What the Tulane QBs Can Learn From Green Bay Packers Rookie

The Tulane Green Wave quarterbacks competing for the starting job have a great predecessor to learn from in Michael Pratt.

Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Tulane Green Wave have a quarterback competition going on, and Green Bay Packers rookie Michael Pratt's legacy left both big shoes to fill and an opportunity to emulate.

It's not easy to come in on the heels of a quarterback who changed program history, like Pratt. He led the greatest single-season turnaround in college football history with traits on and off the field.

A few weeks ago, when I spoke with Michael Pratt for Tulane on Sports Illustrated, he talked about his time at Tulane and how it shaped him. During that time, there was a lot of turnover on the coaching staff, as well as a new offensive coordinator every year since he started playing football.

With each season comes a body of work and enough time to form chemistry and consistency as an offense. Neither Kai Horton nor Ty Thompson have that much time left; the starter may not be revealed until the opener.

Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

Pratt told me about his Senior Bowl experience and how that bolstered his comfort throwing to a group of strangers.

"When you're throwing to guys you've never thrown to before, you have to sharpen what you're seeing and how you read body language. I was able to throw to some guys for a couple of years at Tulane; I was throwing to Quan (Jha'Quan Jackson) for four years. Being put in those situations like the Senior Bowl, where it's new receivers, you have to understand their body language, how they're taking angles, and how many steps they take running routes, and that some guys steps are bigger than others. It was definitely a positive experience being there.”

This year, under a new head coach, offensive coordinator, and system, Horton and Thompson must navigate this unfamiliarity. Both have areas to grow and improve. That’s something Michael Pratt is consistently aware of; he’s adjusted his approach to leadership since coming in as a rookie.

A rookie who isn’t going to be the starter. That’s going to be one of the two between Horton and Thompson. Jon Sumrall’s core values are attitude, toughness, discipline, and love. He sees the attitude of whoever doesn't win the starting role as critical to team unity.

Pratt is used to being a vocal leader and being able to help guys out and hold people accountable. He’s sagely aware of how his approach has to change taking that step back.

“Early on in this situation [in Green Bay], you have to earn everyone’s respect around you before you can really become a vocal leader. That's kind of my process right now—doing the little things, right? Sprinting all around, finishing through lines, doing, like I said, the little things right, walkthrough, taking everything seriously, not messing around. And building those relationships with the people around me, so that when there's something that I'm saying—if we're in walkthrough and somebody's talking while Coach is talking or people are goofing off—if I am then at that point where I can tell 'em, ‘Hey, let's go lock in; let's get through this. Let's finish; let's pay attention.’ That's something that they'll take seriously and not feel offended.”

“I think a big part of that is getting to know everybody around you and knowing personalities and how people react to different things. Because I think as a leader in any position, whether you're a boss, whether you're a coach, whether you're a player, in any leadership position in life, I think you can't necessarily lead everybody the same. I think a big aspect of it is the relationship aspect.”

Coach Jon Sumrall has asked for more leadership out of his quarterbacks. However, the leadership can't take a backseat in the backup job. In Pratt’s remarks, there’s advice for the starter and the one who backs him up week to week. Both quarterbacks can learn a lot from Michael Pratt’s leadership and his approach to relationship-building.