This is the seventh feature of a series leading into fall camp focusing on the new Panther football coaching staff. Coming Wednesday: Shannon Jackson.

Coaches are often described as driven. They are willing to push themselves farther physically and mentally than most understand or see. Many times it is only their players on the field who can relate to the level of commitment or desire to succeed.

Luke Huard has understood that process since junior high. It was then that he decided once his playing days were finished that he wanted to coach. That was not the point where he fell in love with the game though.  No, that goes much back farther. 

“In first grade, Thursdays would come around and I knew the next day was game day,” Huard said recently. He was bleary-eyed from long days and nights watching film of his quarterbacks and studying defensive schemes they might see – despite it only being mid-July.

“Being a coach's son, I couldn't wait for Friday night games. The thought of doing anything else never really crossed my mind.”

Huard played for his father, Mike, and posted a stellar high school career, being named the Washington state player of the year as a senior. He then headed across country to play at North Carolina in 1999 instead of following the path of brothers Brock and Damon, who starred in-state at Washington. Still, Luke had their path in mind as he aimed to become the third Huard to play in the National Football League.

A shoulder injury cut short a promising freshman campaign and an irregular heartbeat three years later stood in the way. In between, changes in the coaching staff – including offensive coordinators and position coaches – helped derail his plans. Finally, after transferring to Sam Houston State for his final season, an academic technicality put an end to his playing career altogether. 

Yet, despite all the setbacks, Huard's drive would not let it keep him down or stop him from pursuing his ultimate dream – to coach.

Mentor From the Start

"We do have obligations when guys are away   from home, we have an obligation to take on a  larger role to help them socially, academically  and if need be spiritually," Luke Huard said.  "Our role is different than an NFL coach who  coaches a guy six weeks and then he's on  waivers. We have a responsibility as college  football coaches, leaders and mentors to  develop players not just on the field but off it. I  take that seriously and do it to the best of my  ability drawing on some of my own  experiences."

“That was the time that I came to the realization that my journey from this point forward for what I'm supposed to do is on the coaching side. That's the time I came to peace that this is the way God was taking me and I needed to close the previous chapter and move on,” Huard said. 

Huard started coaching at the high school level like his father. Sleepless nights and endless hours followed, as it does for many coaches. Unlike most coaches, he did not stay in the prep ranks long. He grabbed a graduate assistant position when one of his mentors, Tim Lappano who is now the Detroit Lions' wide receivers coach, pulled him along to finally become a Washington Husky. It was there that he first worked with his current boss, GSU head coach Trent Miles.

Huard's passion – “every day I wake up, I'm not going to a job, I'm going to my passion,” he says – led him to Illinois State, where he spent the past four years. He poured everything he had into that job, molding his top protégé into a three-time all-league signal-caller while pushing the Redbirds to the top of the conference in passing and total offense and reaching the FCS playoffs.

How did he do it? Other than outworking the competition, the answer may lie in his planning. Huard has been priming to be a coach his whole life and has understood from Day 1 that preparation is key. And he is as thorough as they come. Huard gleaned as much information as he could from this brothers and their NFL compatriots – guys like Dan Marino and Tom Brady, to name a couple – even going so far as to dissect their playbooks and devouring as much film as they could get for him.

“I've been exposed to how the position is supposed to be played from a physical standpoint, and even more importantly from the mental standpoint,” Huard said. “Understanding what the quarterback position takes to be great when nobody is watching, I've asked our guys to do just that.”

What does that look like? Doing more; it's always about doing more on their own without anyone asking. Spending extra time in the video room, or working with the wideouts to get more reps and work on timing. There is always more preparation that can be done according to Huard, especially on the mental side.

“When you work really hard, prepare and study to know the game plan and what you're really trying to accomplish, you're going to go into that game with a level of confidence and a level of speed that is going to give you chance to succeed,” Huard said. “From a quarterback standpoint, the mental aspect of game, the preparation and confidence can lead to a lot of success on the field.

"I think a lot of it has to do with how you prepare a quarterback and teach him how to work. Your preparation is what's going to show up on Saturdays.”

Georgia State's quarterbacks have plenty to learn from Huard in that department. His preparation comes in all forms. When he's not spending time with his wife, Dolly, he is likely watching film, talking to other coaches in the business or gleaning tips from his brothers who are still around the professional game despite having hung up their cleats. Sometimes it even means going back to his notes from years ago. He says he hangs on to everything – notebooks with ideas, schemes, potential plays for specific situations. The notebooks go back as far as seventh grade “because you never know when you will look back on your notes and it brings back an idea for something you can use today.”

That type of incremental improvement makes a difference. Building on the core beliefs as an offensive coach is Huard's primary goal every day. 

“As a coach, you're always looking to improve,” Huard said. “You have a foundation of 'This is what I believe in offensive football, this is who I am and my identity as a coach' but you're always looking at different wrinkles or schemes to add to your repertoire. That's something you try to do as the game evolves and changes. Studying the nuances of the game and getting better, but at the same time maintaining a core belief.”

It's like he has known how to be a coach his whole life.