Payton and Brees, стр. 78
“It’s the Saints system,” Neu said. “Everything we do is based on what I brought with me from New Orleans. We don’t see as many exotic coverages and pressure packages as you do in the NFL. And we have reduced the terminology because we’re a no-huddle operation so we have to signal our plays. So there’s not as many tags. But the passing concepts would be exactly the same [as the Saints].”
Neu said he studies the film from every Saints game each season. Every Monday during the 2019 season, he and the offensive staff would watch cut-up tape of specific passing concepts from the Saints, LSU, and his own team, then compare how each team executed the same play.
“LSU didn’t have any snaps under center, but the passing game concepts were the same ones I teach my offense here,” Neu said. “It was awesome to see how they used their weapons, how they sprinkled the infield, as I like to say. It’s the same stuff we do. The Saints have been on top offensively throughout Drew and Sean’s time in New Orleans, and LSU just had the best season in college football history. I made time every week to study those two offenses. It’s another way to solidify how awesome the offense is to our players.”
The infield sprinkling required more time to take hold at Ball State than it did at LSU. Neu’s first three seasons were marred by injuries and the growing pains of rebuilding a program that has not won a bowl game in its 45-year history. But things started to come together offensively for the Cardinals in Neu’s fourth season. Quarterback Drew Plitt passed for nearly 3,000 yards and backs Caleb Huntley and Walter Fletcher combined to rush for 2,001 yards. Five receivers had multiple touchdown receptions and produced between 300 and 700 receiving yards. Offensive lineman Danny Pinter was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and Plitt received an invitation to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy, which was canceled in June because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m proud that we ranked No. 1 [in the MAC] in scoring offense and total offense,” said Neu, who quarterbacked Ball State for three seasons and was the 1993 MAC Offensive Player of the Year. “I wish we would have done better record-wise up to this point, but I’m excited about this being our window of opportunity.”
Neu’s ties to New Orleans run deep. Loomis hired him to coach the New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2008. He then took a job on the Saints scouting staff for the next three seasons before moving across town to Tulane University as the quarterbacks coach on former Saints receivers coach Curtis Johnson’s staff. He returned to the Saints as the quarterbacks coach in 2014 and 2015 when Joe Lombardi left the staff to become the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.
Neu uses his ties to Brees, Payton, and the Saints offense as a recruiting pitch when meeting with prospects. He shows game film of Brees’ footwork and fundamentals to quarterback recruits and will use highlights of the Saints passing attack to illustrate to receivers how they’ll project to the Ball State attack. Neu even signed his own version of Taysom Hill to the Ball State roster in 2020. Ryan Lezon was a three-sport star at Indianapolis Southport High School but will play tight end and H-back in college. Neu envisions a Hill-like, Swiss Army knife role for the 6΄2˝, 210-pound Lezon at Ball State.
“My work with the Saints is the best selling point ever,” Neu said of his two-year experience as the Saints quarterbacks coach. “I always want to make Mickey [Loomis] and Sean [Payton] proud that I have taken an offensive page from the Saints. What’s unbelievable about the offense is that every player on the field has a chance to make a play on every single play. It’s lasted so long because of the thought, preparation, and detail that goes into it. I just have a strong conviction that this is the best offense there is.”
It would be hard to argue with Neu’s proclamation after seeing the impact the Saints offense had on college football in 2019. The Saints’ influence is unmistakable and indelible. Thanks to the successful work of Brady and Neu, Payton’s offensive system has taken root and blossomed outside of New Orleans. And for the first time, Payton’s coaching tree has branches in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Muncie, Indiana.
27. The Payton-Brees Legacy
In December 2019, the NFL unveiled its NFL 100 All-Time Team, a roster of 100 all-star players and 10 coaches to commemorate the league’s 100th season. The blue-ribbon committee of 26 coaches, executives, former players, and media members selected 10 quarterbacks for the squad: Sammy Baugh, John Elway, Brett Favre, Otto Graham, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, and Johnny Unitas.
There were plenty of snubs from the list, but none bigger than Brees. The league’s all-time leading rusher (Emmitt Smith), receiver (Jerry Rice), and scorer (Adam Vinatieri) made the team. But the NFL’s all-time leading passer did not. It was the latest snub for the Saints quarterback, who, despite all of his wins, accolades, and accomplishments, might go down in history as the NFL’s most underrated superstar.
Brees is widely considered the best player to never win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award, having finished second a mind-boggling four times. Each time he was victimized by poor timing, beaten out by a peer who produced a historic season.
In 2006, LaDainian Tomlinson won the award after leading the