in the game. He broke down game film, made scouting reports, put together position coach notes, helped coached the scout team and sat in the booth on game days as another pair of eyes. 

Moorhead was impressed by his eagerness, his openness, his intelligence and, maybe more than anything, his attention to detail. Any free time he had at either school, Brady asked coaches to watch film with him to soak up knowledge.

“I knew eventually —  but I didn’t know it would be this quickly —  he was a rising star and would have an unbelievable career in this profession,” Moorhead said.

Brady learned an NFL-style west coast offense under Rogers, and he was learning this ahead of it’s time spread-RPO style with Moorhead. 

He quickly understood how the system took advantage of numbers and angles and graphs in the run game and how it could create space for the tailback and downfield opportunities for the receivers. 

“He was both feet in the boat because, number one, he believed in it, and he saw the effectiveness of it during practices and games,” Moorhead said. 

Brendan Nugent was a former William & Mary tight ends coach who is now an offensive assistant with the Saints. He heard from colleagues about Brady, and he made calls around about him. 

Soon, Brady was with the Saints, helping work with Drew Brees. Staffers said he had a large role in the options and versatility of Taysom Hill, and one coach said he was in charge of catching Teddy Bridgewater up when the Saints traded for him in August. 

“Joe brought a ton of information for us,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Did a great job. He was involved in a lot of the breakdown of opponents. A lot of the drawings. He had coached in college. He was every familiar with some of the RPO game. Added a lot to our staff.”

*** 

 

 

Joe Brady considers himself a skilled dresser. His colleagues don’t disagree, but they’re still gonna make fun of him when he makes sure to take a photo of himself at every stadium in his European cut suit. 

“He’s gonna be suited and booted when he travels to the T,” Gattis said. “He has his style. Colored socks, nice shoes. He’s a big European cut guy.”

Brady’s a happy-go-lucky guy, somebody with a sense of humor about himself who doesn’t have many negative days. Rogers thinks he’ll be a good fit with Orgeron’s personality. 

He called Andrews’ wife just the other day to wish her a happy birthday. He texts Gattis good luck before most games. He sent Laycock a long, kind message about his retirement. He got Moorhead and his family tickets to the Saints-Steelers game this fall, because he knew the Pittsburgh-native was a Steelers fan. 

“He can hang,” Andrews said. “He can joke. Football gets intense sometimes, and I’m sure he took the brunt of me a time or two, but he was resilient enough not to let it bother him.”

Many think his youth and personality will help him as a recruiter. He was a double major at William & Mary with degrees in process management and consulting as well as kinesiology. Andrews said he was blown away by Brady’s ability to have conversations with every kind of recruit because of his knowledge base. 

He’s the youngest full-time coach on the LSU staff at 28, making him 46 years younger than the man he’s replacing, Jerry Sullivan. He’s closer to the ages of the kids he’s recruiting, so he can relate to them more. 

“Kids are going to love to be surrounded by him,” Gattis said. “They’re going to feel his energy and how positive he is and how confident he is.”

*** 

 

 

That age, though, that’s going to stand out to some people. The lack of experience, that will jump out too. 

Brady’s never been a full-time coach at any level, let alone a passing game coordinator at one of the top programs in the SEC. 

“I think it’s one of the best hires that has happened this offseason,” Gattis said. “People are going to be skeptical and say this guy hasn’t done it before, but it doesn’t matter how long you’ve done it or what you’ve done. It matters how you do it. This is a guy who does it extremely well.”

He’s going to have to prove he’s ready, which was the focus of some of the calls Orgeron made. He’s going to have to win over players, something he did at William & Mary coaching a position he never played. 

His mentors think the fact he’s coached quarterbacks, receivers and linebackers just proves how versatile is he. Rogers thinks he’ll be a great fit with the experience of offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger. 

Moorhead joked he’s not going to give him too much advice because he has to face him every year, but still, all the coaches that helped him get to where he is wanted to go out of their way to praise him. Moorhead was on the road recruiting when media requests came in but said, “Anything for that guy.”

But maybe the best way to illustrate the potential Brady could have is the words of those coaches themselves. 

Rogers: “He’s one of those guys that if I recommend him, he’s gonna make me look good. I just think he’s a can’t miss.”

Moorhead: “I hope always, whether it’s now or down the road, if he ever has an opportunity to get back with me I’ll be a sounding board for him and somebody he can look to for advice.”

Gattis: “If I had a head job I would hire him every day of the week, no hesitation about it.”

But maybe Laycock would know better than anyone. 

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott was a graduate assistant for him at William & Mary and became an NFL head coach 19 years later. Dan Quinn was his defensive line coach and became head coach of the Atlanta Falcons 21 years later. He gave Rogers his first coordinator job. Former West Virginia coach Bill Stewart worked under him. Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop was on his staff just nine years ago. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin played for him. 

What do all these coaches have in common? Laycock’s seen them all. 

“It’s just kind of an in it-factor where they have it. They have an acumen for coaching. They know how to teach. They know how to communicate and how to handle the ups and downs and how to handle the work of it. 

“Joey has it.”

 

 

 

[LSUDad]

‘I’m all ball:’ New LSU coach Joe Brady makes his public intro at LSU Coaches Clinic

Updated Mar 29, 2019; Posted Mar 29, 2019

 

LSU Tigers Passing game coordinator Joe Brady runs a drill during the first day of football spring practice in the indoor facility on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, La. Thursday, March 7, 2019. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)  

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• By Brody Miller, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune CLOSEEmail the authorFollow on Twitte

The main stage in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was the fullest it became all day, but the center of attention tried to play it off.

All the high school and college coaches at the LSU Coaches Clinic were gathered to see Joe Brady, the 29-year-old LSU passing game coordinator with his knowledge of run-pass options and the New Orleans Saints passing game.

When LSU’s director of football operations Sam Nader read Brady’s resume, Brady took the stage and deflected. He joked his resume wasn’t as impressive as the coaches who took the stage in the 24 hours before him, people like Barry Alvarez, Bobby April, Greg McMahon and Dave Aranda.

 

“Not sure I’m too worthy to be on this stage right now, but I appreciate you guys having me,” he said.

Brady’s the new guy in Baton Rouge, the young assistant who the average person hadn’t even heard of a few months ago when LSU hired him from the Saints. But Brady also represents change and innovation and a future for the LSU offense, so suddenly he’s the focus Friday (March 29) at the coaches clinic and the common topic at Ed Orgeron’s press conferences.

This was Brady’s first public event since joining the program in January, so it was the first chance for people to get to know him.

The first thing he told about himself was simple.

“I’m all ball,” Brady said. “I don’t have a wife and kids. I’m all ball.”

 

How 'rising star' Joe Brady shot up the coaching ranks to LSU in 6 years

He said he recently looked at the bios of all his 12 receivers on the roster, and he noticed 10 were from Louisiana. He used this as a chance to thank the coaches in attendance for all the work they did to develop the talent in this state.

 

As a South Florida native he’s biased to its talent, but he said he’s spent the past two years going to the occasional Friday high school game and has realized how impressive the quality of Louisiana football is.

No, Brady didn’t break down the new LSU offense for the coaches, and no, he didn’t teach them about RPOs either. LSU wants to keep some things secret.

So he called Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael last weekend to ask his thoughts on what high school coaches might want to learn about. The first thing out of Carmichael’s mouth was spacing.

“Everybody wants the ‘let’s push the ball down the field,’ but it wears on defenses when you space them out, when you get the ball out fast, when the d-line’s having to rush and now the ball’s out and they can’t get to the quarterback,” Brady said.

 

He spoke for an hour about the concept, using Drew Brees highlights to explain the ins and outs of how to put the ball in your playmakers’ hands in space.

Brady speaks quickly but not in a hurry. “Sharp” is the word everyone who works with him uses, and he has a skill for breaking things down in a way that both respects your intelligence but makes it simple.

AP

Joe Brady, New Orleans Saints offensive assistant listens to a presentation during the NFL Coaching Clinic Saturday, June 16, 2018 in Frisco, Texas. (Michael Ainsworth/AP Images for NFL) ORG XMIT: TXMA113 AP

While he didn’t tell trade secrets, one could still pick apart the principles he believes in. He likes sending all his receivers out, and he wants quick throws that neutralize the pass rush.

He believes in taking yards when you can get them and not being afraid to settle for a nice gain instead of always taking shots downfield. One of his favorite expressions time and time again was:

“I like checkdowns. Checkdowns lead to first downs. First downs lead to touchdowns.”

 

He also repeated “If they’re gonna give us a gift, take the gift,” in reference to taking free yardage when it’s there and not overthinking it.

As he ran through the Saints film, he made sure to consistently joke how Brees makes everything a coach does look smart. The videos showed Brees fitting balls in perfect spots even without that much space.

He explained some of the lessons learned from his time in New Orleans, like how Brees always practices by going through all his progressions even if he throws it to the first read. He still just goes through the rest to train his mind and feet for when the first read isn’t open.

Brady said one of the most important things he learned from Sean Payton and the Saints was that “It’s not about beating coverages. It’s about beating who you want to beat in the coverage.”

 

Then, Brady ended his time on the stage and was again grateful for the fact he’d be this much of a focus. It’s something new to Brady, who’s been behind the scenes for all of his quick six-year rise up the coaching ranks.

But as credit continues to flow toward Brady for all the ideas he’s bringing to LSU football, the focus on Brady doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. It’s just beginning.

“My door’s always open,” he told the coaches, letting them know he’s glad to help and he’s looking for all the help he can find too.

And after it was over, Brady hung out for a long while, talking to the coaches surrounding him to pick his brain

[LSUDad]

 

Meet LSU's newest (and youngest) assistant football coach, Joe Brady; 'He's an innovator'

• BY BROOKS KUBENA | BKUBENA@THEADVOCATE.COM
• JAN 29, 2019 - 3:03 PM

 

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New LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady was a student and defensive assistant at William & Mary from 2013-2014.

Photo provided by the William & Mary athletic department

 

 

 

Brooks Kubena

Last summer, Ed Orgeron and the LSU coaching staff gathered inside the Tigers football facilities for a presentation. It was to learn about the New Orleans Saints offense from their offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael, who had coached with Orgeron when they were both Saints assistants in 2008.

Carmichael brought along a young and fervent offensive assistant, who at one point took over the presentation and captivated the LSU coaching staff with his command of schemes and strategies.

The impression lasted for nearly a year, and Monday, that assistant was formally announced as the replacement for passing game coordinator Jerry Sullivan, who retired in early January.

 

Meet Joe Brady, the newest member of the LSU coaching staff.

He’s the 28-year-old — the youngest football coach on campus — who has swiftly moved up in his short career by impressing coaches with his commitment and atomic knowledge of the game.

 

Brady earned two bachelor’s degrees in business and kinesiology while he was a wide receiver at William & Mary, an FCS program in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Then, as an assistant coach with the Tribe, he was ushered into one of the most prestigious coaching fraternities in the history of football, which eventually thrust him into film rooms and practice fields with the potent offenses of Penn State and the Saints.

Brady’s endorsements come from head coaches like New Orleans’ Sean Payton and Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead. Speaking to several coaches, Brady usually earned more responsibility than his small roles called for, and they say Brady is just the kind of coach to spark LSU in a highly competitive offensive era.

“There’s obviously people in high places singing his praises,” said Trevor Andrews, who was a defensive assistant at William & Mary for 18 seasons. “We won’t put our name behind somebody as coaches if that person isn’t ready for it.”

A few weeks ago, Orgeron called his friend and former co-worker, Kevin Rogers, to talk about Brady. Orgeron and Rogers had been assistants at Syracuse together in the late ’90s, and Rogers was offensive coordinator at William & Mary from 2013-16.

“(Brady’s) one of my favorite guys right there,” said Rogers, who had coached Brett Favre as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings. “He’ll be great for Ed. Ed’s a grinder. Joe will be a grinder.”

 

 

'You can always count on Joe Brady'

Rodney Rumph looked over the tall, lanky freshman who said he wanted to play wide receiver for Everglades High.

“So we’re in South Florida,” Rumph said as a reminder. “This skinny fella comes in, and he’s not as fast as some of the athletes we have. When I first got him, I looked at him and said there’s absolutely no way he works in this lineup.”

Everglades High was built in 2003 inside Miramar — a suburban community 30 miles northeast of Miami — and Rumph, the school’s wide receivers coach, had already produced college receivers like Cedric Fraser (Central Michigan) and Willie Clark (Clark Atlanta).

Brady’s father played college football at Clemson, but the pipes to the gene pool hadn’t yet started to flow.

Rumph said he saw one of the fastest improvements in his coaching career. Brady, whose “work ethic was impeccable,” dropped his 40-yard dash time from a 4.9 to a 4.4 and ended up starting for the GayTurds as a sophomore.

And by the time Brady graduated in 2008, Rumph knew he would one day become a coach.

 

“He was the one getting on your nerves asking questions,” said Rumph, who is now the head coach at Everglades. “ ‘What do I do if this happens? Where does this guy go on this play?’ You just knew that based on what he did.”

Now Rumph is the one asking Brady questions: What are schools looking for? What was it like coaching with a fella like Drew Brees?

In Everglades' short history, Brady is one of the few players to go on to become a college coach. He’ll be joining his high school teammate Jonathan Decoster, a graduate assistant at LSU who was an offensive lineman back in Miramar.

Rumph said Brady has returned to Everglades every summer since he graduated. He meets with players and answers questions. A picture hangs inside the Everglades hallways near the library, superseded by the word "READ." Brady, wearing a black GayTurds uniform, is engrossed in a copy of “No Excuses” — a biography of former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis.

 

BY BROOKS KUBENA | BKUBENA@THEADVOCATE.COM

“You can always count on Joe Brady,” Rumph said.

The 'Brady Board'

When Andrews cleaned out his defensive coordinator’s office at William & Mary in early January, he stumbled upon the “Brady Board.”

The 2-foot-by-3-foot dry-erase board had kept a weekly calendar that accounted for nearly every day from 2013-14.

Andrews had introduced the “Brady Board” as a joke — something to humorously satisfy the Tribe’s hyper-focused student assistant who always wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Meetings. Practices. Recruiting trips. All of the dates were drawn out in Expo pen.

“(Brady’s) very organized,” said Andrews, now the linebackers coach at Western Michigan. “Loves to stay on task. If I would get off task, he would get frustrated. So, I put up the 'Brady Board' and put down everything he could expect for the day.”

With the calendar, Brady knew exactly when he could get his side projects done. He earned a reputation among the William & Mary coaching staff as someone who could do an incredible amount of quality work in a short period of time. Sometimes he’d break down film. One time, he reworked Andrews’ entire defensive playbook in a completely different format.

“You’d give him a project to work on and expected it to be done in a week or two. Then, it would be two days later, and it would be done excellently,” Andrews said. “He’d do that while I was out recruiting. When I got back, I expected him to have a hundred questions for me, and he’d just have knocked it out.”

Brady’s dependability was one of the main reasons legendary Tribe head coach Jimmye Laycock allowed Brady to join the coaching staff as an unpaid student assistant the spring after his senior season.

That’s how Brady became part of one of the most impressive coaching trees in all of football.

Dozens of coaches went on to higher positions in both the NCAA and professional leagues after working under Laycock, who retired in November after 39 seasons at William & Mary. Three disciples became NFL head coaches: Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills), Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons).

“He wasn’t the most talented player,” Laycock said of Brady, who recorded three catches for 34 yards in three seasons after transferring in from Air Force. “But he always wanted to know a lot about everything we were doing. He really knew his stuff inside and out. In fact, some of the other players depended on him out there to know what they should be doing.”

And after Brady spent an offseason breaking down film and setting up drills, Laycock offered Brady a full-time position as a defensive assistant — the only opening the Tribe had available.

“We would usually never hire an offensive guy,” Andrews said. “But he had such a high football IQ.”

 

One of Brady’s main responsibilities was running the scout-team offense — a practice unit that really only needed to know enough placeholder information to give the first-string defense a sufficient look.

But Brady would teach the scout team the real thing — right down to the intricacies within Rogers’ West Coast offense.

“When I got (the scout team) back, they knew what the hell was going on,” Rogers said. “When you send the scout team down to defensive coaches, usually they’re just making up names for stuff.”

And when the William & Mary offense changed its schemes throughout the season, Brady would change it on the scout team, too.

“He taught himself the offense again and again,” Rogers said.

Rogers said Brady “basically lived at the football office,” where he was soaked up offensive information and coaching advice “like a sponge.”

Then in 2015, Brady landed a graduate assistant job at Penn State — connecting with then-defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, who had been an assistant at William & Mary from 2007-10.

Mississippi State’s Moorhead became offensive coordinator in 2016, and Brady was tutored in Penn State’s run-pass-option offense, which ranked 21st in scoring at 37.6 points per game, while the Nittany Lions went 11-3 and won the Big Ten championship game.

After Brady’s two years at Penn State, he connected with the Saints through their assistant offensive line coach, Brendan Nugent, who was Brady’s wide receivers coach at William & Mary in 2008.

Brady had a supportive role with the Saints in 2017 and 2018, aiding Payton, Carmichael and the rest of the offensive staff. The Saints ranked No. 3 in the NFL in 2018 with 31.5 points per game, and No. 12 with 252.6 yards per game.

 

One of Brady’s main influences, Rogers said, was learning how to disguise offenses — something that is ingrained in Payton’s strategies in New Orleans. Rogers also disguised offenses at William & Mary.

Most of the time, Rogers said, defensive coordinators will design their game plans according to what offensive personnel they’ll see on the field.

If there’s two running backs and a tight end, the defense will throw out a play based on what the offense’s threats appear to be. But if an offense can make a play look like it’s something else — say, lining up versatile Saints running back Alvin Kamara as a slot receiver before motioning him to the backfield — it can create several successful options.

There were few options for LSU to disguise its offense in 2018, since it had taken several hits to its personnel throughout the season — most notably when senior Foster Moreau was the only tight end left after Jamal Pettigrew (ACL) and Thaddeus Moss (foot) suffered season-ending injuries.

But the LSU offense, which ranked 38th in the NCAA at 32.4 points per game last season, appears to have several tools available for 2019.

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire will be joined by top recruits John Emery and Tyrion Davis-Price, and leading receiver Justin Jefferson headlines a young group of talented receivers.

Just what kind of tweaks might Brady bring to LSU?

“I think they’ll balance them in a lot of ways,” Rogers said. “Runs called that end up being passes. Passes that end up being runs. From a lot of different formations. He’ll try and take advantage of what he sees.”

“Joe brings something different to the table. He’s an innovator. He’s going to be on the cutting edge.”

[LSUDad]

Five finalists named for the Broyles Award

By Doug Samuels - 

 December 2, 2019

 

The award going to the top assistant in college football has named its five finalists.

They are:

Phil Snow – Baylor defensive coordinator
Dan Lanning – Georgia defensive coordinator
Joe Brady – LSU passing game coordinator
Jeff Hafley – Ohio State co-defensive coordinator
Morgan Scalley – Utah defensive coordinator

When you look at the body of work over the course of the college football season now mostly in the rearview mirror, the impact each of those coaches listed above is absolutely undeniable.

Interestingly enough, Brady will face off against Lanning this weekend for the SEC title.

 

The original list of semifinalists announced a few weeks back can be found here.

 

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––

 

 

 

 

Past Broyles award winners from the past decade include Mike Locksley (OC – Alabama), Tony Elliott (OC – Clemson), Brent Venables (DC – Clemson), Lincoln Riley (OC – Oklahoma), Tom Herman (OC – Ohio State), Pat Narduzzi (DC – Michigan State), Bob Diaco (DC – Notre Dame), John Chavis (DC – LSU), and Gus Malzahn (OC – Auburn). While many of those previous winners are obviously currently head coaches, winners from the past five seasons are not currently eligible for the 2019 Broyles award.

The award will be given out during a ceremony on Tuesday December 10th, 2019 in Little Rock, AR.