BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — In advancing last Saturday's matchup between Rutgers and Wisconsin, an old story was revisited by the Newark, New Jersey-based Star Ledger, chronicling a dark chapter in the Scarlet Knights football history — the dismissal of Kyle Flood, the predecessor to current head coach Chris Ash.
Although storm clouds were hovering over his program, Flood continued to recruit like his job was not in jeopardy. In one such instance, Flood boarded a red helicopter on the Rutgers practice field in Piscataway and flew to New York for the 2015 Long Island Class III championship game in Stony Brook.
Flood went to see Sayville High School's junior quarterback Jack Coan, who summarily put his name in the Long Island record book. Not only did he complete 14 of 26 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns, but he ran 17 times for 227 yards and three scores in Sayville's 59-15 win over Plainedge.
After the defense adjusted its linebackers to Coan's throwing — he passed for 220 yards in the first half, staking Sayville to a 27-7 lead — Coan countered on the ground with 144 rushing yards in the second half, highlighted by runs of 68 and 55 yards, to help complete a perfect 12-0 season.
The night before the game, Coan delivered an emotional speech to the team taking accountability for his turnover in the title game the year before when his fumble was returned 82 yards for a touchdown in the final 66 seconds as Lawrence rallied for 40-35 victory over Sayville.
That moved Coan's prep coach, Rob Hoss, to say, "For a 16-year-old kid to stand up in front of his teammates and tell them that he lost the game, that's something."
Flood, among other recruiters, including Michigan's Jim Harbaugh, had taken note of Coan's leadership skills. But Flood never got a chance to pursue him. While watching a motivated Coan lead Sayville to victory, he got a call from Rutgers president Robert Barchi, who fired him on the phone.
"When my dad told me, I was shocked — I'm pretty sure he got fired at halftime," recalled Coan. "It was unbelievable for him to show that much interest and support (that he'd take a helicopter to recruit him). After the game, I texted him and thanked him for everything."
Rutgers' loss has been Wisconsin's gain, whether it was Jonathan Taylor, who verbally committed to the Scarlet Knights before having a change of heart; or Coan, who took over for Alex Hornibrook in the second half Saturday and directed the Badgers to 21 points in a 31-17 win at Camp Randall Stadium.
When Coan stepped into the huddle, it was Taylor who reassured him. "Throughout the whole time while he was scoring touchdowns, he was yelling 'We've got your back,'" recounted Coan, whose first 13 snaps, all in the third quarter, were handoffs to Taylor (seven rushes) and Taiwan Deal (six).
"Whenever our offense is having success," Coan said, "it's just a beautiful sight."
Taylor finished with 27 carries for 208 yards; Deal had nine for 77. Coan's first pass was to Taylor, who picked up 30 yards. "We have a lot of playmakers on offense," said Coan, who was 5-of-7 for 64 yards and a TD. "It definitely gives me comfort knowing I can give the ball to them and let them make plays."
The week before, Coan made his first appearance this season in what was his first college start; a 31-17 loss at Northwestern. He completed 20 of 31 for 158 yards and one score. "It gave me confidence," he said, "knowing I've started and played in a full game before."
Having critiqued Coan over six quarters the last two games, UW quarterbacks coach Jon Budmayr said, "He's probably right where we'd expect him to be. He's doing some good stuff in handling situations well. He's got good awareness and he's making throws that we're asking him to make."
Pointing out that the Badgers haven't scaled back the offense, Budmayr said, "That's the biggest thing from last year — the trust factor with the game plan. You don't have to change it when he goes in. He prepares all week, he knows it well and he knows why we're attacking it the way we are.
"He has just got to keep getting better — keep progressing with the reps he gets. He's got to trust his feet, trust his rhythm and trust his eyes. If he can do that then he will continue to grow."
Trust your feet? "It's sort of like when you take a five-step drop, you take one bounce," said Coan, a skilled lacrosse player who initially committed to Notre Dame in that sport. "If your first read isn't there, you take another bounce. If the second isn't there, you might be getting it to a checkdown."
Trust your rhythm? "It means working through the reads," said the 6-foot-3, 211-pound Coan, who was 5-for-5 in limited action as Hornibrook's backup last season. "Your eyes might be telling you one thing. But your feet might be telling you another thing. Having balance between those two things is big."
Trust your eyes? "That's just what you're seeing, what guys are open, what the defense is doing," said Coan, whose former high school coach (Hoss) once noted of his pre-snap vision, "He sees the field like a video game and processes the information so quickly."
Budmayr admitted that the game doesn't slow down for everybody the same way.
"I don't feel like it has been too fast for me in the past two games, which has been good," Coan said. "But, definitely, as I get more experience, it will start slowing down even more. I'd say it's getting through your progressions. I feel like for young quarterbacks they kind of get locked on one guy.
"As the game slows down, you progress more and see more guys on the field."
When he was still maturing as a QB in Sayville (50 miles from Manhattan), Coan threw for Phil Simms, the MVP of Super Bowl XXI for the New York Giants and now a CBS analyst. Brought together by a mutual acquaintance, Simms shared some of his vast knowledge on playing the position.
"I haven't talked to him for awhile but my dad has been in touch with him a lot lately," Coan said. "He's always watching the games, seeing if I'm playing and stuff like that. He focused on upper-body mechanics, which is different. I'd say my throwing motion is now a little more compact."
Coan owes that, and much more, to Budmayr. "He has helped me out a lot with my feet in general," he said. "He has been a quarterback here, so he knows this offense really well. He knows what the quarterbacks are seeing and how we should read plays. He's always making critiques."
Senior captain Michael Deiter had one of his own on Coan's demeanor.
"He's confident, which is pretty much the biggest concern with a guy who hasn't played a lot of football," said Deiter, who will be starting his 51st consecutive game Saturday at Penn State. "You want him to be confident and just cut it loose and play and I think that's what he has done.
"I leave him alone (in the huddle). To me, he looks like a guy who can handle it. I don't think Jack is a guy who needs a lot of stuff said to him. He's well prepared and ready to go."
