How a suburban Chicago university shaped Mike LaFleur into the Arizona Cardinals head coach

Mike LaFleur took to the podium at the NFL Combine with a smile on his face. It’s hard to blame him.

There, in Indianapolis, the new head coach of the Arizona Cardinals spoke about then-Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, his impending staff and his goals as he stepped into his new role as one of 32 coaches in the league. There was a lot of work to do.

But, work is what he’s used to. Especially when it means working for the benefit of others.

"Mike clearly is unselfish, really understands what it means to serve," Mike Heffernan, a college teammate of LaFluer, said. "Whether that's as a coach or being a part of something bigger than himself."

His first full offseason as coach has overseen a transformative few months for Arizona. LaFleur has a chance to shape the Cardinals team in his image.

LaFleur shaped the image he has for his Cardinals team years ago. As LaFleur’s first offseason enters OTAs, he’ll continue to shape the team in the way that’s earned him an NFL coaching job.

It all began in Elmhurst, Illinois.

"A lot of cool people that were at Elmhurst," he said at the NFL Combine. "My wife, we all grew up together, but then she ended up transferring over there. It's all net positive when it comes to Elmhurst." 

That’s when LaFleur was a Division III quarterback at Elmhurst University. There, LaFleur shaped his future and left stories of the ultimate teammate who knew football at an advanced level in his wake.

How Mike LaFleur took one for the team

Heffernan remembers when LaFluer had to take one for the team. It was one of the biggest sacrifices a player could make, too.

"Every transition kind of needs a couple guys that are willing to, for lack of a better term or lack of a better phrase, really just take one for the team," Heffernan said. 

One of the biggest lessons in LaFleur’s football journey is centered on this moment.

Elmhurst had a coaching change. The program moved on from Tom Journell after the 2007 season and hired Tim Lester. In his first season, Lester had his starting quarterback. This was LaFleur’s senior season. If he wanted to play, he’d need to find a way to play.

So, LaFleur also made a change.

"He wasn't the quarterback. The quarterback had been established," former Elmhurst assistant coach Kyle Derickson said. "He wanted to get on the field. So, he had kind of voluntarily moved himself into a safety position."

It was a big risk to take. 

"I had never played defense in my life, high school or anything like that," LaFleur said.

However, LaFleur was doing whatever he could to stay on the football field. The voluntary move was noticed right away by his Elmhurst teammates.

"Well, he moved from quarterback to defensive back," Heffernan said. "He kind of took the ultimate hit of: you move from the star position to a position that usually isn't that heralded in the papers."

The move endeared him to teammates. It was a sign of leadership from a senior that’s rarely seen in football.

Big picture view:

For the coaching staff, it was an impressive gamble. Moving from quarterback to safety displayed one of LaFleur’s best attributes: his football mind.

"For Mike, he was a little bit of a limited athlete, not the most athletic guy on the field," Derickson said. "But what he had in terms of football smarts just kind of put him in the right position a lot."

The intelligence served him well.

LaFleur won the Blue Jays' starting free safety job and started all 10 games that season. He credited that move to safety as one of the biggest influences in his coaching career.

He understood the offensive side of the ball. That part of his coaching acumen has shone throughout his career, especially in the NFL. LaFleur has served as the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets and the Los Angeles Rams before the Cardinals hired him as their head coach.

Before that, he was also the offensive coordinator at Davidson College and St. Joseph’s College before joining the NFL.

LaFleur said the chance to sit in the defensive backfield and absorb football from the lens of a safety advanced his football IQ, particularly in the early stages of his career.

"I don't think I could have probably done that at a young age without having that experience there, getting moved over to defense," LaFleur said. "Loved it. I know it was helpful, particularly early in my career."

From Elmhurst to the NFL

LaFleur’s switch to safety was the most memorable action for the Elmhurst players and coaches who watched him that season.

Taking to a coaching career with both an offensive player's and defensive player’s point of view is experience not many coaches boast. What isn’t as heralded, though, is the experience at a slammer program.

While players at Power 4 programs get more notoriety, LaFleur and his teammates saw a different side of football at the Division III level.

"The things that you go through at smaller programs is you do everything," Heffernan said. "The experience that you get and the knowledge that you learn, whether by mistake or seeing somebody else do it, from lining the field to coaching a position group, to having to do some things in academics, having to do some things possibly in the weight room or having to do some things with the video and all these things that people take for granted when it comes to college football or professional football."

LaFleur has coached at every level of football, too. From Elmhurst to St. Joseph’s, and to Davidson after, LaFleur coached at the Division III, II and I-FCS level before moving on to the NFL ranks in 2014 with Cleveland.

Just that year in Cleveland alone, LaFleur worked on the same staff as Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, Jeff Hafley and Aaron Glenn, all future NFL head coaches. LaFleur has been surrounded by great minds his entire career.

Derickson recalled how a group of seniors in LaFleur’s final year at Elmhurst as a player set a specific approach in LaFleur’s mind. There’s a no-excuse, get-it-done attitude that formed when LaFleur became a leader at Elmhurst.

That led to a 7-3 record in LaFleur’s final year at Elmhurst as a player. In 2012, Elmhurst finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and claimed a share of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship. LaFleur wasn’t there to see it.

What's next:

The coaches still credit LaFleur and his class with setting the standard of how to be successful.

"There's no exceptions. We are going to be great," Derickson said. "I have no doubt in my mind that that is how Mike carries himself and how he got himself to this point where he expects a lot out of the people that he works with."

That won’t be any different in Arizona.

LaFleur is tasked with bringing the Cardinals out of the bottom of the NFC West. It’s easier said than done, considering the Seahawks are the reigning Super Bowl champions, while the Rams and 49ers also made the playoffs.

But, those who knew LaFleur as a young coach know how he gets the best out of those he’s surrounded by.

It all started at Elmhurst University. 

"Mike being where he is, that's all his hard work. He deserves that. He’s earned that," Heffernan said. "When you're around like-minded people, and you're a part of something bigger than yourself, great things can happen."

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