Sayville's Jack Coan hoping to impress teams at NFL Combine

INDIANAPOLIS — Jack Coan stood on a podium at the Combine on Wednesday wondering what the skinny sophomore quarterback at Sayville who thought he’d become a lacrosse player in college and not an NFL prospect would make of his current situation.

"He would think it’s amazing," Coan said. "That kid knows how hard he has worked to get here and it’s unbelievable. Not too many people from Long Island get to make it here . . . It’s a dream come true and I hope to represent Long Island well."

He has to this point, first playing and starting at Wisconsin and then finishing his career at Notre Dame last fall. Now he is ready to make the next jump in his improbable career and hoping that an NFL team will have seen enough from him over the years to either draft or sign him as a free agent this spring.

"I really just want to show my hard work and intelligence," he said of his Combine goals. "I am a guy who will come in and work as hard as anyone. I say that confidently. I want to be a great teammate first and foremost. And what separates me is probably my intelligence and that comes from a lot of hard work and preparation. At the next level, there is a lot that goes into the playbook as far as checks and kills and alerts and different things like that. Guys who work hard and can truly process that are the ones who are successful and sustain their careers. I think I’ll be able to do that."

He's already gotten a taste of that running the Colts offense for their coaching staff at the Shrine Game in January, but also making the leap from one college program to another.

"I think it was a great experience for me because it was basically a practice run for what it will be like going from college to the NFL, walking into a completely different locker room, building relationships with all new guys, learning a different system, having to figure out quickly how to have success right away," he said. "I just feel like my knowledge of knowing two different systems gives me an advantage compared to some other guys."

His Long Island roots set him apart as well. Not many pro quarterbacks hail from the region and it took a great deal of effort from Coan’s high school coach, Rob Hoss, to even get college programs to come take a look at his record-setting player who had already committed to Notre Dame . . . but as a lacrosse player.

"Obviously, I come from Long Island where most people play lacrosse and there are not too many Division I football players," he said. "I really thought I was going to be playing lacrosse, didn’t know football would be an option. I always had the dream of playing in the NFL, though, and football was always my first love, so I’m super thankful that it worked out."

It’s put him in touch with another quarterback from Suffolk County, too: Boomer Esiason.

"He’s texted me now and then after a few games," Coan said. "I mean it’s unbelievable getting a text from a guy like him. I know he’s rooting for me and he’s been a great role model."

Not his only one, though. Asked if there is an NFL player to whom Coan might compare, he shot for the moon.

"I mean, probably Tom Brady," Coan said. "His story and how crazy it was and how no one knew he was going to be the best quarterback of all time . . . I’m not saying that’s going to be me but that’s a guy I’ve always tried to emulate and have as a role model."

It will take a lot to measure up to Brady’s Hall of Fame career. Measuring up to Brady’s Combine performance? That’s a little more reachable and a quest that will begin on Thursday night with on-field workouts.

"I think so," Coan said when asked if he will be able to run a faster 40-yard dash than the plodding, awkward Brady did nearly a quarter century ago in his legendarily unimpressive Combine workout. "I mean, I hope so."

Even that skinny high school sophomore probably could, even if he would have had trouble imagining the opportunity to do so.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.