Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler takes QB job with Eagles
Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler is leaving the school after six seasons to become quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Loeffler, 50, went 27-41 at Bowling Green but led the Falcons to bowl appearances in each of the past three seasons, posting a 16-10 record in MAC play during the span.
He will replace Doug Nussmeier, who left the Eagles with Kellen Moore to become the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator. Loeffler will work under new Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who had been the team’s passing game coordinator and associate head coach.
“Scot has been dedicated to not only BGSU Football, but to all our student-athletes and BGSU Athletics, as well as our Falcon Marching Band and spirit programs,” university president Rodney Rogers said in a statement. “He cares deeply about player development and student success, and we wish him all the best as he continues his coaching career in the NFL with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.”
Loeffler returns to the NFL for the first time since 2008, when he coached quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions. A former Michigan quarterback, Loeffler coached QBs at his alma mater from 2002 to 2007 and also with Central Michigan and Florida. He first became an offensive coordinator with Temple in 2011 and made coordinator stops with Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College before landing his first head-coaching opportunity at Bowling Green.
The coaching change means Bowling Green players now have a 30-day window to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The Falcons had already lost three All-MAC performers to the portal in December in running back Terion Stewart (Virginia Tech), offensive tackle Alex Wollschlaeger (Kentucky) and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. (Kansas). Bowling Green also is losing record-setting tight end Harold Fannin Jr. to the NFL draft.
Athletic director Derek van der Merwe will lead the search for Loeffler’s replacement. In a statement, Van der Merwe praised Loeffler for building “a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports.
“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,” Van der Merwe added.
ESPN’s Max Olson contributed to this report.
Laura Rutledge talks with Travis Hunter about the possibility of playing both wide receiver and defensive back in the NFL. (1:09)
INDIANAPOLIS — Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter said Thursday it is “super important” to him to be the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL draft and that he is ready, willing and uniquely able to play on both sides of the ball in his professional career.
Labeled as “DB 15” at the NFL scouting combine this week, the Colorado cornerback/wide receiver said the possibility of being the first overall pick has certainly crossed his mind.
“That’s super important,” Hunter said. “That was one of my dreams, to go No. 1.”
Hunter was a must-see performer as college football’s most prominent and proficient two-way player in decades, especially this past season when he won college football’s highest individual honor. On offense, Hunter had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns.
And on defense, he had 33 tackles, 4 interceptions, 10 pass breakups and a forced fumble. In Colorado’s regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, Hunter became the only FBS player over the past 25 seasons with three scrimmage touchdowns and a defensive INT in a single game, per ESPN Research.
Hunter played 1,380 snaps overall in 12 games for Colorado this past season, including 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. It was 382 more snaps than the next-most active player in the FBS and he topped 100 snaps in 10 of Colorado’s 12 games.
Hunter also played 1,007 snaps for Colorado in the 2023 season. He said Thursday he was hopeful whichever team calls his name on the draft’s opening night will allow him the chance to play on both sides of the ball.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I feel like I can keep doing it,” Hunter said. “… That’s not my job to figure it out. I’d like to play both. If they give me the opportunity to play both sides of the ball, I’ll play both sides.”
Hunter, who has been grouped with the defensive backs at the combine for meetings, medical exams and team interviews, contended he is still “listed at both” defensive back and wide receiver in Indianapolis. He also said some teams have already interviewed him at the combine as primarily a wide receiver and some teams have interviewed him primarily as a cornerback.
He will not participate in drills with the defensive backs Friday.
“Nobody has done it, but I feel like I put my body through a lot,” Hunter said. “People don’t get to see that part, what I do to my body to make sure I’m 100% for each game … but I know I could do it … because I’ve done it at the college level.”
Asked if he would push back if his future coaches in the NFL said he could play only offense or defense exclusively, Hunter added: “I would hope they would let me go out there and earn the other position.”
Many in the league have said the biggest issue for Hunter in the NFL in any attempt to play extensively on both sides of the ball would be managing his snap count in games as well as structuring practice time, and the wear and tear that comes with that in a 17-game season, as well as his schedule given offensive and defensive position groups meet separately during the same time periods in a day.
The league’s Defensive Player of the Year — Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II — played 902 snaps in 16 games this past season after logging 1,106 snaps (17 games) in 2022 and 1,121 (17 games) in 2023. Those totals aren’t far from the total snaps Hunter played in all phases in 2024.
Hunter said he has told teams he has a routine he follows in his preparation for games and in his recovery to continue to play offense and defense in the NFL.
“They say nobody has done it for real the way I do it,” Hunter said. “I tell [teams] I’m just different. … I didn’t have no load management at Colorado, coach [Deion Sanders] would pretty much let me do what I felt was right for my body. I’m the only person that knows what’s right for my body. … I always woke up early to get to do what I needed to do.”
Hunter added Thursday he had not spoken much to Sanders, who was also Hunter’s coach at Jackson State, in recent weeks because “he’s been giving me my space and letting me go through this stuff by myself.”
Hunter has called his relationship with Sanders an “unbreakable father-son bond.”
Nebraska is hiring New England Patriots director of pro personnel Patrick Stewart as the football program’s new general manager, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Wednesday.
Current Nebraska general manager Sean Padden — who oversaw top recruiting classes in this cycle in high school recruiting and in the NCAA transfer portal — will move to a new role of assistant AD for strategic intelligence, sources told Thamel. Padden’s role will include ties to the salary cap, contract negotiations and analytics, while Stewart will run the personnel department.
Under second-year coach Matt Rhule, Nebraska finished 7-6 last season, capping its year with a 20-15 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Cornhuskers were 3-6 in the Big Ten.
In New England, Stewart’s departure comes at a time in which the Patriots are in transition under first-year coach Mike Vrabel. The hiring of Vrabel has had a ripple effect on the front office with the addition of vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who had worked with Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2018 to 2022).
The Patriots’ personnel department is still led by executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who had tapped Stewart as director of pro personnel last year. Sam Fioroni had served as the Patriots’ assistant director of pro personnel in 2024. Others on staff could also be eyed for a promotion or new role.
Stewart, who graduated from Ohio State, began his professional career in the college ranks with the Buckeyes (2000 to 2004), Western Carolina (2005) and Temple (2006) before breaking into the NFL with the Patriots in 2007 as a scouting assistant. He then split time between college and pro scouting with the organization over the next 10 seasons.
Stewart was a national scout for the Philadelphia Eagles (2018-19) before working for the Carolina Panthers as director of player personnel (2020) and then vice president of player personnel (2021-22). He returned to the Patriots in 2023 as a senior personnel adviser.
ESPN
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BGSU head football coach to leave for NFL coaching position
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green State University’s head football coach will soon leave the university for a new coaching position in the NFL.
Scot Loeffler, who joined BGSU in November 2018, has accepted a position as a quarterback coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, BGSU said in an announcement Friday.
“In these last six seasons, Scot built a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports. More importantly, he built this program while ensuring his team and coaches were truly committed to the values and mission that make this university great,” said Vice President for Athletics Strategy Derek van der Merwe in the announcement Friday.
BGSU President Rodney Rogers had high praises to sing of Loeffler upon his departure.
“Scot has been dedicated to not only BGSU Football, but to all our student-athletes and BGSU Athletics, as well as our Falcon Marching Band and spirit programs,” Rogers said in Friday’s announcement.
Loeffler has previously coached at several other universities, including Central Michigan and Michigan. He also has previous NFL experience: Loeffler spent a year coaching the quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions, BGSU said.
In his time at BGSU, Loeffler took the Falcons to three wins over Toledo during his six-year tenure.
BGSU said it has already launched a national search for its next head coach.
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BOWLING GREEN — The Scot Loeffler era at Bowling Green State University is over.
The Falcons’ football coach is leaving to become the quarterbacks coach of the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. BGSU announced the move Friday morning.
Loeffler went 27-41 in six years as BGSU’s coach, including 7-6 each of the past two seasons for the Falcons’ first consecutive winning campaigns since 2012 to 2015. The Falcons also played in a bowl game each of the past three seasons.
“BGSU is a special university and community that truly embraces relationships, people and the student experience. In these last six seasons, Scot built a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports,” BGSU athletic director and vice president for athletics strategy Derek van der Merwe said in a news release. “More importantly, he built this program while ensuring his team and coaches were truly committed to the values and mission that make this university great.
“Like other great coaches in the history of BGSU football, he has demonstrated that when you build around the strengths of this university and its mission, anything is possible. 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.”
BGSU denied a request to speak with van der Merwe and directed The Blade to the news release statement.
The Blade has reached out to Loeffler seeking comment.
Loeffler, who was hired as BGSU’s mentor in November 2018 after the program went a combined 9-27 from 2016 to 2018, went just 7-22 in his first three seasons, including 0-5 in the shortened 2020 campaign. The Falcons, though, went 6-7 in 2022 for its most wins since the 2015 Mid-American Conference champion squad finished 10-4.
BGSU came up just short in its three bowl games under Loeffler in losing by a combined 18 points in the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl (24-19 New Mexico State win), 2023 Quick Lane Bowl (30-24 Minnesota win), and 2024 68 Ventures Bowl (38-31 Arkansas State win). The three straight bowl appearances were also a first for the program since making four straight from 2012 to 2015.
In MAC play, BGSU finished 20-25 under Loeffler. The Falcons were among the top teams in the league each of the past three years in notching a combined 16-8 record.
Loeffler went 3-3 in the Battle of I-75 against rival Toledo, including 2-1 on the road. BGSU’s 41-26 win at Toledo in 2024 marked the Falcons’ second straight win at the Glass Bowl — a first in more than 30 years (1992 and 1994) for the program — and helped Loeffler become the first coach since Doyt Perry (5-0) to have a winning record against the Rockets in their home stadium.
BGSU also secured several impressive nonconference wins under Loeffler, including a stunning 14-10 win at Big Ten Conference foe Minnesota in 2021 and a convincing 38-27 victory at Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Georgia Tech in 2023. The Falcons also gave ranked power conference opponents Penn State and Texas A&M a scare last season on the road in falling to the Nittany Lions 34-27 and the Aggies 26-20 in front of a combined 203,000 fans.
“Coach Loeffler has made a tremendous impact in rebuilding and reshaping BGSU football, developing student athletes and growing engagement across our learning community and the region,” BGSU president Rodney K. Rogers said in a release. “Scot has been dedicated to not only BGSU football, but to all our student athletes and BGSU athletics, as well as our Falcon Marching Band and spirit programs.
“He cares deeply about player development and student success, and we wish him all the best as he continues his coaching career in the NFL with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.”
The position with the Eagles will be Loeffler’s second in the NFL in his nearly 30-year coaching career. He was the Detroit Lions’ quarterbacks coach in 2008.
First Published February 28, 2025, 8:45 p.m.
