LSU Quarterbacks Say Offensive Coordinator Jake Peetz Bringing Energy On and Off the Field
Jake Peetz loves to bring the energy to the LSU football ops facility every day. Whether its barging in on position meetings, flipping tables and throwing water bottles, the Tigers new offensive coordintaor does something new to energize his team before every single practice.
Peetz is one of those young staff members that Ed Orgeron brought in to really connect more with the players. Just from watching 20 minutes of practice, it's easy to see he's on the front lines in terms calling out plays, giving instruction and even getting in on some of the action himself.
"Collectively as a unit, he's our energetic guy, we constantly look to him for energy and he pushes our leaders of our team to bring energy to the practice field everyday," quarterback TJ Finley said.
The energy Peetz has brought to the offense has particularly rubbed off on the quarterbacks. It's one of the deeper quarterback rooms that the program has had in recent memory, starting with veteran Myles Brennan and trickling down to Max Johnson, TJ Finley and Garrett Nussmeier.
One of the first goals that Peetz had upon arrival was reaching out to every offensive player, something he accomplished in the first week on the job. But over the last month, Peetz has spent the most time with those quarterbacks, getting to know them on and off the field.
In talks with Brennan, Finley and Johnson, in every other answer Peetz’s name seems to come up, so much so that it begged the question, just how much time do the quarterbacks spend with the new offensive coordinator?
"We spend a lot of time with him outside of football, whether it's on Saturdays and Sundays and we're eating dinner with him, talking about ball or talking about each other's families," Johnson said. "I think we're building a bond and learning what we can and can't do. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun this year."
For Peetz, drawing up a scheme and personnel groupings that fit each quarterback's style is the primary focus with one main goal, getting the five position players on the field in space and creating opportunity and mismatches with the opposing defenses.
Whether it's three receivers and two tight ends or two recievers, two tight ends and a running back, it doesn't matter, the goals remain the same. Every receiver, running back and tight end is getting equal opportunity, so much so that it's impossible for the quarterbacks to answer who the go to target is in this offense.
"We have guys moving all over the place. I'm gonna be honest, sometimes I forget our "X" receiver is in the backfield with me," Finley said. "There's just so many guys moving around and so many ways. We're spreading the ball around the field. Everybody gets touches, everybody gets targets. Everybody gets an equal amount of touches, an equal amount of opportunities so it's just about who capitalizes on the opportunity.
"I'll find myself in many different places. Coach Peetz came in and moved me around. Last year I played mainly "X" and this year I'm X, Z, backfield," receiver Kayshon Boutte said. "I liked that he came in and change the style. The offense is similar to last year but we've just added a lot of new stuff."
Understanding what each quarterback does best is that first step and from day one, Finley gets that feeling that Peetz knows how to unlock each player's best tendencies. Spending 10 seasons in the NFL will do that and in Finley's personal case, Peetz having spent many seasons with Cam Newton, a quarterback with very similar physical traits as Finley, is a positive.
"He has worked with guys that are as big as me, Cam Newton, that has my stature and has the issues, some little things that I can fix as far as bringing my hips through, not using all arms," Finley said. "With his NFL background he's brought a lot of things personally for me to get better at."
From the early days of spring camp, it's becoming apparent that the coaching staff is nowhere close to deciding this battle. But as is the case with the skill position players, the one that takes advantage of the opportunity will ultimately earn the job.
"We can put any player at a position. It's just getting the matchups that we want, whether it's under center, running the ball, play action or in the gun, we're putting our players in the best positions to make plays," Johnson said. "Putting them in the best place to succeed puts our team in the best place to succeed."
