Lazor learned from the best

Used to be when Joe Gibbs was head coach of the Washington Redskins, staff meetings stretched deep into the night.

So deep, in fact, that Gibbs always knew it was time to break up when the garbage trucks showed up at the trash cans at Redskins Park.

That was 3 a.m.

Virginia’s new offensive coordinator, Bill Lazor, sat through many of those meetings as an offensive assistant, then quarterbacks coach for four years, learning from the master.

“That’s how [Gibbs] got it done,” Lazor said Saturday after a snowy tour of the University of Virginia campus. “It was good to be in the room, although at times, you were ready to leave.”

All part of the education of a young assistant striving to absorb as much football knowledge as possible in an attempt to win games.

Lazor, a 37-year-old guy who could easily pass for 27, has had the rare opportunity to learn under some of the best football minds in the business, including three Hall of Famers: Gibbs, Dan Reeves, and Mike Holmgren. Gibbs is already in. Reeves and Holmgren will be shoo-ins for Canton when the time comes.

Like any young assistant worth his salt, Lazor learned all he could at each stop.

“There were so many great lessons from each of them and other coaches I have worked for as well,” Lazor said.

“The thing that stands out from coach Holmgren was the way he coached the quarterback and wanted the quarterback coached,” Lazor said. “The way he presented things to me about what he believed was important how the quarterback should play. He had a real vision of the offense and what he felt his offense should look like, the tempo, everything.”

When Lazor came to the Seahawks he learned quickly how Holmgren operated. The veteran coach told Lazor, “If you’re going to coach the quarterbacks, you better wear an iron jockstrap.”

There was no sugarcoating in Holmgren’s operation.

Because Holmgren had run the same West Coast offense for so long, he could easily watch a play and quickly diagnose if it fit or if it didn’t look right and how to fix it.

Seattle was Lazor’s last stop with Holmgren and Jim Mora Jr.

His first NFL opportunity came with Reeves in Atlanta, as an offensive quality control coach in 2003. He was almost mesmerized that season working for Reeves.

“I watched a man who had been doing it for a long time, but just had such a great poise and such control and just understood what he was going to do in a football game,” Lazor said. “I thought he was excellent at calling plays and putting the whole package together and seeing the big picture when dealing with the details. He was just a great play-caller, had a great feel for what play to call and I felt like I learned something every day.”

The man in the middle was the legendary Gibbs. Lazor worked for the Redskins from 2004 through 2007, the last two as quarterbacks coach.

“What makes Coach Gibbs stand out was that he worked with such great determination,” the new UVa OC said. “He would keep working at things until he found a solution.”

Upon his introduction to the Virginia media on Friday, Lazor said his offensive philosophy was built off two notions: to be explosive and to be physical. He expounded on that Saturday.

“You’ve got to have some explosiveness and that usually comes from the passing game, the easiest way to get big chunks of yardage,” he said. “At the end of a season, when you add up the explosive plays a team had, those usually come from the passing game.”

With so many new coaches coming together with vastly different backgrounds, putting together Virginia’s offensive system will be challenging, but at the same time fun in Lazor’s eyes.

After a quick trip back to the Seattle area, he will return to Charlottesville and immerse himself in learning UVa’s personnel and coming up with ideas that will work with the Cavaliers.

For the first time since he left the University of Buffalo in 2002, Lazor will be the guy calling the plays, something he believes he was quite accomplished at doing and something he welcomes doing again.

He will use practices this spring to become reacquainted with calling plays live, but won’t wait until then.

“Just like anything, you have to practice, so some of that may come in team practice situations, but sometimes it will just be myself going through scenarios,” Lazor said. “I will work at it until I know I’m ready. The only gauge of that is when I know that I’m comfortable.”

Still, the new coach said there’s nothing in rehearsal that matches the intensity of the first game.

He believes he’ll be more than ready. Having been exposed to some quality play callers during his career, he’s learned a lot.

“I don’t think there’s just one way to do it,” Lazor said. “I’ve seen some coaches who like to script the beginning of a game and be specific in what they call. I’ve been with other coaches who like to have a large menu and like to have a lot of options in a game because they may want to go in a different direction.

“The ultimate definition would be a guy whose plays work,” he chuckled.

Much of that work comes in preparation and planning during the week so that the entire staff and players know what to expect in most every situation.

“Some of it is your personality and the personality the whole offense takes on,” Lazor said of the play-calling. “We’ll work all that out as we go forward, but I like to go into battle with a lot of bullets in my belt and have plenty of options, not only to have a plan, but contingencies ready in case the opponent does something different so that you can take advantage.”

See, he wasn’t dozing during those 3 a.m. meetings.