Hello Hokie fans. Our Eagles just hired Scot Loeffler as Offensive Coordinator. Would love to hear your input on him. Thanks in advance.
Scot Loeffler to BC - Input Please
- Thread starter WINNINGEAGLE
- Start date
We all agree he's an OK guy but our O had problems of late but it may not have been his fault.
Recruiting at WR and OL had been off somewhat in the few years before Loeffler arrived and those positions hurt us during the last few years.
I don't know if he was following orders to usually run on 1st and 2nd down, throw on 3rd and punt on 4th or that was his idea but being so predictable made it tough to move the ball.
I did see some great play-calling during our last 2 bowl games that I wished I had seen during the last 2 regular seasons. In the last game against Tulsa our O mixed things up well and got the ball to our play-makers like never before.
Loeffler is knowledgeable and works hard and maybe he can do better without a conservative head coach that likes to run first and throw only if necessary and who firmly believed that punting the football is an offensive play to improve field position and hope the other team makes mistakes.
I wish him nothing but the best.
Recruiting at WR and OL had been off somewhat in the few years before Loeffler arrived and those positions hurt us during the last few years.
I don't know if he was following orders to usually run on 1st and 2nd down, throw on 3rd and punt on 4th or that was his idea but being so predictable made it tough to move the ball.
I did see some great play-calling during our last 2 bowl games that I wished I had seen during the last 2 regular seasons. In the last game against Tulsa our O mixed things up well and got the ball to our play-makers like never before.
Loeffler is knowledgeable and works hard and maybe he can do better without a conservative head coach that likes to run first and throw only if necessary and who firmly believed that punting the football is an offensive play to improve field position and hope the other team makes mistakes.
I wish him nothing but the best.
Decent guy, horrible OC. I'm guessing he'll more or less be a figurehead at BC with Addazio ultimately calling the shots. Otherwise, have fun with about 100 halfback draws out of shotgun every game and off-tackle runs to the long side of the field with your team's slowest player.
Look at his lack of success at both Auburn and VT and he moves around a lot which is never a good sign.
I think he knows the game real well. He is a hard worker from all I have been told. Here, he ran an offense that was of our head coaches choosing so it doesn't totally qualify to judge him just from that. IMO he was a very poor OC. I wish him luck.
I was a little surprised he found another job as an OC after his stint at VT and the one disastrous season he had at Auburn before coming to VT. Of course we were already offensively challenged when he arrived, but our offense didn't exactly blow up after he arrived either. It had is moments good and bad but there were too many 3 and outs as best as I can recall my feelings during the games. Except for Temple, where I think he had some success prior to being hired by Auburn, most of the discussion about the performance of his O's as an OC have been about who's fault it was. I was disappointed in some things like no game ready back up QB ready to go when your first string QB gets injured (that game becomes an automatic loss) and that QB's he recruited dropped out of sight once they got into the program - one left - one disappeared on the depth chart - one was only here one season but plainly anything but ready to play and they burned his redshirt anyway. Also, the two minute offense in which clock management was missing. As was previously mentioned he did appear to be a hard worker (you will see a number of interviews where he is unshaven and tired looking). He does know Tom Brady though. Personally I thought he would end up as a position coach somewhere after his VT run. I don't mean to be all negative, I'm just remiss to think of some positives to take away, but again, as others have said, it might not be his fault - VT was anything but an offensive juggernaut when he arrived.
Hes a "yes man" and doesnt mind doing what hes told. Thats why you see defensive minded head coaches like Saban, Miles, Chizik and Beamer interested in him as OC. At Temple, Adazio had his hands in the offense by midseason. I imagine Adazio at BC will do much the same with Loeffler being more QB coach than anything else.
I think most around here judge him by the results on the field (which haven't been pretty the last couple of years) and therefore you're not likely to get many favorable reviews.
The problem with that type of analysis is that he had very little to work with here over the last couple of years. He did his best to adjust the game plan to fit what we had. For us, our problems have been on the OLine and our OLine recruiting has been absolutely terrible for several years. No matter who we hired as OC three years ago, that person was never really positioned for immediate success. That being said, our O showed improvement every year under Loeffler.
I think he's actually a pretty good OC and really is a very strong QB coach (in my opinion). My biggest criticism is that he didn't do enough to develop the backups at key positions and when our starting QB went out in the first game this season, we were in very bad shape.
Given BC's historically stout lines and his potential to bring in a decent QB, I think it's a winning hire for BC. Plus his connection to Tom Brady in Boston will pay a lot of dividends, in my opinion.
One last thing - he is probably the hardest working coach I have ever seen. I don't think anyone at VT outworked him the last 3 years (and that's saying a lot).
The problem with that type of analysis is that he had very little to work with here over the last couple of years. He did his best to adjust the game plan to fit what we had. For us, our problems have been on the OLine and our OLine recruiting has been absolutely terrible for several years. No matter who we hired as OC three years ago, that person was never really positioned for immediate success. That being said, our O showed improvement every year under Loeffler.
I think he's actually a pretty good OC and really is a very strong QB coach (in my opinion). My biggest criticism is that he didn't do enough to develop the backups at key positions and when our starting QB went out in the first game this season, we were in very bad shape.
Given BC's historically stout lines and his potential to bring in a decent QB, I think it's a winning hire for BC. Plus his connection to Tom Brady in Boston will pay a lot of dividends, in my opinion.
One last thing - he is probably the hardest working coach I have ever seen. I don't think anyone at VT outworked him the last 3 years (and that's saying a lot).
Last edited:
Auburn won the NC the yr after firing him....with 90% of the same players (and were explosive on offense). I know, I know, there were other major factors there but still, it is quite telling.
Judging solely on his articulation ability in interviews, his general IQ is about twice that of the the guy he replaced here. Jmo.
I agree with Bigdaddyhokie, he does have a knack for playaction and misdirected pass situations, and seemed to know the perfect timing for those calls. Hell, for all I know, maybe those were the only calls he really made on his own. Most of the time, the previously demoted OC was in the booth with him and Beamer has been notorious for pulling the reins in on his offenses to eat clock and win the TOP battle.
I have questioned Beamer's choice of hiring him. As Rondo said above, I also eventually came to the conclusion that Beamer hired him as a yes man with no intention of giving him a blank canvas. So when I heard he was hired as OC at BC, it puzzled me at first. Then I thought to myself, Coach Ad clearly doesn't want a skilled O captain.
Judging solely on his articulation ability in interviews, his general IQ is about twice that of the the guy he replaced here. Jmo.
I agree with Bigdaddyhokie, he does have a knack for playaction and misdirected pass situations, and seemed to know the perfect timing for those calls. Hell, for all I know, maybe those were the only calls he really made on his own. Most of the time, the previously demoted OC was in the booth with him and Beamer has been notorious for pulling the reins in on his offenses to eat clock and win the TOP battle.
I have questioned Beamer's choice of hiring him. As Rondo said above, I also eventually came to the conclusion that Beamer hired him as a yes man with no intention of giving him a blank canvas. So when I heard he was hired as OC at BC, it puzzled me at first. Then I thought to myself, Coach Ad clearly doesn't want a skilled O captain.
He's one of the best OCs we've ever had at VT, and i am very glad he's going to coach @ BC.
Glad he is Gone , period. And someone said he worked hard, what is that got to do with Results and Coaching. Coached Bad and didn't use the talent to their strengths , players did not like him and had a lot of run ins with other coaches . I could say a lot but that should cover it.. his jet sweep out of Blacksburg was the best play for VT..
A fair characterization is that things trended in the right direction the entire time he was at VT.
He ran the offense Beamer told him to run, and he did with a lot of Division II talent. His staff improved recruiting on the offense, especially at WR and the offensive line.
He was badly out schemed a few times by experienced defensive coaches and could not adjust in game.
He's still growing as a coordinator and I suspect that he will be better for BC than he was for VT.
He ran the offense Beamer told him to run, and he did with a lot of Division II talent. His staff improved recruiting on the offense, especially at WR and the offensive line.
He was badly out schemed a few times by experienced defensive coaches and could not adjust in game.
He's still growing as a coordinator and I suspect that he will be better for BC than he was for VT.
WADR - are you sure you've been watching VT for the last 3 years? There was absolutely no indication of trending in the right direction unless your idea of trending in the right direction is gaining a grand total of 100 yards against a middle of the pack Pittsburgh team, or scoring 0 points in regulation against a BAD Wake Forest team the year before. To answer the OP's question, Lefty is a tireless worker, but other than that, he sucks. He's an arrogant prick who is fast to point fingers at other players/coaches when things go bad. I'm not even sure I would classify him as even a mediocre OC or QB coach. He talks a big game, but absolutely cannot back it up. Logan Thomas nor Michael Brewer improved much from junior to senior year. Both qbs still made terrible decisions multiple times a game which usually proved to be costly. (Note that's not a slight against Brewer and I think he is one of the gutsiest SOBs to ever play for VT.) As for a recruiter, again, I wasn't impressed. He recruited 3 guys while here for 3 years. 1 guy transferred, 1 has switched positions and will probably transfer this summer, and the 3rd had his bags packed to leave until Loeffler was not retained.
He was definitely without a doubt a step down from Stinespring, one thing most fans thought they'd never see.
These numbers look like the O showed improvement:
2015
Passing 2936 yards, 56.6%, 7.45 yards/attempt, 24 TDs, 14 Int. (would have been a lot higher with Brewer at QB all season)
Rushing 2070 yards, 545 carries, 3.8 avg, 19 TDs
Receiving 2936 yards, 223 receptions, 13.2 avg., 24 TDs
2014
Passing 2826, 59.4%, 6.20 ypa, 19, 15
Rushing 1923 yards, 507 carries, 3.8 avg, 12 TDs
Receiving 2826 yards, 271 receptions, 10.4 avg, 19 TDs
2013
Passing 3071 yards, 56.3%, 7.11 ypa, 16 TDs, 15 Int.
Rushing 1557 yards, 493 carries, 3.2 avg, 17 TDs
Receiving 3071 yards, 243 receptions, 12.6 avg, 16TDs
2012
Passing 3002 yards, 51.3%, 6.87 ypa, 18TDs, 17 Int.
Rushing 1896 yards, 507 carries, 3.7 avg., 18TDs
Receiving 3002 yards, 224 receptions, 13.4 avg, 18TDs
Stinespring was a decent gameplanning OC, but not very good with the Xs and Os in my opinion. Loeffler did much better at both from everything I've heard.
Logan Thomas's own words disagree with you about how much Loeffler helped him improve.
The evidence points to the O improving every year under Loeffler.
I don't think Loeffler is a good oc, period. But I'd take him all day EVERY day over Stineblade. Not even close in my opinion. Slingspring had more to work with on average and a much better run game potential for his entire tenure. That may have been because of Hite, but he also had stable after stable of gifted rbs. Even 2star Ore was an incredibly talented rb and would likely have played on sundays if he'd have had surgery to remove head from ass.
A good post. I think Stiney was a better position coach than Loeffler ,tho Scott was supposed to be the QB whisperer.
I like Jackcrow's post on who the man( Loeffler) really was. A person who seemed to be very into himself.
I can't remember exactly how the Loeffler hire went down, but if it was by Weaver, he came at a low price tag and I think CFB had to approve. You can spout all the numbers you want, but our O for the last so many years was weak. Safe to say if we had a chance to hire him again with Whit at the helm, he would never be considered. Buzz is starting to show some results and Fuente will too in time. Just wait, the results will prove out.
I don't have any knowledge of how the program worked from within but have read many times that Weaver had very little to do with the football decisions, other than maybe to bless the salaries of people that Frank hired. Loeffler, in the first years, was nearly free, as Auburn was still paying the bulk of his income, after paying him to leave.
