Mike Sanford describes the 4 plays Andrew Luck wants early in a game
Mike Sanford describes the 4 plays Andrew Luck wants early in a game
What should an offensive coordinator script for a quarterback early on a game? Andrew Luck had four keys, and one of them was to get hit.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach Mike Sanford spoke to a room of coaches at last week’s AFCA Convention in San Antonio on a number of topics. Asked about getting a quarterback in a flow and helping his confidence, Sanford pointed to 2011, when Luck was a senior and Sanford was on the Stanford staff.
“Andrew Luck, an unbelievable talent, in his fourth year, he truly could do anything you put up there,” Sanford said. “Coach Shaw would always ask Andrew, ‘What do you want to put on the opener for this game?’ He’d say, ‘I want to get a completion play, I want a get-hit play' — he wants to get hit in the first three plays — and he wants a get-out-of-the-pocket play, and one more rhythm throw.”
Protecting your quarterback is one of the biggest keys in football, but Luck needed to take a hit. It helped that Luck had a large frame and could physically take it.
“Especially in a big game, he wanted to feel that,” Sanford said “We’re all built the same way. We need our quarterback to feel the game. He’s a football player. He’s the toughest player on the team.”
The biggest emphasis from Sanford in the hour-long session was about organization. Specifically, how that organization reflects on to the players, such as the meeting room and the whiteboard.
“When your kids come into your room, what is your meeting room setting like?” Sanford said. “What does it look like? Is it an environment with papers all over the place? Is there stuff on the board that’s insignificant to that week or day? I remember that as a player, going into a classroom that’s clean and has clarity in the feel of the room. It’s worth so much more. …
“I try to get there 25 minutes before every meeting and make sure my room is in tip-top condition. I know it affects (Notre Dame QB) Malik Zaire. When it’s clean, he functions at a much higher level. What does your meeting room setting look like?”
The same goes for the whiteboard. Sanford remembered how detailed Hue Jackson’s board was with the Ravens. Don’t load it up with filler, but make sure it’s organized. Now at Notre Dame, Sanford is moving up the career ladder, but there are always lessons to learn.
“When I was a quality control guy for Jim Harbaugh, his brother was the coach of the Baltimore Ravens. I had a chance to go there and learn football," Sanford said. "I locked myself in a room, and John Harbaugh was kind enough to give me access to various coaches to pick people’s brains.
“The one thing that really stuck with me from the league, I didn’t even talk to Hue Jackson, but I watched film in his room, and his board was immaculate. It had so many details, it had practice notes, projects for receivers, the meetings set up. It dawned on me as a young coach. I thought about how important it is to have order and for those guys to know what the agenda is going to be.”
