Laird of the Bears: Patrick's Ascent Not Surprising to Teammates

As Patrick Laird came into the post-game interview room Saturday, Devante Downs cracked a joke, saying "Patrick Laird for Heisman" after the junior running back's breakout performance. He does have the pose down.

This was Laird's breakout game, the first three touchdown game for a Cal RB in three years, with a couple of great breakaway runs. It was a big surprise to a crowd that didn't know much about him. But to everyone on the eastern sideline, this was just another day for the former walk-on running back.

"Heck no!" Ray Davison exclaimed when asked if Laird's performance was a surprise, "Patrick Laird, no offense to my other teammates, but when we have our workouts during the winter and the spring, that’s who I go up against...if I can beat him in any of the agility drills as far as speed or change of direction, I can probably beat anyone in the country."

It's telling that Laird is that guy. A lightly recruited former walk-on who rushed for over 3000 yards his senior year of high school at Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo, Laird had interest from the Ivy League, but eschewed it for a preferred walk-on spot at Cal. He moved to receiver for a year and back to running back, played mainly on special teams (recovering an onside kick to open the season against Hawaii in 2016) and worked his way up to a scholarship, a captain spot for tomorrow's game, and possibly the starting RB role with Tre Watson out for the season.

"It’s gratifying," Laird said, "it’s nice that the hard work has paid off. It’s more fun when we win, so that’s pretty much what I’m focused on."

Both Beau Baldwin and Justin Wilcox have noted that Laird initially impressed in offseason workouts when they first got to Berkeley, and QB Ross Bowers noted an obstacle course at the end of one of these workouts where Laird made his mark.

"There was this obstacle course," Bowers noted, "and we were offense vs. defense and we were so behind, like there’s no way we should win, and he was the last to go and somehow pulled it out and all the coaches were there for the first time, so it was great for him to show what he can do at that moment, and he became one of our leaders that day."

"At 6 in the morning they’re out here doing some sort of obstacle course or different things like that," Baldwin added, "conditioning, you’re like, that guy’s got something, and a lot of the guys out here have something, but he was my position specific and I was evaluating those guys, I was going hey this guy’s got something."

That something is seen not only in the big runs, as his 54 yard catch and run against UNC and his two long TDs against Weber State have been replayed again and again, but in the runs that set those plays up. Wilcox noted a 12-yard run at the end of the Weber State game that was pivotal.

"We saw the big touchdown run and he broke the long ones," Wilcox said,"but there was one, really the first big run, there was about 2:40 left in the game when they’re in four minute defense and we’ve got to get a first down and he made a run on 1st and 10 and got 12 yards, which is as big as any run in the game because of the situation. Those little things just add up."

The play was shown in the team meeting as an example of one of the best plays of the game. It's a microcosm of what's made Laird effective so far, he's got vision, he's solid at making cutback and exploding through a hole that may not entirely be there.

"Inside zone, good blocking," Laird said of the play, "there was actually a hole that opened up on the backside, I kinda set it up on the nose guard. Just found a hole and got 12 yards, safety made a good tackle on that too. So yeah, it was nice, coach showed that in our team meeting, I thought it was a nice run as well, and it’s nice when coaches recognize the little things."

It's the little things that make up Laird as well, he has a reputation as a reader (currently reading Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) among the team, which led to his touchdown celebration of opening and reading a book.

"I used to live with Chad Hansen," Laird said, "and so he used to do all those cool touchdown celebrations and we’d give him some input, and then we started going around the room, saying who would do what, and then someone said, ‘hey what would Pat do?’ Someone, and I forget who it was, was like ‘he’d probably, like, read a book’ so right then I was like ‘alright, I’m gonna do that.’”

Laird's also known for his 9 PM bedtime (that's not gonna happen Saturday) and his music making, creating beats when he has the time. He's quiet about his quirks and his success, as he was named both Cal's offensive and special teams player of the week (for recovering another onside kick).

All that said, he has the opportunity to strike it big again against Ole Miss, who has had some struggles with tackling and stopping the run. Laird, who has been a workhorse in practice by taking a ton of reps with the first team during parts of spring and fall when Tre Watson and Vic Enwere were dinged up, has a national stage to work with, and the coaching staff expects some big things out of him.

"That’s the thing about Pat Laird," Baldwin said, "that guy is consistent. He’s consistent with how he approaches his day, his week, his month, whatever that might be, and it’s not by accident good things happen to him."