LSU Short Story
Ron Higgins, Tiger Rag 2020 Football Preview
Three-year backup QB Myles Brennan eager to replace a Heisman Trophy winner as LSU's starter.
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Survive, adapt and advance isn't the official motto of the Brennans, a family of famed New Orleans restaurateurs who have thrived since the 1940s. Perhaps it should be. ... The feisty family DNA trickled down to Owen Brennan III, wife Megan and their three sons, the youngest whose immediate challenge is replacing a Heisman Trophy winning QB from one of the greatest-ever national championship college football teams. A daunting task for 21-year old Myles Brennan, wouldn't you say? But he has survived three years as LSU's backup, refusing to follow the trend of college QBs transferring when they don't become starters. "I'd built relationships with the whole coaching staff," Myles said. "Clicking restart would not have benefited me." He's also learned three different offensive systems under two O-coordinators. Adapting isn't unusual for somebody who lived two years in a trailer in his backyard after the family home burned down and four years on a yacht anchored in Destin FL when Hurricane Katrina washed away the house that had been rebuilt after the fire. ... |
 Myles Brennan |
After concluding his high school career four years ago as Mississippi's all-time prep record holder in three offensive categories compiled as a three-year starter for St. Stanislaus, a private Catholic school in Bay St. Louis, it's finally Myles moment to advance to college QB1.
"You wait your turn, soak in as much knowledge as possible, work to constantly improve and stay ready to play until it's your time," said Myles, a redshirt junior. "Now is my time." ...
As a QB who rarely played under center in high school, he had to do so as a true LSU freshman learning an offense of a freshly hired coordinator who had a playbook loaded with formation shifts and motion.
Then as a sophomore in a more traditional LSU offense coordinated by a former Tigers' starting QB, Myles was redshirted when he was edged for the starting QB vacancy by an Ohio State graduate transfer.
Last season after a first year hotshot passing game coordinator installed concepts that were in Myles's wheelhouse, he played in 10 games as again backup to that Ohio State import named Joe Burrow ...
Then this past March 12, after just three LSU spring practices, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced he was shutting down spring sports because of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
A few days later, LSU said it was closing the campus and switching to online classes until further notice. ...
Myles' parents are former Tulane athletes who competed in the late 1970s. Owen was an outside linebacker ... and Megan was the first female in school history to receive an athletic scholarship as a volleyball and basketball player. It was Owen and Megan who set up a QB-specific obstacle course for Myles to keep football-sharp. "They had brought nets with targets for me to throw into, bought cones and ladders for my footwork," an appreciative Myles said. "They had pulled two or three trash cans up on the hill ... for me to loft balls in the cans. They had trees set out as targets like receivers running different routes." ...
L-R: Bill Conides and Myles Brennan, Steve Ensminger
Myles was about to enter the eighth grade when then-St. Stanislaus varsity offensive coordinator Bill Conides first saw him. "He was tall and lanky, shaggy blond hair, he looked like the kid from the movie 'Bad News Bears,'" Conides said. "And he had a cannon for an arm."
When Conides was named head coach in January 2014, Myles began a three-year run as starting QB. From 2014 to 2016, St. Stanislaus went 34-8, averaged 40.0 points scoring 40 or more points 26 times and lost twice in the Class 4A state championship game to Noxubee County.
Myles became and remains the state of Mississippi's all-time high school career leader in total offense (16,168y), passing yards (15,138) and passing touchdowns (166).
Conides' uptempo spread offense - "A quick passing game and take your shots downfield, a run-and-shoot West Coast style, fastbreak basketball on grass," he said - fit Myles perfectly.
Because that offense operates at a breathless pace, from play call to snap to instantaneous QB reads and throws, Conides created drills to quicken Myles' sensory reactions. It ultimately made game competition easy.
The first drill was called "Chaos." Upon taking a snap, Myles had dodgeballs thrown at him from head-to-toe. He had to duck, dodge and dart before firing to one of three stationary receivers.
The second drill, which Conides said was for Myles to develop the ability to "being able to close your eyes, to use a different sense to move out of the way." He blindfolded Myles and then tossed at him Dasani plastic water bottles partially filled with rocks.
The LSU interest and almost immediate scholarship offer and commitment by Myles on April 23, 2016, seemingly came out of thin air. Then-LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron messaged him in class that he was on his way to St. Stanislaus to visit him. Three days later, Myles and his parents took an official visit. As Myles was walking out of then-head coach Les Miles' door to conclude the visit, he committed.
When Miles and Cameron were fired in September ..., Myles briefly de-committed after his season ended in November. After a brief flirtation with Oklahoma State, he re-committed to LSU.
"Myles understood LSU is where he's supposed to be," Conides said, "and that God has a plan that's going to work out."
Myles, at a solid 220 pounds, is no longer the skinny 6-4, 185-pound freshman who spent his first two years inhaling several meals a day and gulping protein shakes.
After learning new offensive schemes under coordinators Matt Canada (2017), Steve Ensminger (2018) and Ensminger/Joe Brady (2019), Myles will operate this season in the same system for the second straight year for the first time in his college career.
Myles has developed a close relationship with Ensminger, who's just the third former LSU player and QB among the Tigers' 13 offensive coordinators over the last 60 years. ...
Thanks to Burrow, Myles is the most game experienced LSU backup QB moving into a starting role in recent years. ... Myles directed nine TD drives (including one against Oklahoma in the CFP semifinals) and finished the season completing 24 of 40 passes for 353y, one TD and one interception.
"Last year, I was fortunate to get in games as much as I did and get quality reps whether it was the third or fourth quarter," Brennan said. "The aggressiveness (in play-calling) helped because I was able to run our entire offense and not just the same four plays to burn the clock." ...
"I am very confident that Myles is ready to lead this football team," Ensminger said. "Heck, join the bandwagon. Let's go."
Ed Orgeron has repeatedly echoed Ensminger's sentiments. "We don't expect Myles to be the next Joe Burrow. If Myles is that, I can promise ain't nobody going to be mad at him. I just need him to be the best Myles Brennan he can be. I think he's going to have a great year."
"You wait your turn, soak in as much knowledge as possible, work to constantly improve and stay ready to play until it's your time," said Myles, a redshirt junior. "Now is my time." ...
As a QB who rarely played under center in high school, he had to do so as a true LSU freshman learning an offense of a freshly hired coordinator who had a playbook loaded with formation shifts and motion.
Then as a sophomore in a more traditional LSU offense coordinated by a former Tigers' starting QB, Myles was redshirted when he was edged for the starting QB vacancy by an Ohio State graduate transfer.
Last season after a first year hotshot passing game coordinator installed concepts that were in Myles's wheelhouse, he played in 10 games as again backup to that Ohio State import named Joe Burrow ...
Then this past March 12, after just three LSU spring practices, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced he was shutting down spring sports because of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
A few days later, LSU said it was closing the campus and switching to online classes until further notice. ...
Myles' parents are former Tulane athletes who competed in the late 1970s. Owen was an outside linebacker ... and Megan was the first female in school history to receive an athletic scholarship as a volleyball and basketball player. It was Owen and Megan who set up a QB-specific obstacle course for Myles to keep football-sharp. "They had brought nets with targets for me to throw into, bought cones and ladders for my footwork," an appreciative Myles said. "They had pulled two or three trash cans up on the hill ... for me to loft balls in the cans. They had trees set out as targets like receivers running different routes." ...
L-R: Bill Conides and Myles Brennan, Steve Ensminger
When Conides was named head coach in January 2014, Myles began a three-year run as starting QB. From 2014 to 2016, St. Stanislaus went 34-8, averaged 40.0 points scoring 40 or more points 26 times and lost twice in the Class 4A state championship game to Noxubee County.
Myles became and remains the state of Mississippi's all-time high school career leader in total offense (16,168y), passing yards (15,138) and passing touchdowns (166).
Conides' uptempo spread offense - "A quick passing game and take your shots downfield, a run-and-shoot West Coast style, fastbreak basketball on grass," he said - fit Myles perfectly.
Because that offense operates at a breathless pace, from play call to snap to instantaneous QB reads and throws, Conides created drills to quicken Myles' sensory reactions. It ultimately made game competition easy.
The first drill was called "Chaos." Upon taking a snap, Myles had dodgeballs thrown at him from head-to-toe. He had to duck, dodge and dart before firing to one of three stationary receivers.
The second drill, which Conides said was for Myles to develop the ability to "being able to close your eyes, to use a different sense to move out of the way." He blindfolded Myles and then tossed at him Dasani plastic water bottles partially filled with rocks.
The LSU interest and almost immediate scholarship offer and commitment by Myles on April 23, 2016, seemingly came out of thin air. Then-LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron messaged him in class that he was on his way to St. Stanislaus to visit him. Three days later, Myles and his parents took an official visit. As Myles was walking out of then-head coach Les Miles' door to conclude the visit, he committed.
When Miles and Cameron were fired in September ..., Myles briefly de-committed after his season ended in November. After a brief flirtation with Oklahoma State, he re-committed to LSU.
"Myles understood LSU is where he's supposed to be," Conides said, "and that God has a plan that's going to work out."
Myles, at a solid 220 pounds, is no longer the skinny 6-4, 185-pound freshman who spent his first two years inhaling several meals a day and gulping protein shakes.
After learning new offensive schemes under coordinators Matt Canada (2017), Steve Ensminger (2018) and Ensminger/Joe Brady (2019), Myles will operate this season in the same system for the second straight year for the first time in his college career.
Myles has developed a close relationship with Ensminger, who's just the third former LSU player and QB among the Tigers' 13 offensive coordinators over the last 60 years. ...
Thanks to Burrow, Myles is the most game experienced LSU backup QB moving into a starting role in recent years. ... Myles directed nine TD drives (including one against Oklahoma in the CFP semifinals) and finished the season completing 24 of 40 passes for 353y, one TD and one interception.
"Last year, I was fortunate to get in games as much as I did and get quality reps whether it was the third or fourth quarter," Brennan said. "The aggressiveness (in play-calling) helped because I was able to run our entire offense and not just the same four plays to burn the clock." ...
"I am very confident that Myles is ready to lead this football team," Ensminger said. "Heck, join the bandwagon. Let's go."
Ed Orgeron has repeatedly echoed Ensminger's sentiments. "We don't expect Myles to be the next Joe Burrow. If Myles is that, I can promise ain't nobody going to be mad at him. I just need him to be the best Myles Brennan he can be. I think he's going to have a great year."