Mike Giovando considers himself blessed.
Working with potential quarterbacks at a young age for more than 20 years and full-time for about seven, he’s especially excited that one of those pupils, New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, will be returning home to the Valley for his pro debut Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals.
Rattler passed for 11,083 yards and 116 touchdowns at Pinnacle High School and began training with Giovando while playing for the Scottsdale Firebirds in the sixth grade.
He chose Oklahoma and was considered a Heisman Trophy favorite in 2021, but was benched during the season for some guy named Caleb Williams and eventually transferred to South Carolina.
Even more hard work began last December as he prepared for the Combine and Pro Day with three to four workouts a week. The Saints eventually selected him in the fifth round of the draft. Notably, while he was the seventh quarterback selected in the 2024 draft, he was the first picked after Bo Nix, who was selected 12th overall in the first round.
Giovando acknowledged it was a crucial offseason for his pupil after the ups and downs of his college career.
“He did a good job of not letting that bring him down,” Giovando said. “He got adapted to the pro-style stuff at South Carolina and was excited to get to work and show everybody he has the talent to play at the next level.”
Then, after the offseason program ended, there was more work to be done after Rattler learned how the Saints wanted him to do things.
He told Saints media earlier this week he spent his time prior to the start of training back in Arizona with Giovando.
“Just cleaning up fundamentals and working on little things that we noticed in spring ball and OTAs,” Rattler said. “And really improved in some of those areas and came back and got right back to work.
“Just very small things, footwork-wise – false steps, little punch steps on your drop, not getting too much depth, maintaining that circle in the pocket, not hitching too much. Little, minute things that can add up to negative plays. You’ve got to control that and avoid that.”
Giovando told Cards Wire, “We worked on everything he could possibly work on to be ready to have this opportunity to shine in camp. Footwork. Drops that they like to do. The way they want him to drop. How they want him to get through progressions. Some teams want your left foot up. Some teams want your right foot up in the shotgun.
“Some teams have a crossover when (the quarterback) drops. Some teams have more of like a slide and a shuffle. All those little, tiny things that you probably wouldn’t think matter, but they do. He brought those to my attention.”
Noting that they went “by the book” for the Combine and Pro Day, Giovando said, “When you get to a team, now they say this is how we like to do it. We did tons of reps on the little details; really cleaning up the little things.”
Derek Carr is the Saints starting quarterback and Rattler is currently competing with Jake Haener for the backup job.
Head coach Dennis Allen said, “I think he’s improving every day. There’s still some things that he’s doing – just understanding how to play within the scheme of the offense, how to get through your progressions, knowing how to listen to your feet, when to take your chances down the field, when it’s time to check the ball down – all those things are pretty good learning experiences.”
The next three weeks are obviously important. Allen said, “I think we’re going to let these preseason games play it out. We’re trying to determine if we have a backup quarterback on our roster right now. I’ve seen some signs that I like. And yet, I want to get them into real, live situations, under the lights, and see how both of these guys operate in that environment. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen out of both Spencer and Jake, and yet, we haven’t made any decisions there. I want to see what they operate like under the lights.
“I would say, I’m going to give these young guys every opportunity to prove that they’re deserving of that role. And that comes through what you do out here on the practice field, and what they’re going to do when they get into the preseason games.”
Giovando, who will be at the game Saturday, is hopeful. His dad, Ken, who passed away four years ago, coached for many years at Scottsdale Community College and Mike played the position and coached for 27 years before finding his niche.
“I love the quarterback challenge, everything it entails,” he said. “Not just throwing, but the mental part. It’s fun to watch guys figure it out and hopefully master it.”
Another one of his “students,” former Gilbert High School and Purdue product Jack Plummer, started Friday night as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers. He has several others in college and trains six or seven at a time in the offseason.
Giovando concluded, “I sit around and go, ‘Wow, it’s so hard to get to this level and yet I have two guys that spent time with me from 12, 13 years old and now they’re getting their shot at their dream.’”
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