Joe Brady is only 30, but Carolina has hired him to be its next offensive coordinator. And you can’t help but wonder if we might be looking at the next Sean McVay.
While he’s young, Brady spent two years as an assistant with the Saints, so he’s had a chance to observe and work with two of the NFL’s best offensive minds – Sean Payton and Drew Brees. He’s seen how they prepare and attack defenses. And he’s shown some ability to do that on his own.
Louisiana State hired Brady last year and handed him total control of an archaic, underperforming offense. Brady in his very first season was able to help lift that team to an undefeated, national championship season, with almost unbelievable offensive numbers.
Joe Burrow won the Heisman, completing 76 percent, with 60 touchdown passes versus only 6 interceptions. He tossed 14 TDs in the two national playoff games at the end of the season against Oklahoma and Clemson.
As a team, LSU averaged 402 passing yards, with over 75 percent completions. With similar personnel the previous season, the team averaged 229 yards, with under 58 percent completions. And the team’s scoring improved from 32.4 to 48.4 per game.
Typically when NFL teams start handing major power to really young coaches, the hit rate tends to be really good. There have been some misses, of course (David Shula, Lane Kiffin and Raheem Morris come to mind). But McVay, Josh McDaniels, Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden all come to mind as young coaches who proved to be worthy coaches.
Below are passing stats for Southeastern Conference teams in the past five years. Brady’s offense finished with more points, yards and TD passes than all of them, and with the highest completion percentage.
Coaches are important. We may look back in a few years and realize that Brady is more important and valuable than Burrow. I will be very interested to see who’s starting at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers in 2020.
| SEC PASSING STATS (last 5 years) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Pts | Pct | P Yds | TDP | Int |
| 2019 | LSU | 48.4 | 75.1% | 402 | 4.1 | .5 |
| 2018 | Ole Miss | 33.9 | 63.9% | 346 | 1.8 | .8 |
| 2019 | Alabama | 47.2 | 70.7% | 342 | 3.8 | .5 |
| 2015 | Ole Miss | 40.8 | 65.0% | 335 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| 2017 | Ole Miss | 32.8 | 64.7% | 328 | 2.3 | 1.1 |
| 2018 | Alabama | 45.6 | 68.7% | 324 | 3.5 | .5 |
| 2015 | Mississippi State | 34.4 | 66.2% | 316 | 2.5 | .4 |
| 2016 | Ole Miss | 32.6 | 59.8% | 315 | 2.3 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | Missouri | 37.5 | 57.4% | 309 | 3.4 | 1.1 |
| 2019 | Florida | 33.2 | 67.9% | 301 | 2.5 | .8 |
| 2016 | Missouri | 31.4 | 55.6% | 295 | 2.1 | .8 |
| 2018 | Missouri | 36.6 | 62.3% | 279 | 2.2 | .6 |
| 2018 | South Carolina | 30.1 | 61.4% | 273 | 2.5 | 1.1 |
| 2015 | Arkansas | 35.9 | 65.8% | 268 | 2.4 | .6 |
| 2016 | Arkansas | 30.3 | 60.8% | 264 | 2.0 | 1.2 |
| 2015 | Texas A&M | 27.8 | 56.6% | 259 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| 2016 | Texas A&M | 34.8 | 54.4% | 255 | 1.9 | .7 |
| 2018 | Texas A&M | 36.0 | 57.5% | 253 | 1.9 | .7 |
| 2017 | Texas A&M | 32.7 | 56.3% | 251 | 1.7 | .9 |
| 2018 | Vanderbilt | 28.5 | 62.0% | 244 | 1.8 | .5 |
| 2017 | Vanderbilt | 24.6 | 57.6% | 244 | 2.3 | .8 |
| 2016 | Tennessee | 36.4 | 62.8% | 239 | 2.2 | .9 |
| 2019 | Texas A&M | 29.5 | 60.4% | 235 | 1.7 | .8 |
| 2017 | Auburn | 33.9 | 66.8% | 233 | 1.5 | .4 |
| 2018 | LSU | 32.4 | 57.9% | 229 | 1.3 | .4 |
| 2015 | Alabama | 35.1 | 67.5% | 227 | 1.5 | .7 |
| 2018 | Georgia | 37.9 | 67.8% | 227 | 2.4 | .4 |
| 2019 | Georgia | 30.8 | 61.4% | 223 | 1.9 | .4 |
| 2019 | Missouri | 25.3 | 60.1% | 223 | 1.4 | .7 |
| 2018 | Auburn | 30.9 | 61.2% | 223 | 1.6 | .4 |
| 2019 | South Carolina | 22.4 | 57.5% | 222 | 1.0 | .6 |
| 2019 | Tennessee | 24.2 | 55.6% | 221 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| 2016 | Florida | 23.9 | 58.8% | 216 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | South Carolina | 24.2 | 61.7% | 215 | 1.4 | .9 |
| 2018 | Florida | 35.0 | 59.6% | 214 | 2.2 | .5 |
| 2016 | South Carolina | 20.8 | 61.7% | 213 | .9 | .5 |
| 2016 | Alabama | 38.8 | 63.5% | 210 | 1.7 | .6 |
| 2016 | Mississippi State | 30.4 | 56.0% | 210 | 1.8 | .8 |
| 2015 | Kentucky | 24.7 | 54.9% | 209 | .8 | 1.3 |
| 2019 | Auburn | 33.2 | 57.8% | 208 | 1.5 | .5 |
| 2015 | South Carolina | 21.9 | 54.4% | 208 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| 2015 | Florida | 23.2 | 56.4% | 207 | 1.4 | .7 |
| 2017 | Arkansas | 28.8 | 56.5% | 205 | 1.5 | .8 |
| 2017 | LSU | 27.2 | 59.7% | 204 | 1.3 | .3 |
| 2015 | Tennessee | 35.2 | 59.3% | 199 | 1.3 | .4 |
| 2018 | Tennessee | 22.8 | 59.3% | 196 | 1.3 | .4 |
| 2019 | Ole Miss | 26.6 | 56.4% | 194 | .9 | .5 |
| 2016 | Georgia | 24.5 | 54.9% | 194 | 1.2 | .7 |
| 2017 | Alabama | 37.1 | 61.3% | 193 | 2.0 | .2 |
| 2019 | Arkansas | 21.4 | 49.6% | 193 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| 2018 | Arkansas | 21.7 | 54.6% | 192 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | Vanderbilt | 23.0 | 53.3% | 191 | .7 | .8 |
| 2016 | LSU | 28.3 | 58.4% | 190 | 1.0 | .6 |
| 2017 | Kentucky | 25.5 | 59.4% | 188 | .8 | .5 |
| 2016 | Kentucky | 30.0 | 54.5% | 186 | 1.3 | .9 |
| 2015 | Georgia | 26.3 | 60.9% | 185 | 1.1 | .6 |
| 2015 | LSU | 32.8 | 53.6% | 180 | 1.1 | .5 |
| 2019 | Mississippi State | 27.6 | 59.0% | 180 | 1.5 | .8 |
| 2017 | Florida | 22.1 | 55.8% | 180 | .9 | .9 |
| 2017 | Georgia | 35.4 | 61.0% | 177 | 1.6 | .6 |
| 2018 | Mississippi State | 28.5 | 51.1% | 174 | 1.7 | .8 |
| 2017 | Tennessee | 19.8 | 56.4% | 174 | .9 | .8 |
| 2015 | Auburn | 27.5 | 58.5% | 174 | .8 | .9 |
| 2019 | Vanderbilt | 16.5 | 53.0% | 172 | .8 | .8 |
| 2015 | Vanderbilt | 15.2 | 51.1% | 172 | .9 | 1.3 |
| 2016 | Auburn | 31.2 | 62.0% | 170 | .9 | .5 |
| 2017 | Mississippi State | 32.0 | 54.1% | 167 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| 2015 | Missouri | 13.6 | 49.9% | 166 | .8 | 1.0 |
| 2018 | Kentucky | 26.6 | 65.5% | 162 | 1.1 | .8 |
| 2019 | Kentucky | 27.2 | 49.8% | 114 | .7 | .6 |
—Ian Allan