LSU’s undefeated run to a national championship was led by Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow’s spectacular season, in which he set the all-time passing touchdowns in a season record with 60. While Burrow all but cemented his status as the top overall pick in the upcoming draft with his performance, which should see him return to Ohio with the Cincinnati Bengals, he was far from the only member of the Tigers to raise his profile for a future NFL job.
Joe Brady, who was brought in as the Tigers’ passing game coordinator, won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in college football and was widely credited with being heavily influential in the creation of the high-powered scheme that helped the Tigers be the nation’s best offense. While Brady insisted in the build up to the title game that he wasn’t planning on leaving Baton Rouge after the season, it always seemed highly likely that he would get offers for major job openings both at the NCAA and NFL level.
On Tuesday, we learned he would indeed be making the leap to the NFL, joining Matt Rhule’s new staff in Carolina with the Panthers, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
LSU’s passing game coordinator Joe Brady has told people today that he is planning to return to the NFL and the Carolina Panthers, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2020
Brady had previously been an assistant with the New Orleans Saints offensive staff and will now go to the Panthers to oversee what figures to be a pretty dramatic change in offensive strategy and personnel. The quarterback situation in Carolina is questionable, to say the least, as Cam Newton, who missed much of the season with injury, has long been expected to be traded elsewhere. Given the struggles of Kyle Allen and Will Grier to end the year, if Newton is not the man, the Panthers will surely have to look to the draft or free agency to find that.
Whoever is under center figures to be getting a terrific coach, and what Brady will do with Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield and motioning out to receiver is going to be very fun to watch.
