How Luke Altmyer's Habits Could Lead to Success With Lions, Long Career

As Big Ten Media Days kicked off in Chicago, Illinois, the Illinois Fighting Illini and Bret Bielema entered with a new quarterback for the first time in three seasons. Bielema, fresh off the Illini’s first back-to-back eight win seasons since the 1980s, saw former signal-caller Luke Altmyer land with the Detroit Lions after going undrafted.

The coach was asked by Lions On SI about Altmyer, and was very open about what makes the quarterback great. The Illini starter was known for making smart reads and playing mistake-free football, offering a safe option that teams could desire in a backup who has starter potential.

Bielema attended two days worth of draft parties for Altmyer, who has previously noted he was hoping to hear his name called. This displays the connection between coach and quarterback, with the latter earning the former's respect for his work ethic and approach to the game.

“I’ve never gone to two draft parties, and I went to two for Luke Altmyer,” Bielema revealed. “I took my daughter, who absolutely thinks he’s the greatest thing that’s ever been on this earth. He had a pre-draft party the week before, so I took me and a couple of my coaches. I thought it was a really good idea, not a lot of pressure and kind of enjoy it.”

“And then he was still having a smaller draft party, and I set my day up to come at the end of the draft, because I thought if he did get drafted, that was where it was going to be,” Bielema confided. “But I was more concerned if he didn’t get drafted, and what was going to be the result."

Bielema then went on to discuss how his starting quarterback felt about not hearing his name called, and offered the Illini great his own perspective as a coach on how the late rounds of the NFL Draft tend to pan out.

“It was just like, I knew he was very upset, and I knew to stay away from him. Then we were kind of around him later that night, brough him back around,” the coach revealed. “I told him and his parents, you know, in this draft process, you know, especially in the quarterback room, a lot of times the end of the draft gets down to a certain player and they’re not going to be talked off of it, right?”

The former Giants and Patriots assistant offered his own take on the Detroit quarterback to Altmyer, discussing how great of an opportunity this presented for the three-year starter for the Illini.

“It just didn’t play out that way for Luke, but I knew when I heard Detroit and I knew the situation he was walking into, where really there wasn’t even a third quarterback, I’m like, ‘Bro, it’s not where you go or how you got there, it’s what you do when you get there.’”

The praise heaped on Altmyer by Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, along with other assistants, was no surprise for the coach that oversaw success that Illinois had not seen for over 20 years.

The coach has seen some star quarterbacks in the college level, with the prime example being former Super Bowl Champion Russell Wilson during his tenure at Wisconsin.

“He’s obviously done some real (work). When I started to see the coaches say the things they did, it’s not surprising to me," Bielema stated. "He’s probably one of the most, in my gauge of college quarterbacks, and I’ve had, you know, obviously Russ (Russell Wilson) and a couple of really good ones. He prepared for the moment as well as anyone I’ve ever been around.”

That work ethic is unmatched, with Bielema even revealing that Altmyer was so particular with his film study and habits that the quarterback had his own office in the facility.

“He repeatedly put himself (in position). I mean, he had his own office in our building, like, I literally designed, Joe Maggio, our video guy, designed an office for him because he doesn’t like to watch film with other people,” the Big Ten coach revealed. “So he didn’t want to be in the QB room and have other receivers, so he wanted his own things. Then we would make edits and I’d give him plays and he’d make edits, and it was by far the best edits any coach or players ever put together. He would change things on Friday based on what he had learned during the course of the week that he didn’t know on Sunday.”

Altmyer was widely viewed as a safe and intelligent quarterback during the draft process, and Bielema was revealing the secrets to the success for that quarterback.

“So his intelligence, football IQ awareness is at a level that I don’t think many people can get to, let alone have it,” Bielema proudly stated.

While usurping Jared Goff is not on the table for Altmyer this offseason, Bielema thinks that his quarterback is set for an extremely long NFL career, comparing him to and calling him better than longtime NFL backup Brandon Allen, whom the coach trusted with his offense at Arkansas.

“I’m not going to be surprised if Luke Altmyer plays 10, 12 years in the league. You know, we had a kid, Brandon Allen, that played for me that’s going into his 11th year out of Arkansas. This is his 11th year and Brandon’s a good player, don’t get me wrong, been in the league 11 years, but I think that Altmyer is actually better than him,” the former Big Ten Coach of the Year said. “Being around both of them. So I could easily see that being a niche. Now, Brandon, I think, has probably started less than 20 games, but I know he’s made over $30 million, and I know his wife appreciates that as much as anything. It’s fun to watch these guys grow.”

That next step in Luke Altmyer’s career has already begun, with the rookie reporting early for training camp and the veterans set to join him on Wednesday. If his study habits continue in Motown, Teddy Bridgewater’s seat could be heating up and there will be a battle on his hands as Altmyer becomes a training camp darling.

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