Andrew Luck will have a unique insight into 49ers defensive schemes and the 49ers coaching staff as long as both have jobs in the NFL. The budding star quarterback played for San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, and played against 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in practice.
Speaking with Matt Maiocco of csnbayarea.com, Luck elaborated on the connection and his wish that he paid closer attention to the defense leading up to this week’s game that sees his Indianapolis Colts take on his former coaches.
“I wish I’d paid more attention to those conversations now, I guess,” Luck said. “Coach Fangio was a great coach when I was at Stanford. Guys really loved him. He did so much for our defense there. As a quarterback, his door was always open to anybody to come talk to him. So every now and then, I’d have the opportunity to walk in and say hi.
“They whopped our butts every now and then at practice, and I wanted to figure out why the defense was doing so well. What are our weaknesses? What are my weaknesses? He was always very accommodating and very patient with what probably seemed to be a young brat, snot-nosed quarterback coming in and trying to learn a little about defense.”
Of course there is a mutual respect among the two sides, and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has nothing but praise for his former star QB, “There’s not a lot of weaknesses that he has,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a top-notch player. We’re going to have to be very sound, very good.”
Indianapolis is coming off a tough 24-20 loss to Miami, while San Francisco is coming off a dismantling at the hands of division foe Seattle. Both teams sit at 1-1 on the young season, so come Sunday it will behoove both sides to put aside their admiration for one another – and use any advantage they can to avoid falling below .500. We shall see who paid closer attention at Stanford.