CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- He’s a great kid, a hardworking kid, a smart kid.
William & Mary linebackers coach Bo Revell repeatedly referred to Joe Brady as a “kid” when talking about the 30-year-old’s meteoric rise from college linebackers coach in 2014 to offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers.
Never mind that Revell, 28, is two years younger than Brady, his former college teammate and the assistant coach he replaced in 2015. To him, Brady -- not far removed from being called Joey -- is a kid.
“It still feels like yesterday we were under the lights at Walter J. Zable Stadium," Revell said of his days as a tight end and Brady's as a backup wide receiver at William & Mary. “I guess we’re a little ahead of our time."
Brady is, for sure.
The NFL's youngest offensive coordinator is perhaps the biggest unknown among an overhauled roster of players and a coaching staff that largely came from the college ranks. With no preseason games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his Panthers offense will finally be unveiled Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Brady hasn’t called a complete game in his coaching career. Two years ago, he was in his second year as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints, and before that he was a graduate assistant at Penn State for two years.
Yet the buzz he created last season as the passing-game coordinator for national champion LSU, where he helped quarterback Joe Burrow win the Heisman Trophy and become the first pick of the draft, has made Brady the NFL equivalent of a prodigy.
He'll call plays for arguably the game’s best running back in Christian McCaffrey; a wide receivers group led by DJ Moore that could form a competitive 4x100-meter relay team; and, in Teddy Bridgewater, a quarterback he worked with in New Orleans. It should be an interesting afternoon at Bank of America Stadium.
“I’m not sure there's a guy his age that's smarter in football than him," said Carolina defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who is 34 years older than Brady.
Madden factor
In 2010, Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk estimated more than 50% of active NFL players were heavy into the Madden video game series. Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright insists Madden has helped his football intelligence.
Bridgewater created Brady’s playbook on Madden to help explain it better to backups P.J. Walker and Will Grier. The Panthers starter has taken visual reps with video games all the way back to college at Louisville.
Brady grew up playing Madden, which has been around since 1988 but has become more sophisticated every year.
The average age of NFL coaches and coordinators, according to an August ESPN report, is 49. So most didn’t grow up playing the game like Brady, who said it not only influenced his knowledge of the game but helped him relate to players who also grew up playing the video game.
Asked whether he’s still good at Madden, Brady laughed.
“Depends if you ask the 12-year-old Joe Brady," he said. “I like to think I was good growing up. I couldn't tell you if I'm any good at it anymore. I don't even think I'd enjoy it right now because I probably am playing it more as a coach and I'm thinking that a guy should be running a route or attacking that coverage a certain way.
“I wish I could say I was good at Madden, but those days are long gone."
Still around is Brady’s 24-7 approach to football. Although he has a girlfriend, Lauren, whom Brady says “I love very much" and a dog named Rouge, if he’s not in bed watching “The Office," he’s thinking about football and what he has to do the next day.
“I’m a William & Mary guy," Brady said. “We don’t have a lot of things we’re great at, so we try to focus on one thing and go from there."
Best of everything
What makes Brady’s offense a lot like a Madden game is that it’s fast-paced and built around skill players. It's a culmination of the best of all the offenses he’s been around.
He might go five wide receivers with an empty backfield on one play and line up with a tailback and fullback on the next. He’ll rely not only on McCaffrey’s ability to play tailback and all the receiver spots but on all of his top receivers to play multiple positions.
His goal is to create mismatches and have Bridgewater put the ball in the hands of the playmakers in space.
So you’ll see a little of what Brady learned at William & Mary under Jimmye Laycock, a little of what he learned at Penn State under James Franklin and a lot of what he learned at New Orleans under Sean Payton.
"From my experience working with him, you saw a guy that sat in meetings and hung on every word that Sean Payton was talking about, that Drew Brees was talking about, that Joe Lombardi was talking about," Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said.
“Just his ability to understand the whole concept, not just from the one position. ... Smart, detailed and obviously you saw the success that he had at LSU."
He helped LSU become one of the most prolific offenses in college football history last year. The Tigers led the nation in scoring with 48.4 points a game, and Burrow threw 60 touchdown passes after having only 16 the previous season.
“He’s such a unique mind when it comes to offensive football," said McCaffrey, who also is a huge Madden fan.
Crack-block specialist
As a walk-on wide receiver at William & Mary, Brady had three receptions for 24 yards in four years.
“I think he was a wide receiver who blocked safeties all day," Bridgewater said with a smile.
Close. Brady’s specialty was the crack block, which is when a receiver takes out an inside defender on a run to the outside.
“He was a devastating crack-blocker," Revell said. “He would go out there and crack the safety and spring the running back for big gains. He would get the sideline going crazy. He never really was a target."
Brady actually began his coaching career as a defensive assistant for Laycock, who made him one of his few hires from the field. That time was invaluable because it gave him a perspective on offense he'd never had.
“I should just start telling people I was a defensive player, because I actually had more tackles in my career than I did receptions," Brady said.
Being able to make fun of himself is another of Brady’s endearing qualities. But it was that experience on defense that “opened my eyes so much," he said.
It taught Brady to better understand gaps in the run game, pass protections from a linebacker's standpoint and a defensive back's standpoint. It helped him better understand how to create mismatches and create space that is vital to his system’s success.
“So I would not be the coach I am today if I didn't coach on the defensive side," Brady said.
Football junkie
Most who know Brady say one of his greatest traits is listening and then putting into action what he heard. He’s also never been afraid to speak out and offer ideas, even as a graduate assistant.
“He took that idea, 'It’s time to learn,' as serious as anybody I’ve ever seen," said Elon assistant coach Mario Acitelli, who entered coaching at William & Mary with Brady.
Brady wanted to be around football so much he spent parts of his vacation with the Saints hanging out in the football office at William & Mary.
“He’s a [football] junkie," Franklin said. "He’s either coaching football or watching football or playing football video games."
Whether Carolina’s offense will be like a video game -- as LSU’s was last season -- remains to be seen.
McCaffrey, who, Brady said, is "better than I thought he was" will be the focal point.
Inheriting McCaffrey is like being awarded the first pick of a fantasy draft. He’s a toy like none other for a young coordinator.
“I’m excited to be the quarterback that gets to go out and compete for [Brady] and do the things he envisions for this offense," Bridgewater said.
But Bridgewater still laughs at the cut-off sweatpants Brady occasionally wears to show his “chicken legs." They’re similar to the shorts Laycock banned Brady from wearing at William & Mary.
So maybe deep down Brady still is a kid.
“He’s a grown man now, so he can go by Joe," Revell said with a laugh. “But he’s always Joey to us."