How William & Mary helped spark Joe Brady's rise into the NFL

[Sir Purr]

But William & Mary also helped Brady take his next steps along the career path.


In 2015, he became a graduate assistant at Penn State. The Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator was Bob Shoop, who'd held the same position at William & Mary during Brady's first two seasons as a player. And as much as he learned coaching defense, it wasn't his true calling, and Penn State offered him the chance to switch sides again.


"That's what I really wanted because I have a passion for being on offense," Brady said. "That changed my life being at Penn State."


After Brady spent two seasons in State College, another William & Mary connection helped him break into the NFL. Saints assistant line coach Brendan Nugent coached at William & Mary from 2007-11 and helped recruit Brady to the program.


"So basically my ties to all of my places have been William & Mary up until, obviously, LSU and here," Brady said. "But yeah, William & Mary — it's a very small school, but we definitely look out for one another."


Now as Brady builds the offensive blueprint for his first season as an NFL coordinator, he's drawing upon all those experiences from his time at the small school in Williamsburg.


"I've been fortunate that the places that I've been — I've learned so much from everybody that it's just like when you graduate from college, you feel like you're ready for the real world because of everything that you did up to that point," Brady said.


"All the places that I've been — William & Mary, Penn State, New Orleans, LSU — have gotten me to this point that I know, even though I still have so much to learn, I definitely feel confident in my abilities."