College Coaches Of Jarrett Stidham Give Intel On Patriots QB’s Mentality

Jarrett Stidham has a mentality that will surprise pretty much every Patriots fan. Although some may be skeptic about his leading role in New England, Stidham’s coaches have nothing but words of praise for him. Many have compared Stidham to Jimmy Garoppolo.

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was coaching Stidham with the Tigers. Troy head coach Chip Lindsey was offensive coordinator in Auburn during the quarterback’s starting window in 2017-18. Both of these coaches know Stidham really well.

“He’s like a coach,” Malzahn said. “He came in here, and he’s like a gym rat. He’s in the film room, he’s studying, he’s asking questions, protections, what-ifs. He’s that guy. The fact that he was able to learn under Brady for a year, I think is a great situation for him.”

Stidham learned a lot from Brady, and this will be of great help for him.

“I think what Jarrett does really well is he watches and pays attention,” Lindsey said of Stidham. “That year he spent last year doing that, I think it’s going to be extremely beneficial to him.”

Jarrett Stidham and his strong mentality

Stidham learned from Brady and was also a top quarterback in practice during Brady’s recovery. Malzahn and Lindsey said the team’s Erhardt-Perkins offensive system is great for their quarterback.

“As a coach, you just know what fits,” Malzahn said. “It was a fit.”

Stidham will be given a big role, but he is on a good way to succeed.

“I’m sure he’ll make mistakes here and there as he goes like any first-year quarterback does,” Lindsey said. “The best that have ever played, the Peyton Mannings, the Tom Bradys and all of those guys had learning curves, as well. I think, obviously, he’ll have some of that. The best thing that I’ve seen that Jarrett does is he doesn’t repeat his mistakes. Once he makes a mistake, he learns from it and usually doesn’t repeat that. I think that’s going to serve him well.”

Lindsey and Stidham talked in the past few months.

“I know he’s extremely excited about this opportunity,” Lindsey said. “I think he’s a guy that’s kind of — when you come play at Auburn in the SEC. I don’t know how much you’re familiar with this league or not, but you’re under the microscope every week. You’re playing the biggest game of the week every week it seems like. He’s had his fair share of being in the limelight, good and bad, and I think he understands very well that, as a quarterback, by nature of the position, you get more credit than you deserve and more blame than you deserve. I think he’s totally comfortable with that and very comfortable with himself, which I think will serve him well.”