Patience pays off
Matt Flynn loves LSU.
A native Texan, he's embraced the Louisiana heritage. Heck, the 22-year-old Matt Flynn named his 3-year-old, 130-pound Italian mastiff Boudreaux, not exactly a common name in the northeastern Texas town of Tyler.
"I was just trying to get a little Cajun flair," Matt Flynn said, laughing.
Matt Flynn can laugh these days. There was a point late last season, however, when he had to start thinking about leaving LSU and putting his football future ahead of his good times in Baton Rouge. That point came in December, as LSU was preparing for its Sugar Bowl game against Notre Dame.
Matt Flynn went to his good friend, then-LSU starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and asked the Mobile native if he planned to return to LSU for his senior season or take off the purple and gold a year early and make some NFL franchise happy.
"We'd been here together for a few years and we have a pretty close relationship," Matt Flynn said. "I didn't know what I was going to do. I had to look at some opportunities somewhere. I really didn't have anything specific. I just kind of wanted to know for myself."
Matt Flynn watched JaMarcus Russell outduel Notre Dame's Brady Quinn that night in New Orleans, knowing full well it was JaMarcus Russell's LSU finale. The long wait, Matt Flynn knew, had finally ended. His chance to lead LSU as the starting quarterback had arrived.
"It was tough," Matt Flynn said. "When you come into a place like this, everyone in high school has been good. You're a competitor. You play a competitive sport. You want to get out there and play and show what you can do. It's hard for me to say I should've been playing over JaMarcus because JaMarcus is obviously a great player. He was the No. 1 draft pick overall. I can't say I should've been playing all along."
JaMarcus Russell is now negotiating a deal with the Oakland Raiders that will allow him to begin his professional career. Matt Flynn, a 6-foot-3, 228-pounder, has emerged as the offensive leader of an LSU team that is ranked as high as No. 2 in some preseason magazine previews and is a consensus national championship contender.
Matt Flynn is used to the high praise for the Tigers. He's just not used to playing such a prominent role.
"Being ranked so high is a tribute to the players we have now and the players that we've had in the past," he said. "It's a reputation we've built up as a team and as a school. It feels good that people are ranking us that high and it makes us very confident. We believe we have a chance to do something special this year, but we have to take one day at a time because we haven't taken one snap yet as a team."
Matt Flynn was part of the same recruiting class with JaMarcus Russell. After redshirting in 2003, Matt Flynn has competed for -- and lost -- the LSU quarterback job for the past three seasons. While JaMarcus Russell emerged as one of the nation's elite signal-callers, Matt Flynn held on extra points and field goals and mopped-up. Matt Flynn enters this season 43-of-78 passing for 689 yards, 10 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Most of those numbers came in the Tigers' 2006 Peach Bowl win over Miami, a game Matt Flynn started due to a season-ending shoulder injury suffered by JaMarcus Russell in the SEC Championship Game. Flynn was 13-for-22 passing for 196 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Tigers' 40-3 rout of the Hurricanes.
"I think that start was big for the confidence of the team in me," Matt Flynn said. "I've always had confidence in myself. I just haven't been able to go out and show it, but I think that game was bigger for my team than it was for me. For me to be able to go out there against a big-time opponent in a big game and play well is a huge confidence boost for my team in me."
"He's very athletic," LSU wide receiver Early Doucet said of Matt Flynn in an interview with ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel earlier this summer. "That's the thing about Matt. I've been working with him a long time. I always liked the way he threw the ball.
"I always knew he could be a leader. Seeing him do what he did in the Peach Bowl against a team like Miami spoke for itself."
Despite the fact that Matt Flynn never could overtake JaMarcus Russell, he never lost the backup job to hotshot Ryan Perrilloux. Former LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher never considered promoting Perrilloux. Fisher liked everything about Matt Flynn -- physically, mentally, emotionally and intangibly.
"I have absolutely no doubt Matt's going to be a first-day draft choice," said Fisher, who left LSU for the offensive coordinator post at Florida State in January.
Fisher said leaving the chance to coach Matt Flynn's senior season was the toughest part of his decision to leave Baton Rouge for Tallahassee. Matt Flynn wasn't thrilled about Fisher's departure either, though the hiring of Gary Crowton at LSU heartened Matt Flynn quite a bit.
"Coach Fisher and I had a really good relationship," Matt Flynn said. "He was one of the reasons I came to LSU out of high school. He was a great coach, and he taught me a lot about the sport. I'm a better quarterback because of him. I wasn't very happy to see him go, but he made a good career move and he's going to do well at Florida State and get that program back to where it always has been.
"At the same time, we have a new offensive coordinator here who is doing really good things and I like him a lot. I'm excited to play for him this last year."
Crowton, a former head coach at Louisiana Tech and Brigham Young who also has experience as an offensive coordinator with the University of Oregon and the NFL's Chicago Bears, likes to air things out. Given LSU's wealth of targets at wide receiver and the Tigers' dynamic rushers, Crowton's offense could allow Matt Flynn to make up for lost time this fall.
"I don't think it will be that much different," Matt Flynn said. "There may be a little more shotgun, a little more spread. Other than that, we kept a lot of things from coach Fisher's offense and incorporated them into coach Crowton's offense. All in all, it will look the same. There will just be some new wrinkles."
"What I tried to do is keep as much of the good stuff as I was comfortable handling," Crowton told ESPN.com. "I don't want to try to do things I didn't know how (to do). I added a few things I thought would be productive. At Oregon, we were very spread out. At times, there were some things you miss, certain things in goal-line, short-yardage."
Matt Flynn just wants to get started. The Tigers open the season Aug. 30 against Mississippi State in Starkville. Nine days later, nationally ranked Virginia Tech comes to Baton Rouge for the Tigers' home opener. Matt Flynn isn't nervous. He isn't apprehensive. After four-plus years, he's just ready.
"Before the summer got here, I was wondering if the summer would go by fast," Matt Flynn said. "It seems like it actually has flown by pretty quick. I'm looking forward to things starting up."
After so much time in the shadows, the spotlight has never felt so good. Matt Flynn admits that people look at him differently now. Only Boudreaux treats him the same. Matt Flynn's not complaining either.
"Some places you go, here and there, now and then, I get treated a little differently," Matt Flynn said. "That's kind of nice to see."
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