Joe Brady’s attention to detail with Saints paying off for LSU
By Les East
Published:
Joe Brady was a good student.
Now he looks to be a pretty good teacher as well.
Brady was hired during the offseason to be LSU’s passing game coordinator after 2 seasons as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints have been one of the NFL’s most successful teams since Sean Payton was hired before the 2006 season.
The primary reason for the Saints success during that time has been the consistent production of the offense that Payton instituted and has maintained.
Pete Carmichael has been with Payton throughout, arriving as Drew Brees’ first quarterbacks coach in New Orleans and doing that job for 3 seasons before being promoted to offensive coordinator.
Joe Lombardi is now in his 8th season as the quarterbacks coach, which means he worked with Brees as he became the leading passer in NFL history last season.
Into that highly successful mix was thrust Brady, who turns 30 years old Sept. 23, and spent much of his time with the Saints in the quarterbacks meetings as well as the offensive coaching staff meetings.
“He was very studious,” Carmichael said of Brady. “He paid attention. He was very detailed. He took notes. When he was in meetings he hung on to every word that he heard Sean Payton say and he was writing those down. He was paying attention to what Drew Brees might have to say.
“He’s very detailed, he’s very smart and he has a vision and he understands the concepts and why. He was an unbelievable note taker and had every detail down.”
One of Brady’s responsibilities was to break down film of the upcoming opponent and brief the offensive staff.
“At the start of the week we would go into the first meeting and he would give us an overview of, ‘hey this is who we’re playing, this is what they do, these guys play these positions, this is what they’re doing front-wise, this is what they’re doing coverage-wise,’” Carmichael said. “He was responsible for that and he did a ton of things.
“He had experience with the RPOs (as a graduate assistant at Penn State), so he was involved with that. He did a lot of film study too, so maybe he would see something that somebody was doing and bring us an idea.”
Brady is still coming up with ideas and passing them along. Even though he is the passing game coordinator, Steve Ensminger remains the offensive coordinator. They sit side by side in the coaches’ booth as Brady offers suggestions.
“It’s my job to have ideas, especially in the passing game,” Brady said earlier in the summer. “I’m seeing a certain coverage, I’m seeing a certain look in the run game, throw some advice at Steve. But at the end of the day, Steve’s obviously the one calling the games.”
Periodically, Ensminger lets Brady take the wheel.
Head coach Ed Orgeron called Ensminger “the general” in the booth.
“But you know what?” Orgeron added. “A good general is going to let smart people do some stuff, and Joe Brady is talented, smart. When it comes time to call the play, Steve lets him call it. He makes that decision, and it worked out fine.”
LSU already has scored 21 TDs in 3 games after scoring 48 in 13 games last season. The Tigers always have had weapons. This offense is maximizing them.
Payton credited Brady for working long hours and doing “a lot of behind-the-scenes prep.”
“There’s a great way about him,” Payton said. “I’m sure he is helping their staff and helping them get to where they want to be. I think he’s a real good young football coach.”
Brady and the Tigers’ passing game have been one of the bigger stories of the early part of the college football season. No. 4 LSU has scored 165 points while winning its first 3 games and senior Joe Burrow has been one of the most productive passers in the country. He already has 11 TD passes after throwing 16 in 13 games last season.
The Saints’ and Tigers’ schedules have been such that Carmichael has been able to watch LSU.
He said he has recognized “concepts” from the Saints that the Tigers are implementing.
“I’ve been very excited about what I’m seeing and I root for them every week,” Carmichael said. “My daughter just entered her freshman year (at LSU) so we’re big fans.”
Les East is a New Orleans-based football writer who covers LSU for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @Les_East.
