How Archie Manning helped connect Tyler Shough with throwing coach Landry Klann – and what they’ve worked on

Tyler Shough started making Southern Louisiana connections long before he wound up as the Saints’ highest-drafted quarterback in 54 years.

Funny enough, it was Archie Manning himself who helped make that happen.

Shough was a two-time counselor at the Manning Passing Academy when he was at Texas Tech in 2021 and 2022. That’s also where he first met his throwing coach Landry Klann – a former Nicholls State quarterback.

And years before that, it was a recommendation from Manning that led to Klann working for David Morris’ prominent QB Country development program in the first place.

“We talked about (that Louisiana connection) a lot. His experience here and just what the Saints mean to the city, because he’s seen it firsthand,” Shough said of his conversations with Klann during the predraft process. “I think it was just a really cool moment when it all kind of came together. Through the draft process, you’re gonna be happy wherever you go. But when it came to fruition, this was the spot that we really wanted to be.”

Manning feels the same way – and not just because Shough is planning to come back down to Thibodaux later this month to help with the camp for a third time. Manning had stayed in touch with Shough, sending occasional texts during his college career and the pre-draft process.

“He had a great attitude, just a real positive kid. I do think he’s a special kid – and obviously he’s got talent,” said Manning, who also remembered Shough as “kind of a movie-star looking kid.”

“We enjoyed him. He’s got plenty of personality, and always looked like he really wanted to be there. He was great with the campers, but also all the other quarterbacks seemed to like Tyler.”

Morris was Eli Manning’s backup at Ole Miss before he began his career as one of the country’s top QB mentors, working with guys such as Drake Maye, Bo Nix, Daniel Jones and of course Arch Manning. And Morris and the QB Country team have been instrumental in helping to run the Manning Passing Academy in recent years.

Shough hit it off with Morris and Klann during his time in Thibodaux, so he arranged to work with Morris again when he returned to Texas Tech. Morris is based in Mobile, Ala., but they met for a three-day session in Dallas, where Klann has run operations since that branch opened in 2018. And Shough has continued to go back and work with Klann there ever since that first session went so well.

“He was big in my development and my throwing motion,” Shough said. “Landry has just been great for helping me become more rotational as a thrower. A lot of the different arm angles, using my body more. I owe a lot of credit to him, especially through this draft process.

“He’s extremely smart. He helped me out with learning different playbooks in the offseason. Throughout this whole draft process, you’re learning the Senior Bowl playbook, you’re learning a packet for each team – so I had 10, 11 packets to learn and talk through, plus the combine stuff and everything like that.”

Why Klann sees a Joe Burrow comp

Unfortunately, learning a variety of new offenses has become the norm for Shough after a seven-year college career that included stops at Oregon, Texas Tech and Louisville and was interrupted by collarbone and fibula injuries. Shough said he ran a total of five offenses in college, so the Saints’ offense will be his sixth.

But along the way, he has obviously become adept at adapting – culminating with his long-overdue breakout during his one year at Louisville in a pro-style offense.

“It's an everyday process because sometimes the footwork's different; most of the time it is. Your read components can be different. The verbiage is obviously very different,” Shough said. “But for me, the plays are the plays. You know what's good against what. And you have to build that background knowledge, then you just go out and operate. You pull from each, but at the same time, you're growing every single year.

“I feel like I've grown so much every year compared to four or five years ago, whenever you're 21, 20. I think that's the best part, and I feel physically better than I ever have.”

Klann said the biggest thing they’ve worked on over that time is “just consistency with upper body posture and understanding how that kind of sets the foundation for all the different arm angles that he is capable of.”

If you’ve watched Shough’s film, you can see those arm angles are a big part of what makes him special – and Klann wanted to make sure that didn’t get lost while focusing on the fundamentals.

“(We worked on) not letting his spine or his upper body run away from him and create inconsistencies,” Klann explained. “The upper body can kind of move to your off side, and sometimes that can affect your throws and just your accuracy. And so it's really two things. It was, one, just making sure he understood that and being intentional about kind of keeping that within a certain degree. But then also encouraging some of the throws that he's capable of making.

“In the old-school kind of teaching, that’s constantly discouraged, or people trying to minimize it a little bit. Whereas the game is obviously moving that way. I always credit (Aaron) Rodgers as kind of being the guy that started that, but then also (Patrick) Mahomes has made a living off it, he can execute it consistently. And I feel like Tyler has a very similar ability.

“And so I feel like sometimes he was being too rigid based on some previous instruction. And it was really just giving him permission to really open that up, because he's capable of it – within some of the things that we were talking about. Just like, ‘Hey, play within these ranges. But then within that, you can do whatever you need to make the throw. And so I felt like we were big on encouraging that.”

Klann said they also focused on the footwork patterns that lead into some of those “awkward” throws and repped it to the point where it became very instinctual and natural.

(Photo of coach Landry Klann from QB Country website)

Klann admits he is obviously biased, but he was also unapologetic when he used Joe Burrow as his best comp for Shough’s talent and potential.

“A lot of people would scoff at this, but I really think Joe Burrow is a legitimate comp,” Klann said. “I think they're very similar in size. I actually think Tyler is a more talented thrower, but I really think just as far as their mobility, ability to create and make some of those awkward throws, I think it’s very similar. And I think Tyler and Burrow are both very mentally attuned to the game. They see the game at a high level, and they're able to make adjustments to put their team in a situation that gives the offense the best chance to have a successful play.

“I think people will start to see that more in the future. I know that's obviously like a bold statement, but I think that's truly a legitimate comparison. And I think that's what coaches saw during the process, Once the process started, people got to see him at the Senior Bowl, people got to be around him and have those conversations about football and what he was responsible for in the offenses that he ran and how he was able to kind of orchestrate that. I think that's why he shot up so much during the draft process.

“I think the lack of film was the only thing that kept him from being the second pick or the first pick. Like, he's in that conversation. If he's able to put a couple of years together as opposed to just one year because of injury, that for sure is the type of talent. That’s how highly I think of him.”

Saints quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien was someone who spent a considerable amount of time with Shough during the pre-draft process – in addition to the scouts who had been researching Shough for years, of course. That included a lunch with Shough while visiting his pro day.

Tolzien said there are some who might value Shough’s age and experience as a 25-year-old, while others might prefer a younger player with more theoretical room to grow and develop. But Tolzien said those are just opinions, so you “try to watch the tape and always try to keep that the main thing.”

“I think the first thing, it doesn’t take long to figure out that he’s accurate. I think that comes from just playing the position myself, and you can figure out pretty fast if someone’s accurate or they’re not,” Tolzien said. “(Then you see) he can command the huddle, can make plays, really raises the level of everyone else’s play. And then when you go meet with him, now you’re trying to dig in on maybe what their football history is, the above-the-neck part. He’s obviously seen a lot of ball, and I think that really helps guys entering this league.

“Now these guys have a lot of experiences, not only at one school but multiple schools. You know, college football is a little bit closer to free agency. So guys have to learn how to command a new locker room and get used to a new playbook fast. And I think that serves them well entering the league.”

Determined to make it work

Klann said he saw the “writing on the wall” that his own playing career wouldn’t go far beyond Nicholls State. So, he knew coaching was going to be his preferred path. His dad was his high school coach in San Antonio. And Klann got some experience assisting the Nicholls coaching staff while dealing with some injuries late in his career – one year with the offense and another year with the defense.

Klann had already decided he wanted to open up his own QB-developmental program, and he started waiting tables in the Dallas area to pay the rent in the meantime.

“I was basically going to live broke until I made it work,” Klann recalled.

But his big break came when a mutual acquaintance arranged for him to sit down with Manning – basically just to discuss his thoughts on the QB position and maybe to offer some career advice. It was after that meeting that Manning recommended Klann to Morris. Morris was planning to open a branch in Dallas, and Klann turned out to be the perfect fit.

Current Ravens and former Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush was one of Klann’s first clients. He has also worked with NFL QBs such as Bailey Zappe, Stetson Bennett and recent Saints backup Ben DiNucci.

Shough and Klann will work together again between minicamp and the start of next month’s training camp. And now they’ll be armed with the knowledge of the specific offense Shough will be running in New Orleans while competing with Spencer Rattler to earn the starting job.

“We’re going to have a good game plan of figuring out where we feel like we can get an edge and ultimately earn that job and make the coaches believe that he’s the guy for it,” Klann said. “Physically, he’s ready. We’ll continue to chip away at those little details and stuff like that. But there’s no major flaws from a physical execution side that we have to address or anything like that.

“If there were, he wouldn’t have shot up the way that he shot up during the process.”