Jack Coan is embracing the challenge as QB1 for the Badgers
August 30, 2019 | Football, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Calm, collected, QB1. Teammates say Jack Coan earned his spot leading the Badgers.
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Unwinding after practice, Wisconsin's Jack Coan did something that starting quarterbacks should never do. At least not figuratively.
He looked over his shoulder.
Since last January and the arrival of the highly-touted Graham Mertz, a four-star prospect, it would have been easy for Coan to be apprehensive about the competition.
Not only did Coan have to hold off the talented newcomer from Kansas, but he had to create separation between himself and returning quarterbacks Chase Wolf and Danny Vanden Boom.
As it has evolved over the last eight months, Coan has met and embraced every challenge.
"He has a focus and a vision that has been phenomenal to be around," said QB coach Jon Budmayr. "Since coming back in winter training, he had a plan for himself … no distractions."
When asked last April about the pecking order of the four players competing for the No. 1 job, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst blithely assured everyone, "We're going to have a starting quarterback when we play our first game."
When UW opens the season Friday night at South Florida, the 20-year-old Coan will lead the offense on to the field at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
"Every rep that he (Coan) got this camp was with the ones," Chryst said. "He's got a better understanding of himself, of our offense and what (opposing) teams are doing. A big part of it is that he's trusting the work that he has put in."
Coan's work ethic has been a steppingstone in asserting leadership.
"He (Coan) is definitely one of the leaders," confirmed Mertz, an early enrollee and true freshman from Overland Park, Kansas. "Our (position) group emphasizes each of us being leaders in our own way. He's really good at it and we can all learn from him, too. He really kind of set the tone …"
By doing so, Coan's strengths have clearly emerged.
"The biggest thing with Jack is his consistency," said Vanden Boom, a redshirt sophomore from Kimberly, Wisconsin. "On the field and off the field, he's very consistent. He works extremely hard. Watches a lot of film. He's always in the weight room.
"Any time there's an optional lift or something like that, you know, Jack is going to be there. He's just the kind of teammate that you can count on, he's a great friend as well and someone we trust as the leader of our group."
Wolf, a redshirt freshman from Cincinnati, lived with Coan over the summer. He traced Coan's timeline and growth to the Bronx and a win over Miami at Yankee Stadium, an hour's drive from Coan's home on Long Island. "Starting with the Pinstripe Bowl he was extremely confident," he said, "and he has carried that confidence over from spring ball."
During the normal ebb and flow of competition, Wolf says Coan has remained steadfast in his approach. Straight-line Jack through thick or thin. "I don't really know when he's up or down, which is awesome," Wolf said. "It's a great trait to have when you're a quarterback."
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In the midst of describing his football mindset — "I feel like I'm still a little kid out here playing" — Coan literally did look over his shoulder after a recent practice and saw UW offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph playing catch with his three young boys on the Camp Randall Stadium turf.
"I remember when I was a little kid going to the field with my dad," said Coan. "I feel like you just have to have it in you that you're playing the same game you've been playing since you were that little kid. It's the game you love."
One of Budmayr's goals has been to appeal to that spirit and "free up" Coan.
"You saw that in the Purdue game," he said of last year's triple-overtime victory over the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, "and you saw glimpses of it in the bowl game. He was being true to himself. It wasn't like he was playing with bad rhythm in those other games.
"But I thought he was more himself … his personality came out. He plays with pretty good energy. He enjoys watching the game. Like when the defense is out there, he's watching the defense play. He just enjoys every aspect of the game."
In road losses at Northwestern (Coan's first career start) and Penn State, Budmayr thought Coan was too restrained, too mechanical. "He was so locked-in to the whole thing that you didn't get the freed-up Jack," he said. "I thought you felt that more in the last couple of games."
Coan can be stoic — bordering on shy — in media group settings.
How would Budmayr describe his personality?
"He's interesting," he said. "He's got a calmness to him. But he's got a great appreciation for good football. But when things are not going well, he's going to be about as calm as anyone can be.
"When things are going well, he doesn't get too upbeat, either.
"He's about as level-headed as anybody I've ever been around."
Coan has heard it said about him before and he didn't disagree.
"I've always just tried to stay in the moment and really enjoy what's happening; whatever happens, good or bad," he conceded.
Where does he get that from?
"Definitely not my dad — my mom definitely," he said. "My dad can be very high and very low."
Spoken out of respect for mom Donna and dad Mike, owner of a Sayville, N.Y., landscaping company.
Coan can be passionate about family. But has Budmayr ever seen him get mad?
"He'll get upset at himself," offered Budmayr, who went on to say that Coan has a "calming" influence on his teammates in the huddle. "He has a presence to him that attracts them."
Coan politely countered, "I'm pretty steady in games and practices. But I will get mad."
Was it fair for Budmayr to suggest that he has begun to reveal more of himself?
"I'd say that's fair," Coan said. "I'm just more comfortable. I don't know what it is with this team. But I feel like we're a really tight group and we're all comfortable with each other."
Coan has made a point of reaching out and engaging others.
"I feel a big part of that is talking to more people," Coan said. "Like sitting down at the lunch table with new guys and finding out their story whether freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors. I've just been branching out and getting to know everybody."
As part of an offseason team building exercise, the players and staff read, "You Win in the Locker Room First: The 7 C's to build a winning team in business, sports and life." The co-authors are Jon Gordon and Mike Smith, the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
"We had to do book reports on it and everyone bought in," said outside linebacker Zack Baun. "It's about getting off your phone and engaging with your teammates more. It's about talking to people outside of your comfort zone other than your position group or the usual crowd you hang out with."
Coan embodies many of the C's. Most notably C for Consistency.
Gordon and Smith wrote:
"Be the same leader whether you are winning or losing."
"It's not okay to be moody — people don't know what to expect and lose trust in you."
"Consistently remove any seeds of complacency."
"Commit to consistent improvement."
"Be humble — life-long learner; headlines become fish wrap."
"Be hungry — push yourself and your team to be great."
It's pretty much what you would want out of any player, but particularly a quarterback.
Coan could put a check by each of those boxes.
"Leadership is inspiring confidence in your teammates and bringing out the best in them as well as yourself," Coan opined. "I've definitely tried to focus on that this spring and during winter and summer conditioning and obviously in fall camp."
It has been part of Coan's plan since the bowl game. A self-review was another part.
"Mentally, I went through all of my plays from last season, and I went through all of Alex's plays," he said, referencing Alex Hornibrook. "I graded them out myself and tried to see tendencies in what I was doing bad and what I was doing good and I tried to improve upon that."
Noted Budmayr, "Once you get to where you've had an opportunity to rep it in a game, it's good to go back and see, 'OK, how did I do with it and what can I learn from it?'"
Begging a follow-up question: How can the offense be better with Coan?
"He has the ability to stretch the ball down the field," Budmayr said. "He's a great decision-maker. He's learned situational football. He understands there are times to be aggressive and times to not be as aggressive with the ball in your hand.
"He can make all the throws and he's pretty dynamic with his feet when things break down and he can present some issues that way.
"I'm just excited for him to continue growing in all those areas."
INSIDE THE QB ROOM
During his Sunday presser, Paul Chryst singled out the quarterback room.
"I thought the whole group had a really good camp," he said.
Wolf and Mertz shared line two on the depth chart.
"Their styles are a little bit different," Chryst said. "They're both kind of figuring out who they are and how they can play to their strengths in our offense … I love what Graham and Chase have done. But they've got to keep going and they've got to keep growing. But I like where they're at."
Many of the 7 C's apply to the collective bond between Coan, Wolf, Mertz and Vanden Boom.
C for Communicate. C for Connect. C for Care. C for Character.
"If the meeting is at 8:30, we'll all get in there at 8:10 and we'll just chat or play some darts," said Wolf. "We just enjoy being around each other. It's a close room. I know there's competition on the field, but we still care about each other … except when we're playing darts."
Vanden Boom is the leader on the dart board, followed by Coan.
Vanden Boom and Coan also rank one-two on the locker room ping pong table in the overall team standings.
"I'm like five or six," Wolf said. "Graham is unranked because he stinks."
In this case, C is for Chuckle.
"It's an awesome room," Mertz said. "A lot of people from the outside might think, 'Oh, they probably hate each other.' But we really care about each other and we just want to see each other really grow and maximize our potential. We've all kind of had the same mindset on that."
