Houston Texans receivers coach Robert Prince used to be on the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff under Jim L. Mora from 2004-06. In that span, Prince got to see the origin story for future Texans Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Schaub.
Prince, who says he still loves Matt Schaub, shared a story about the former 2004 third-round pick from Virginia when he visited with Texans Radio play-by-play Marc Vandermeer and sideline reporter John Harris.
“What a great learner,” Prince said. “I date myself. I used to have to fax the game plan to the guys Tuesday night. And then, so, Wednesday morning when they come in during the quarterback meeting, you could say, ‘Hey, Schauby, how we running Z-drive this week?’
“And he would go, ‘Here we’re going to go double Z-short or we’re also going to run it out of trips.’ He could tell you either way. You could ask him, ‘Hey, what plays are we running out of trips right, Z-short’ or whatever, and he could just rolodex it in his head. Just a smart guy.”
In Schaub’s rookie year, the Falcons played the Minnesota Vikings in the second preseason game, and it offered the young signal caller a chance to display his ability to process the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TyxP4jQP6c
“There was also a clip where he said, ‘Hey, listen, this play, we run this play, you get two-man, understand, you got to be your own checkdown and you have to take off running,'” said Prince.
When Schaub saw the two-man, according to Prince, the quarterback took off.
“I said, ‘That guy is going to be a good player one day,'” Prince said.
Schaub did have a productive career for the Texans from 2007-13, earning two Pro Bowl selections in 2009 and 2012. In 2009, Schaub won the NFL passing title as the Texans earned their first winning season in franchise history.