Team first: How humility has helped guide former Idaho QB Doug Nussmeier’s path in football, life

Digital newspaper archives serve as valuable guideposts to the time-traveling researcher.

They are perfect for searching the roots of a successful person, to see how far they’ve come, or how much the years have changed them.

In the case of Doug Nussmeier, for instance, quotes from more than 30 years ago reveal some unwavering foundational principles, upon which he has stacked an impressive resume of achievements.

December 1993: The 22-year-old Idaho Vandals quarterback had just been named winner of the Walter Payton Award, the Heisman Trophy equivalent for Division I-AA football players.

A column here quoted Nussmeier’s deflection that such honors aren’t for an individual, but reflect the collective efforts of the team and coaches.

“I figured that if you spent much time thinking about winning (awards), you were cheating yourself and your teammates,” the young Nussmeier said.

In an interview this week, more than three decades later, when asked about his impending induction into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame, Nussmeier offered an almost verbatim response, sublimating the accolades of the individual for the recognition of the team.

One could suggest he’s in need of new material, but it’s more likely further testimony of who he has always been, and the interpretation that his successful career may be related to his humility, and the team-first perspective he’s operated under all along.

The highlights of that career are a Super Bowl title as quarterback coach with the Philadelphia Eagles in February, and a college football national championship as offensive coordinator at Alabama (2012).

Other coaching stays included high-profile college programs such as Florida, Washington and Michigan, and NFL stays with the Rams, Cowboys, Chargers and Eagles – and now in New Orleans as offensive coordinator of the Saints.

“Football’s been good to us,” he said.

And by “us,” that includes his entire family.

Wife Christie was a cheerleader for the Saints (who drafted him in the fourth round in 1994). His eldest son, Garrett, is the current betting favorite for the 2025 Heisman Trophy as quarterback for LSU (an hour and a half drive from New Orleans to Baton Rouge). His youngest son, Colton, is a four-star recruit quarterback in the class of 2027, at a school outside of Dallas.

His daughter, Ashlynn, meanwhile, was in the Green Room at the most recent NFL draft, as the girlfriend of Will Campbell, the LSU tackle who was taken with the No. 4 overall pick by the New England Patriots.

We would assume that the daughter in a family of quarterbacks would be predisposed to appreciating the qualities of a great left tackle.

It all could have been so much different.

Showing up in Moscow, Idaho, as a lightly regarded prospect from Lake Oswego, Oregon, Nussmeier recalled that head coach John L. Smith was on the fence between using him as a quarterback or an outside linebacker.

The challenge Nussmeier faced once he won the job was imposing: Replacing John Friesz, a three-time Big Sky MVP, All-American, and the Vandals’ first Payton Award winner.

Nussmeier attacked it aggressively, accumulating career totals of more than 10,000 yards passing and more than 1,000 yards rushing, capping his senior season with 33 touchdown passes with only five interceptions.

As he looked back to the Moscow seasons, the highlights were clear.

“The run we had over Boise State was pretty phenomenal, something we took a lot of pride in,” he said. “It meant a lot to us every year.”

The Vandals’ win streak over the Broncos extended 12 seasons, from 1982-1993.

As Nussmeier wrapped up the record-setting ’93 season, coaches spoke mostly about his intangible assets.

Quarterback coach Scott Linehan cited his “aura,” a product of “his leadership, his competitiveness – the refusal to lose.”

Smith claimed that Nussmeier was fueled by a competitiveness that manifested in his playing as if he had “a fire in his shorts.”

His five seasons in the NFL (four in New Orleans and one in Indianapolis) resulted in two starts and one touchdown pass.

His playing career ended in the CFL, with the B.C. Lions, where, after the 2000 season, he found himself on a couch rehabbing from a hip surgery that likely would end his career.

What to do next?

“I just kind of fell into (coaching) by chance, to be honest,” Nussmeier said.

Steve Burratto (from Clarkston, and a Vandal), had taken over the Lions during the 2000 season. They finished below .500 but went on the win the Grey Cup.

Burratto had a coach leave his staff as Nussmeier was rehabbing, and invited him to coach the quarterbacks while he mended.

“I realized quickly my playing career was over, and I found joy in just being around the game I’ve always loved,” Nussmeier said.

After two years in the CFL, Nussmeier got a call from Smith, who had just taken over at Michigan State, wondering how he was liking the coaching job. He’s been coaching since, and building strong connections with colleagues.

His progression hasn’t been as random as he makes it sound, suggesting right place/right time happenstance. But none of that matters if you’re not the right guy with the right talents and the right attitude.

New Saints coach Kellen Moore obviously saw those qualities in Nussmeier, having been on staffs with him in Dallas and Philadelphia.

Linehan, who hired Nussmeier as an assistant when he was head coach of the Rams, is now an offensive assistant for the Saints. Former Vandals teammate Joel Thomas is also on the New Orleans staff, which might give the Saints’ Super Dome the feel of a Cajun Kibbie Dome.

“This is a highly competitive and volatile business,” Nussmeier said. “There’s not a day goes by when you can sit back and say, ‘I’ve got this figured out,’ the second you think that, you realize you haven’t got a clue.”

At 54, Nussmeier is back in New Orleans, where he started in the NFL. Where he met his wife.

“You can’t make this up,” he said. “A year ago, I was working 2,500 miles away, in Philadelphia, now I’ve got one son playing at (LSU) and another in Texas, and my daughter at LSU, too.”

He and his wife, he said, urged their kids to “find their passion,” without any coaxing toward football.

“Give a ton of credit to my wife,” he said. “You can’t work in this profession if you don’t have a rock star of a wife. I can’t say enough about how great she is and the job she did with me being gone so much.”

A scan of his CV doesn’t include any head-coaching experience, prompting the question whether that is an unrealized goal.

“It’s interesting,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities along the way to be a head coach. (They) haven’t felt like the right opportunity at the right time. Would I like to be a head coach? Yes, that would be great. If not, I’m doing what I love to do. It’s so much about the place you are, the ability you have to win, and the people you’re working with.”

In that way, Nussmeier is a paradigm for the lessons passed down to his talented kids, finding his passion and living it. Same as it was more than 30 years ago.

That’s his story. Another one for the archives.