Category Archives: Scot Loeffler

01.23.12
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Auburn gets a great OC in Scot Loeffler

Scot Loeffler’s first press conference at Auburn starts at 0:30 timestamp.

If you are an Auburn football fan, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good today.
Heck, you might not know who Scot Loeffler is but, trust me, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good today.
The most unpopular guy on a struggling football offense is either the starting quarterback or the offensive coordinator.
Scot Loeffler was Temple’s offensive coordinator for one season and all you need to know is that every Owl fan loved the guy and the plays he called.

That came one year after EVERYBODY hated the guy who preceded him, Matt Rhule. (Well, everybody loved the guy but hated the plays he called and the overall offensive scheme, which was bleeped up for want of a better term.)
Rhule’s offense, broken into its most basic terms, was this:
First down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Second down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Third down _ Pass (usually resulting in a sack);
Fourth down _ Punt.
The second page of Matt Rhule’s playbook is illustrated in the graphic here. All you need to know is that the graphic was made by the most precocious 17-year-old Owl fan ever. And there was not one long-time Owl fan sitting in the stands who disagreed with him. The only person I came across who supported Rhule was the father of a Rhule recruit and I run into a lot of Owl fans. Even more importantly, I know what I see and smell and it didn’t pass the vision and smell test with Rhule.
Loeffler passed with flying colors.
For one year at least, Loeffler injected some imagination into the offense.

The Matt Rhule offense
Egad, passes on first down, a waggle to a talented tight end to open things up for an NFL running back.
Second down runs.
Touchdowns.
Who would have thought?

The Rhule Apologists  say it was because Al Golden was a micromanager.
I’m not buying it.
I sincerely hope that Addazio doesn’t promote Rhule to his old job. Matt would be much more valuable in the role of special teams’ head coach.
We need a new guy in charge of the offense.
Otherwise, it’ll be Matty Brown left, Matty Brown right and an incomplete pass on third down.
That’s not my idea of an offense.
Fortunately, it won’t be that way for Auburn fans this fall. I expect Loeffler will see what the defense gives him and take it.
I also, sadly, fully expect Daz to hire Matt Rhule as his new offensive coordinator. Rhule’s title was “co-offensive coordinator” this season if that’s any clue.
My fervent hope is that he does not change that to sole offensive coordinator.
Daz, your move. Show me you are a better CEO than Al Golden.



This play will work with Alex Jackson next season, too.



08.31.11
by

The Eve of (Villanova’s) Destruction

Once again, we’ll let the Lovely Laura be your guide on what to expect tomorrow.

Long before midnight tomorrow night, we’ll find out if Steve Addazio can coach.
Despite what many of my Florida Gator friends tell me, I suspect he can. The sign of a great CEO is his knack for surrounding himself with top upper-level management.
Already, for whatever flaws Addazio might have had as an OC, he appears to have this CEO thing down.
What makes me confident is that the guy has surrounded himself with coordinators who might be the two best in college football, regardless of the level.

Chuck Heater was the defensive coordinator at Utah when it went 11-0.
Yeah, Freakin’ Utah.
He was the co-defensive coordinator at Florida (with Teryl Austin) over  the past couple of years at Florida.
Don’t let the “co” title confuse you.
“I call Chuck Heater Mother Theresa,” Florida head coach Urban Meyer said last season. “He’s worked miracles with our defense.”
That kind of endorsement is good enough for me.
Loeffler was the quarterbacks’ coach at Michigan for Tom Brady and at Florida for Tim Tebow.
That’s all I needed to hear.
I think he can, and probably will, put this offense in a better position to succeed than Matt Rhule has done.
Addazio, by even his detractors’ accounts, is a motivator second to none and an accomplished offensive line coach.
I like what this equation can do for Temple’s football team this year.
Addazio’s motivation + Loeffler’s playcalling/QB developmental skills + Heater’s fire-eaters = big-time success for the Owls.
Offensively, I look for Bernard Pierce, “datboy Nard”, to run wild over this team. Remember, in the first year, as a true freshman, Pierce gained 66 yards on six carries against the Wildcats despite being cleared by the NCAA to play only a couple days before kickoff. Last year, in the joke move of all joke moves, Al Golden helped Villanova out by alternating Pierce with Matty Brown on every other series.

Adrian Robinson: Three sacks.

Defensively, I look for Adrian Robinson to get three sacks and for guys like Kadeem Custis and Morkeith Brown to be spending more time in Villanova’s backfield than the Wildcat quarterbacks and running backs.
We won’t have to wait until the second or third game to find out if Temple has the right people in charge.
We’ll know by 11 p.m. tomorrow night.
My gut tells me a 55-3 Temple win. My head tells me more like 35-14. The score will probably end up somewhere in between.
Anything less than 35-14 and we’re not in as good a shape as I thought.
Don’t worry.
The Eve of (Villanova’s) Destruction is at hand.