PHILADELPHIA -- Normally, Scot Loeffler would have awakened this morning with the sense of a season opener. He would have begun his familiar commute to Bowling Green's campus. He would have seen the street signs, the stadium, the bustle of students gearing up for Thursday night's home game against Lafayette. Those things are still special to Loeffler, the former Falcons head coach who, in late February, stunned the school by leaving to be the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterbacks coach.
Those who consider Loeffler disloyal don't know him. Those who do know Loeffler say he's an old-soul coach with an old-school mind. His coaching career began with loyalty. Former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr added Loeffler to his 1996 staff as a student assistant after Loeffler, a Wolverines quarterback, suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. Loeffler spent 10 of the next 12 years coaching Michigan quarterbacks that included NFL-bound Brian Griese, Tom Brady and Chad Henne. In between three occasions of being hired by Steve Addazio, Loeffler told a Virginia Tech graduate assistant, Greg Nosal, that he'd hire Nosal whenever he got a head coaching gig.
"A lot of people in this profession will say those things and not follow through," said Nosal, whom Loeffler hired to coach Bowling Green's running backs in 2020. "When a spot opened up, he gave me a call, and, sure enough, kept true to his promise."
Nosal is still Bowling Green's co-offensive coordinator, a title he held for three seasons while working under Loeffler. Nosal thought there'd be a fourth. Was he surprised by Loeffler's sudden departure? Did it put Nosal's job in jeopardy and family in limbo? Yes. But Nosal understood. Loeffler told the Toledo Blade that leaving Bowling Green was "the toughest decision I've ever had to make." They navigated Bowling Green through what Nosal called "the perfect storm" -- a rebuild, a global pandemic, the advent of the transfer portal and NIL. The Falcons went from winning 13 games in Loeffler's first four seasons to winning 14 in his final two.
"We definitely have some stories," Nosal said. "There were some very hard, dark times. Just the fact that, you know, he stayed persistent, stayed true to what he believed in and what he was going to do, and to see the results of back-to-back winning seasons -- those are the type of memories. We can talk about all the dark times all we want, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, that was pretty cool."
Eddie George is now responsible for Bowling Green football -- recruiting, fundraising, and all. For Loeffler, a 50-year-old father of three kids, those ever-expanding duties demanded too much time and detracted too much attention from the objects of his sports obsessions. Nearing his seventh month with the Eagles, Loeffler is immersed in schematics, techniques and practices. He got a one-year taste of the NFL as quarterbacks coach of the winless 2008 Detroit Lions. He's now the steward of reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts. The Eagles first made Loeffler available to reporters after a training camp practice last week, and Loeffler said it's "absolutely" a "great opportunity to walk in the door every day and just do football. There's no question about that."
"I always felt like the pros were best suited for him," said Addazio, Loeffler's boss as Florida's offensive coordinator and Temple's and Boston College's head coach. "He did a great job in college -- did a great job as an assistant, a coordinator and as the head coach. But he wants his day just dominated by football."
On a day dominated by football, Hurts was dealing.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni hollered the situation. Second-and-goal at the 6. Hurts fielded the snap, fixed his feet and flung a pass to Darius Cooper over Adoree' Jackson's shoulder. Cooper knocked down the left pylon, but Sirianni called for another play. Third-and-goal at the 4. The defense sent an all-out zero blitz. Hurts fired another touchdown to Ainias Smith with Cooper DeJean defending only a step behind.
Hurts joined Loeffler on the sideline. This was the last day of training camp, the last day to tweak techniques in team drills before the Eagles began game-planning for the Dallas Cowboys in their Sept. 4 regular-season opener. Hurts spent the summer refining his command of yet another system under his sixth play-caller. Kevin Patullo, the team's first-time offensive coordinator, lifted his headset off one ear to chat with Hurts.
The famously tight-lipped quarterback offered no specifics about how Patullo and Loeffler aim to advance his game, nor how the new system suits him. "There are some nuances that are different," Hurts said in May. Nuances implied less than the "95 percent" Hurts offered a year before when describing former Kellen Moore's overhaul of Brian Johnson's system. Moore achieved his primary goal to create a clean operation for Hurts in their one season together. Hurts rebounded from a turnover-heavy four-game start by embracing a conservative passing strategy within a run-oriented approach. In short: don't force the ball downfield. Hurts recorded a career-high 103.7 passer-rating while attempting his fewest passes of 15-plus air yards (70), per TruMedia.
Perhaps that changes in 2025. Perhaps, as in Super Bowl LIX, defenses will focus on stopping Saquon Barkley -- this time building in new tripwires to prevent Hurts from beating them with his arm. The Eagles must prepare for that possibility. For the first time since the Eagles drafted Hurts No. 53 overall in 2020, they have significant depth at wide receiver. Johnny Wilson is undergoing season-ending surgery after injuring his knee and ankle in practice last week, and the Eagles will miss the size advantage Wilson (6-6, 228 pounds) offered. However, the possibilities beyond A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith can still expand with Jahan Dotson's advancement in his second year in Philadelphia, plus the additions of John Metchie III, Terrace Marshall and Cooper.
Sirianni, learning from his 2023 mistakes, infused his offensive staff with fresh ideas partly by including Loeffler among his outside hires. Loeffler's "wealth of knowledge," in Patullo's words, contains a wide range of pro-style and spread philosophies. As Tim Tebow's quarterbacks coach at Florida in 2009, Loeffler joined former Gators coach Urban Meyer and Addazio on the cutting edge by blending pro-style, power-run concepts into a zone-read system that morphed into a gap-read system. As Addazio's offensive coordinator at Boston College, and later as Bowling Green's head coach, Loeffler equipped run-oriented systems with passing concepts that attacked defenses both vertically and horizontally, each tailored to the talents of his quarterbacks.
Loeffler constantly curated his playbook while watching endless hours of film. "He's never seen a football play he doesn't like," Nosal said. If something caught Loeffler's insatiable curiosity, he'd pick up the phone, attend a clinic, or sidle up to an opposing coach before a game. He had to hear the play's genesis from its creator firsthand. Jon Gruden. Steve Sarkisian. Whoever. Loeffler had to know all the play's little intricacies so he could adapt them to his own designs. He'd hole himself up in his office with multiple computer screens glaring, the greaseboard a cipher of scribbles.
There's a reason Nosal likes to call Loeffler, "The Beautiful Mind."
"He'd want to sleep in the office," Addazio said. "I'd be like, 'Scot, go home. What are you doing?'"
One of Loeffler's biggest fixations was building in backup strategies for his game plans.
"His famous words he would always say: 'We have to have contingency plays!'" Addazio said. "'If all of a sudden this happens, we have to have a contingency A, a contingency B.' I used to laugh. I said, 'Listen, we can have those as coaches, but the players can only handle so much. We can't have seven contingency plays.' But I think in the pros, when you have the players all day, every day, and there's no other distractions, there's no school, I think pros just have a tendency to carry a bigger menu, especially in the throw game. So, I think he's tailor-made to do what he's doing."
The Eagles' offense deteriorated in 2023 because it lacked contingency plays. Loeffler, along with first-year Eagles passing game coordinator Parks Frazier, is partly tasked with supplying them on a staff that espouses collaboration. Loeffler stood on the sideline as Hurts strode onto the practice field for one more goal-to-go sequence before training camp ended. Third-and-goal at the 5. Dotson snuck behind Zack Baun. Hurts struck a leaping Dotson near the goal post. Patullo tore off his headset with a rare and celebratory swear.
"How y'all doing?" Hurts asked, adjusting his wristbands before his last press conference of training camp.
How is Hurts doing?
The quarterback is noticeably more confident this year. His demeanor is less tense. His answers less terse. A reporter asked Hurts earlier this summer if winning a Super Bowl made him more confident. "When you get a promotion, do you think you're more confident?" Hurts responded. There was no malice or sarcasm in his voice -- just sincerity. "You chase a dream and everybody's dream is to do that," he continued, "and once you know that you can, that brings a sense of assurance that you can."
Hurts has a sense of assurance in himself. He also has a sense of assurance in working with Loeffler. Hurts called Loeffler "a wise, experienced and passionate coach." It's a fitting pairing for a quarterback who, like Loeffler, is known to reach out to people for counsel. Hurts met former President Barack Obama on a golf course last October. Hurts had dinner with Michael Jordan in March and talked about the challenges of winning back-to-back championships. Now, Hurts can consult Loeffler, someone who's known Tom Brady for 30 years.
"He's got a lot of great stories," Hurts said. "And I value that wisdom. I know he's coached as a head coach. And he's been a quarterback coach. And he's been an offensive coordinator. So he kind of knows it all. I know for Scot, he's very excited about this opportunity just to advance my game. That's what he says all the time. And I think we're aligned from the standpoint of just trying to win more championships -- something I appreciate."
Loeffler's primary role is to work with Hurts. But the Eagles' Sunday trade for Sam Howell underlines how Loeffler is also responsible for ensuring the team's backups can win games. The Eagles place a distinctly high value on quarterback depth. General manager Howie Roseman's efforts to secure a QB3 after trading Kenny Pickett didn't yield a reliable option during the preseason, and Loeffler now must quickly make Howell a game-ready backup while Tanner McKee recovers from a minor finger injury on his throwing hand.
Like Hurts, Loeffler is noticeably confident for these tasks.
He's back in Philadelphia. He spent the 2011 season as Temple's offensive coordinator under Addazio. The first thing he mentioned: "Oh my God, the best food in the world! Are you kidding me?" He thinks he put on 40 pounds back then after "overeating and all the good beer" -- something he's trying to avoid this time.
He's back among friends. Eagles wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead coached receivers at Virginia Tech from 2013 to 2014, when Loeffler was the Hokies' offensive coordinator. Their families have vacationed together in Amelia Island, Florida, for 10 years. This was the first summer they hadn't gone.
He's back among familiar players. As Boston College's offensive coordinator, Loeffler was the first to offer Eagles' sixth-round pick Kyle McCord a scholarship. McCord was in eighth grade. McCord chose Ohio State long after Loeffler joined Bowling Green, but Loeffler stayed in touch. McCord, who transferred to Syracuse in 2024, said they spoke three times throughout last season -- "a good amount for someone you're not playing for," McCord said. When the Eagles picked McCord No. 181 overall, Loeffler was on the draft call.
He's back in the NFL. Detroit taught Loeffler what it's like to be winless. The following 17 years taught him the process of winning. When Loeffler talks about the "thousand things" required for a quarterback to properly perform, it's hard not to imagine Hurts grinning with approval in the background.
"He's a guy that understands that we're chasing perfection," Loeffler said.