CHARLOTTE – The LSU offense transformed into an unstoppable juggernaut in 2019 as the Tigers won the national championship in emphatic fashion.
And Joe Brady – the man who helped engineer that transformation – is coming to Carolina to work under new head coach Matt Rhule as the Panthers' offensive coordinator.
The 30-year-old Brady just completed a wildly successful first and only season as passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach at LSU. He won the Broyles award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football. Now he's the youngest active offensive coordinator in the NFL.
Brady, who overhauled the Tigers offense by incorporating the spread attack, is largely credited for taking Heisman-winning quarterback Joe Burrow's game to another level in 2019. The gaudy stats speak for themselves.
LSU finished the season with college football's top-ranked offense, averaging 568.5 yards per game and 48.4 points per game. The Tigers finished second in passing offense with 401.6 passing yards per game while Burrow, who completed 76.3 percent of his passes to lead the nation, set a new FBS single-season record with 60 passing touchdowns while his 65 total touchdowns responsible for are also an FBS record. Burrow's 5,671 passing yards tied for third all-time in a single season, while his passer rating of 202.0 bested Tua Tagovailoa's previous mark (199.4, 2018) for the FBS single-season record.
Prior to his year at LSU, Brady spent two seasons in the NFL as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. Over that span, the Saints won consecutive division titles and were third in the NFL with 911 total points scored in those two seasons. Quarterback Drew Brees posted a cumulative passer rating of 109.5 over those two seasons, good for second-highest in the NFL.
Prior to those two years with the Saints, Brady spent two years as a graduate assistant at Penn State from 2015-16.
Brady got his start in coaching at his alma mater, William & Mary, where he coached the linebackers from 2013-14.
As a player, Brady played wide receiver for William & Mary from 2009-12, twice earning academic all-conference honors. In his time there, the Tribe reached the NCAA FCS playoffs twice, including a trip to the semifinals in 2009. Brady capped his career at William & Mary earning four letters after seeing action in 23 games.
Brady graduated from William & Mary in 2013 with a double major – process management and consulting along with kinesiology and health sciences. He earned his Master's degree from Penn State in educational leadership in 2018 while he was coaching with the Saints.
A native of Pembroke Pines, Florida, Brady originally signed with the Air Force Academy after an outstanding prep career at Everglades High School. Brady transferred to William & Mary after one year on the football team at Air Force.
