‘A pro before he was a pro’: How Jake Haener’s lifelong approach led him to Saints

Jake Haener told us during draft weekend that he started wearing Saints gear in first and second grade because he planned to emulate Drew Brees’ path to the NFL – and switched to No. 9 in college for the same reason.

But those weren’t just cute little coincidences. They’re part of a very deliberate lifelong road map that led the driven 6-foot-tall rookie quarterback to the NFL.

Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford actually first met Haener around the time he was heading into junior high in Northern California, when Tedford was coaching at Cal and a mutual friend of Haener’s family helped arrange a workout at a local park.

“I was out there that day when he was young – and he was kind of telling me what to do,” Tedford recalled with a laugh. “He was kind of telling me what he does. And I was like, ‘Whoa, timeout, you need to listen to what we’re doing here.’ But he was just so into it.

“So at that time I thought he needed to work on his foot quickness. So I gave him a goal of jumping 500 reps of jump rope without missing. Well, I don’t know how many months it was later, I get a text message or call from him, ‘I did it!’ So he took that to heart. … Now he jumps rope like that, and he’ll just be rolling past 500. And he just laughs and sends me the video.

“He was all-in to being a quarterback. And it’s never changed.”

#Saints draft pick QB Jake Haener rockin’ a @ReggieBush jersey back in the day 🏈 https://t.co/1T6jJ77DbX pic.twitter.com/XMazsBon0r— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 1, 2023

Rookie QB Jake Haener in his new threads ⚜️@jakehaener10 | 📍@NFLPA Rookie Premiere📷: (@benliebenberg - NFL) pic.twitter.com/nZNWjequ1Y— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 21, 2023

Haener carried that same approach through high school and college – complete with an admitted chip on his shoulder from “a lot of people that said I’d never be in this position.”

After his freshman year at the University of Washington, Haener began working closely with quarterback guru John Beck at the same 3DQB facility that is also run by Brees’ longtime throwing coach Tom House and Adam Dedeaux in Southern California. When Haener lost a close competition for the Huskies’ starting QB job as a sophomore in 2019, his determination only continued to ramp up when he transferred to Fresno State and had to sit out a year.

“What I told the coaches when teams would call me (for draft insight), I just said he has a professional process as a collegiate player. Like, it stands out. He’s highly dedicated,” said Beck, who also works with Jameis Winston among many other top QBs. “Obviously he’s been doubted because of his size, but he’s been a baller the whole time.

“There’s never a day where things are just OK, there’s never a day where his focus isn’t at peak level. You know, every quarterback has days where they don’t throw it as good or they’ve got things to work on. But he’s never been a guy that has not shown up fully dedicated to his process.”

Inevitable Brees parallels

Tedford, who helped recruit Haener to both Washington (as a consultant) and Fresno State (as head coach), said Haener’s dedication can be seen in every bit of his approach, including a strict diet that had him pack his own meals on road trips last season.

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve gotta be really detailed. And I feel like if you want to be a really good pro, you’ve gotta have a really good approach,” Haener said. “Working with John and meeting John was great for me … that COVID year was really a year for me that I grew a lot. I feel like I really understood what it was gonna take to play at this level and how to treat my body, resources I needed to give myself the best opportunity to perform on Saturdays. And just immersed myself in it, met a lot of great people, obviously can’t do it myself.”

Haener also takes that level of detail into the huddle – where Tedford gave him a tremendous amount of trust and responsibility to change protections or formations or route concepts based on what he saw from defenses.

“He could do anything he wanted to do because he always had a reason for it. When you’d say, ‘Why’d you do that?’ he would tell you,” said Tedford, who has coached the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Trent Dilfer among others in his career. “His vision and his focus on the football field, understanding is at an elite level. He understands the protections, the coverages. He studies. He’s gonna find the holes. And then he’s good enough to put the ball in any hole there is too.

“He’s like another coach on the field, no doubt, He’d be drawing up plays in the offseason. ‘How ‘bout this? How ‘bout this?’ He’s a football junkie. He loves it, and he’s got a great mind for it.”

Beck said that will translate well into the NFL – and he didn’t shy away from drawing the inevitable “parallels” to Brees in that regard.

“Both are very, very smart. They can process quickly. And in terms of physical capacity, both are doing everything they possibly can to maximize physical potential and mechanical efficiency,” said Beck, who got into the teaching business after he developed a relationship with Brees and began training with him in the offseason while both were NFL quarterbacks.

“Some people get by on raw ability, and they’re not fanatical about mechanical efficiency. ‘Am I getting every percentage point I can out of myself?’ Both of those guys are fanatical about it.”

(For the record, at least one draft analyst compared Haener to someone other than Brees, when The Athletic’s Dane Brugler told NOF he could see a projection similar to Commanders starter/backup Taylor Heinicke.)

‘Kind of born with it’

The Saints got to appreciate Haener’s qualities up close at the Senior Bowl when assistant coaches Ronald Curry and D.J. Williams spent the week coaching Haener as the offensive coordinator and QB coach of the National Team.

Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. said that week really enhanced their opinion of Haener, how he interacted with his teammates, how he took in the information on the field and spit it back out clearly and precisely in the huddle etc.

And Carmichael said they have already seen those same traits in a small sample size through offseason workouts and rookie minicamp (where the fourth-round pick stood out during the one practice session open to the media).

“He clearly has an exact knowledge of what we’re trying to do with the offense,” Carmichael said. “I know it’s early – and it’s been a very minimal install. But his ability to process that, get in and out of the huddle. And then when he’s on the field, the chains are moving.

“That’s the one (biggest thing) when you’re watching (his college tape). The chains just keep moving. Has good production, you feel like you’re watching a player that makes good decisions, knows where to go with the ball, locates the ball accurately.”

Carmichael also mentioned Haener’s history of “big-time moments in some pressure situations” in college – including dramatic come-from-behind wins in the final minute against UCLA in 2021 and San Diego State in 2022 while fighting through injuries in both situations.

Tedford resigned for health reasons after the 2019 season but returned to Fresno State for the 2022 season – when Haener finished his career by leading the Bulldogs to a Mountain West championship.

More than any other quality, Tedford raved about Haener’s poise and the belief he instilled into his teammates.

“You take the San Diego State game last year, we score 15 points in 13 seconds to win the game. Touchdown, two-point conversion pass, onside kick, touchdown pass,” Tedford said. “The poise and control and the respect of his teammates. He’s extremely tough, and the kids just gravitate toward him.

“He’s a pro. He was a pro before he was a pro.”

🏈 Highlights from @FresnoStateFB’s 32-28 comeback victory over San Diego State to win the Old Oil Can#AtThePeak | #MWFB | #GoDogs pic.twitter.com/0qLGamzZ0O— Mountain West (@MountainWest) October 30, 2022

Haener has spent a lifetime cultivating those qualities. But it all started back when he was wearing those Saints jerseys and beanies to school in first grade.

“I think you’re kind of born with it,” Haener said. “I just think I kind of had that demeanor from Day 1, and I think this game really brings it out of me – especially in clutch moments. I think you see that come out of me in those situations.”