Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler is leaving the MAC program after six seasons to join the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles as quarterbacks coach, the school announced Friday.
Loeffler, a longtime college offensive coordinator and QB coach assistant with stops at Michigan, Florida, Temple, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College, went 27-41 in his first stint as a head coach but finished his tenure with the Falcons strong.
He led Bowling Green to bowl games each of the last three seasons, going 20-19 and finishing in the top three of the MAC’s East Division each season. The Falcons went 7-6 this past season, led by All-American tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
Loeffler, a former Michigan quarterback, also spent one season with the Detroit Lions as quarterbacks coach in 2008.
“In these last six seasons, Scot built a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports,” Bowling Green athletic director Derek van der Merwe said.
“I am looking forward to this process of finding the next great leader for our program who embraces what it means to be a Falcon.”
Bowling Green had won only nine games in the three previous seasons before Loeffler arrived, but it has a history of success in the MAC under coaches such as Urban Meyer, Gregg Brandon, Dave Clawson and Dino Babers.
According to USA Today’s salary database, Loeffler was one of the lowest-paid coaches in the MAC, making $580,000 last year.
Although Eagles coach Nick Sirianni maintained continuity on his coaching staff by internally promoting Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator, Sirianni is supplying his staff with fresh ideas by backfilling offensive staff openings with external hires.
Loeffler, 50, has never worked with Sirianni. But Loeffler’s depth of collegiate play-calling experience also should help support Patullo in his first time as an offensive coordinator.
Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts also receives a tenured quarterbacks coach. Loeffler’s career began at Michigan while Tom Brady was the team’s quarterback, and he later coached Tim Tebow at Florida.
What’s next at Bowling Green?
The days of MAC schools landing hot, up-and-coming coordinators or assistants from Power 5 schools to be their head coach have faded away. It’s difficult with the salaries available in Power 5 schools for assistant coaches.
Now, these schools are more likely to reach down a level to find a head coach the way Ball State did, hiring Mike Uremovich from FCS Butler or find a veteran assistant with some previous head coaching experience the way Buffalo did last year with Pete Lembo. — Russo
Who could fit?
Walt Wells has made the FCS playoffs twice in six seasons at Eastern Kentucky and has a long résumé as an assistant in FBS with stops at Western Kentucky, South Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Rusty Wright has a similar profile in six seasons as head coach at Chattanooga, going 37-27 in six seasons.
Former LSU, Notre Dame and Stanford assistant Brian Polian is currently the athletic director at Division III John Carroll University in Ohio. He stepped away from coaching two years ago for family reasons. He was 23-27 with two bowl appearances in his one head coaching stint at Nevada and could fit the Lembo/Loeffler profile. — Russo
(Photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
