Getting children to read is Laird’s latest chapter
The Cal running backs appeared to be zipping through a drill just fine during a recent rain-drenched practice, but Patrick Laird didn’t see it the same way.
He stopped the drill and suggested a minor change in the pre-handoff footwork.
Almost immediately, the Bears’ backs went from looking good to looking great.
“He is so tuned in and focused on everything his does,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said of Laird. “Every advantage that he can potentially have, he’s going to make sure he gets it.
“He’s never going to be 6foot-3 or 230 pounds, but he’s talented, competitive and understands exactly what it takes.”
Laird’s aim to make himself and those around him better is part of the reason he has gone from a walk-on at Cal to its most productive offensive player — and the main reason he recently announced a youth reading program.
In an effort to combat “sum-
mer learning loss,” the 6-foot, 205-pound senior is challenging elementary students to read from June 1 through Aug. 24. Students who complete the requisite number of books, based on their ages, will receive tickets to Cal’s opener against North Carolina on Sept. 1.
This isn’t fly-by community service, either. Laird imagined and developed the program and detailed it on his website, walkonthenrun.com. He’ll host a meet-and-greet with the participants after the Bears’ spring game April 28 and is promising to visit as many schools as possible to talk about the importance of reading.
“I grew up in a household with older siblings and parents encouraging me to read, and not everyone has that,” Laird said. “I’m passionate about reading, and I want to spread something I enjoy to people.”
Fans became aware of his devotion to reading last season. He ran for 1,127 yards, was an All-Pac-12 honorable-mention selection and was a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given to the nation’s best player who started his career as a walk-on.
But what most folks remember are his nine touchdowns, eight on the ground. He celebrated each by mimicking opening a book and turning the pages.
The celebration was born almost two years ago, but Laird has been reading for nearly as long as he can remember. He’s currently immersed in an Abraham Lincoln biography and lists “Freakonomics” and “My Side of the Mountain” among his favorites.
He started a book club when he was in elementary school, and his friends would race to see who could finish each book first. Even today, Laird has stacks of books on his to-read list and is adding suggestions daily. “I’ll read anything,” he said. That’s what Laird’s roommates were witnessing firsthand in 2016. While discussing Chad Hansen’s seemingly weekly-evolving touchdown celebrations, one of Laird’s teammates joked that his postTD reaction should be reading.
Laird shuffled the idea into the back of his mind, but back then, it didn’t seem like the Mission Prep (San Luis Obispo County) grad needed to plan touchdown dances.
He had run for 3,117 yards and 32 touchdowns as a high school senior, but stuck behind Khalfani Muhammad, Tre Watson and Vic Enwere in a pass-happy offense, Laird got only eight carries during his first two seasons.
“He was a slot receiver and maybe a fifth-string running back when I got here, but I knew he had something different,” said fullback Malik McMorris, who raved about Laird’s patience and compared it to that of NFL All-Pro Le’Veon Bell.
“I was always advocating for the guy. I knew, if he got a shot, he’d make something happen.”
Laird finally got his chance last season, catching a 54-yard touchdown in Week 1 against the Tar Heels and running himself into the Cal record books in Week 2. After Watson was lost for the season with a knee injury, Laird needed only 12 carries to rush for 191 yards and three scores against Weber State.
Putting an exclamation point on his breakout season with 545 yards in the Bears’ final three games came as no revelation to Burl Toler, who was a special-teams quality-control coach during Laird’s freshman season and returned to Berkeley as the running backs coach this year.
“I can’t call the future, but none of the stuff that he does is surprising to me, because of the kind of individual he is,” Toler said. “He has the right mentality, day in and day out.
“He’s never satisfied with where he is.”
The detail Laird puts into his nutrition, sleep habits and soft-tissue work is extensive, and his list of things to improve on the field this season is probably just as long.
Among the specifics areas he thinks he needs to improve, Laird listed everything in the running game and becoming a better receiver, route runner and pass protector.
“I just want to be part of kind of turning this into a traditionally winning program,” he said. “If I could have anything in my last season at Cal, it would be helping in every way possible to win as many games as possible.”
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron