MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — The coaching instructions that were being barked out with authority and the voice delivering them were cause for a double take.
The lights were down, the movie screen was illuminated with a list of plays and the roomful of players, equipped with their playbooks, was at attention.
“Dustin, you need to run this route shallower on this play.”
“LaDainian, this is where you’ll be on blitz pick-up.”
“Brad, this is where you need to be to clear out this area.”
It all seemed normal except for who was conducting the meeting and where it was taking place.
This wasn’t Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer breaking down film for his players and the meeting wasn’t taking place inside the team’s state-of-the-art Florham Park N.J. facility.
This was Mark Sanchez conducting it with a number of his skill-position teammates inside the Mission Viejo High School football office, which can be best described as a large trailer cramped with a few desks, chairs and a couch.
This was Sanchez doing what he always has done in football — lead. Sanchez always has wanted to take charge. It’s in his DNA. This is what he does.
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He has been doing this since he played at Mission Viejo High, so conducting his own “Jets West” offseason camp this past week for the second consecutive year at the place where he starred as a teen, with high-profile teammates traveling to California on their own time and own dime, should come as no surprise.
Bob Johnson, Sanchez’s football coach at Mission Viejo, has seen this before.
“He had it here and he had it at USC,” Johnson said, sitting at his desk in the football office shortly before Sanchez and his teammates arrived for their chalk talk and practice to follow. “He has that kind of power and influential say-so. I don’t know how many teams have this kind of leadership power at the top. To pull this kind of thing off is awesome.”
Sanchez had 14 teammates with him for the five-day camp, which ended Friday. The attendees included Hall of Fame-bound running back LaDainian Tomlinson, starting tight end Dustin Keller, veteran wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Brad Smith, veteran quarterback Mark Brunell and rookie draft picks, quarterback Greg McElroy and wide receivers Jeremy Kerley and Scotty McKnight.
“Just assuming command,” Sanchez said, matter-of-factly. “I’m leading this entire group along with coach Rex [Ryan]. When Rex can’t be with them, I’m the guy. I’m the coach on the field. It’s my job to coordinate things like this. I want to take this to the next level and become more than just the quarterback on the field.”
Sanchez said he initially started the camp last year to help himself get acclimated with his teammates and the offense.
“I felt rusty my rookie year,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable with all the receivers yet. You get thrown into the NFL and you’ve got to catch up and learn on the fly. This afforded us an opportunity when we were supposed to be on break during July last year to get our timing down and work on a couple [of] more routes so we were a step ahead. It definitely helped.”
Sanchez pointed to his improved completion percentage and fewer interceptions thrown as a direct result of the work done at the camp.
“If this helps us win one more game, get one playoff game at home, then it’s really paid off,” Sanchez said.
“There are not many teams that are doing this, but the teams that are doing it . . . it will get them an extra win or two,” Tomlinson said. “If that means we win 13 games next year and we and have a home playoff game — hopefully home-field advantage — that’s the idea.”
Tomlinson, along with the rest of the players attending the camp, marveled at what Sanchez has put together with significant help from his father, Nick, and brothers, Brandon and Nick, all of whom worked countless hours setting everything up from cold drinks on the field to catered lunches after practice from area restaurants to luxury, ocean-view villas for accommodations to tickets to Lakers playoff games.
“This is what being a leader is all about,” Tomlinson said.
“Us being here says a lot about our respect for Mark,” Edwards said.
“The way he’s put this thing together and brought everybody out here, he’s just letting us know he’s ready to take this thing to the next level and he wants everyone jumping on with him,” Jets second-year running back Joe McKnight said.
“Mark is the man,” Keller said. “Everybody knows it. There’s no denying that. To get the turnout he has out here is amazing. It shows what the type of leader Mark is that he can get an LT to come out there. . . . This is a recipe for success. This gives us a step up on other teams that aren’t doing the same thing.”
Todd Norman, who has been training Sanchez since he was a junior at Mission Viejo, has seen this before from Sanchez.
“Since I’ve been training Mark, there was no doubt in my mind that one day he was going be a star,” Norman said. “It doesn’t surprise me he’s leading these meetings and has the quality of guys here rallying around him. To me, this is the way it was always meant to be for him. I think he knew it.
“One of top qualities he brings to the table is his leadership and the dedication to what he does. It definitely radiates to the people around him and his teammates.”
mcannizzaro@nypost.com