Joe Brady glow up: Matt Rhule, Panthers poach LSU offensive wunderkind

It seems as though Joe Brady isn’t long for the LSU Tigers. He looks to be heading back to the NFL to join Matt Rhule’s Carolina Panthers staff in 2020.

Joe Brady’s glow up continues.

2019 was a magical season for the LSU Tigers. They went 15-0, winning their fourth national championship in school history, setting the college football world on fire with their innovative offense. Quarterback Joe Burrow flourished in it en route to winning the Heisman Trophy. Of course, the primary architect of that offense was wunderkind passing game coordinator Brady.

Brady, 30, was an unknown assistant on Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints staff. Along with LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, the Bayou Bengals put together the single greatest offensive season we’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, Burrow is going pro and so is Brady.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, “LSU’s passing game coordinator Joe Brady has told people today that he is planning to return to the NFL and the Carolina Panthers.” Carolina made a huge hire last week to hire Matt Rhule away from the Baylor Bears to be their next coach. We have to give Panthers owner David Tepper massive credit for this offseason coaching overhaul.

Rhule has inked a seven-year contract to rebuild the Panthers culture. He has succeeded reclaiming two sunken college football ships in Baylor and the Temple Owls before that. Though he is an incredible motivator, Rhule is a defensive-minded coach as a former linebacker at Penn State. He needed desperately to find the right offensive mind to partner with. He does this with Brady.

For Carolina, this means the Panthers will be likely looking at a franchise quarterback to replace Cam Newton in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Tepper will give these coaches time to install their football culture in Charlotte. If Carolina gives up the farm, maybe they can give a Godfather offer to the Cincinnati Bengals and take Burrow No. 1 overall? We’ve seen crazier things happen.

As for LSU, this is massively deflating news not even 24 hours after winning the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. Though we all knew Brady wasn’t for long at LSU, we thought he might spend another year working alongside Ensminger to see what they have in Burrow’s successor Myles Brennan. Now, it’s like the Atlanta Falcons losing Kyle Shanahan.

LSU has recruited marvelously under head coach Ed Orgeron. He can connect with any prospective college football player. More importantly, he has shown that he will be willing to empower the next great offensive mind the sport produces.

Replacing Brady will be challenging, but that is the new reality for LSU. For Carolina, the Panthers’ future just got a whole lot brighter.

For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.