Early riser: Brady’s career on fast track
Coach candidate viewed as brilliant offensive mind at 31
Joe Brady’s path to becoming one of the most creative and rapidly ascending NFL head coaching candidates started humbly enough on the William & Mary practice field.
A former walk- on wide receiver who primarily played on special teams, caught three career passes and earned a scholarship for his senior year because of his blue- collar work ethic, Brady was destined to be a coach.
The Carolina Panthers’ 31year- old offensive coordinator had a “really strong” interview Tuesday for the Texans’ head coaching vacancy, according to a league source not authorized to speak publicly. The search process will continue with interviews of other candidates.
“There was never any doubt that Joey was going toward coaching,” retired William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock said Tuesday. “He understood what it entailed. He was a so- so player, but the starters would go to Joe for help, and he coached them up. Even when he was a player, he had that knowledge. He picked up things. He saw things. He understood things other people couldn’t see right away. He understands it all.
“He’s done really well. When he finished his senior year, he talked to us about helping out as a coach when he was done with his eligibility and still on scholarship. He really did an outstanding job and showed a great work ethic and knowledge.”
Should Brady be hired by the Texans, Chargers or Falcons, all of whom requested interviews with him, he would become the second-youngest head coach in NFL history behind Sean McVay,
who was 30 when hired by the Rams in 2017.
Laycock’s William & Mary products already include two NFL head coaches: the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and the Bills’ Sean McDermott.
Brady could become his third. “Joey has some of those traits like Mike and Sean,” Laycock said. “I’ve said to people they are who they are. They’re the same person all the time. They’re not phony. Joey is like that, too. That’s very important, especially in a leadership role. Joey has got a heck of a future. Whether it happens for him this year or next year, he’s on the fast track.”
A former LSU passing game coordinator and receivers coach
who helped quarterback Joe Burrow put up huge numbers and win the Heisman Trophy before being drafted first overall by the Bengals last year, Brady won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in college football in 2019 for the national champion.
LSU averaged 568.5 yards per game and 48.4 points per game with Brady calling the plays and finished second in passing offense. Burrow set NCAA singleseason records with a 76.3 completion percentage and 60 touchdown passes. He passed for 5,671 yards, third most in single-season history, and had a passer rating of 202.0 to set the single- season record.
Brady initially coached linebackers at William & Mary and was a graduate assistant at Penn State. He earned a reputation in State College, Pa., for working late hours and occasionally sleeping in the Nittany Lions’ football office.
“If there’s one thing I’ve never done, I’ve never thought about my age or talked about my age,” Brady said when he was hired by the Panthers. “You’ll never hear me talk aboutmy age. I don’t believe that your age determines how good of a coach you are.
“I might be the offensive coordinator right now, but I still work like I’m a graduate assistant. None of that has ever changed. None of that will change.”
When Laycock made Brady a full-time assistant coach, he had just finished playing for the team.
“I wasn’t really keen on hiring a guy, but they talked me into it, and he did a great job,” Laycock said. “It wasn’t an easy deal at the time because he was a former player and now he was a coach.
“He showed a great deal of maturity and helped the players deal with different situations. Looking back, that decision worked out pretty good.”
After being hired by Saints coach Sean Payton as an offensive assistant in 2017, Brady became the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL three years later.
The Florida native has a gift for drawing up plays. At LSU, Burrow thrived while running Brady’s empty formations and run-pass option plays.
During the Panthers’ recently completed 5-11 season, Brady tried to capitalize on Christian McCaffrey’s skills — when the star running back was healthy — and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s mobility.
Brady’s growth as a coach doesn’t surprise anyone at his alma mater.
“It’s been an unbelievable ascent,” said Pete Clawson, William & Mary’s associate athletics director for media relations and strategic communications. “It still throttles my brain how fast he has become a commodity. He’s a great guy. He works unbelievably hard. He was so into what he was doing when he was here.
“We’ve had a lot of remarkable coaches come through here, but he stands out as one that you say this guy is just a lifer for this stuff. Joe is hungry and creative. He just knows so much.”