State of the Program 11.12.2020

    So, Scot Loeffler had a post game presser with some serious energy. The Falcons are 0-2 to start, and Loeffler is well aware they look terrible. The Falcons look horrific on defense and the offense is not much better. For the State of the Program, we will be discussing Scot's interview today in which I came away even more pumped for the future.

    In this State of the Program, I will break down what is being said, give context, but not everything here is a direct quote. You can watch the full interview on the BG Athletics YouTube page, as well as here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9_peyMMzDc&t=64s 

 

   Scot starts off by discussing how he intends to fix this program by doing things the right way. That means recruiting in a solid 4 hour radius, not going after juco transfers, and by fixing the culture around winning. Loeffler admits this team is no where close to where they want to be but the program was in shambles when he took it over so it is not a tweak away from being good. He also discusses how when a coach quits, and the next coach comes in and has instant success, that means the previous coach did a great job building the program. One example in Urban Meyer coming in, building up BG, then Greg Brandon coming in and having instant success with studs such as Josh Harris. That also happened when Dave Clawson won the MAc in 2013, then left for Wake Forest. Dino Babers came in and had instant success. Babers won the MAC in 2015 and won the MAC East in 2014. 

    However, Babers did not do a good job recruiting. Dino Babers inherited great weapons from Clawson, but failed to recruit anyone on either side of the offensive and defensive line. This became clearer when Babers left for Syracuse (a job he has struggled at) and Mike Jinks came in, and we all know how the Jinks era went. Jinks was just 7-24 as BG's head coach and then was fired mid 2018 as interim HC Carl Pelini took over and went 2-3 in 5 games in the Orange and Brown. Loeffler goes on about sustainability, so this program wins while he is here, and wins for years after he leaves. Scot knows that this team is so young, killed by how few kids stayed with Bowling Green during the Jinks era, means many freshmen have to play now and they are getting thrown to the wolves. Scot says he is not going to "quick fix and use" Bowling Green such as others have in the past. Loeffler says he took this job knowing how bad things were, even citing past coach Dave Clawson, who told Loeffler the program was worse than he took it over in 2009. Loeffler also points out they have 20 scholarship players in the sophomore and junior classes, address that fact made by Toledo Blade writer Nick Piotrowicz.

At this point Loeffler was really getting fired up, and it gave me goosebumps and almost put a tear in my eye. I went to Bowling Green from 2016-2020, and was there for the miserable years highlighted only by Scot's win over Toledo as 27 point underdogs. I saw BG climb the mountain in the mid 2010's only to turn into a dumpster fire. So to have a man care as much as he does, about this community, school, and program makes me as someone who bleeds Orange and Brown smile. 

So the interview is getting hot at this point. Scot goes off about how he does not want the juco transfers, because this program needs a base, the previous staff barely recruited from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois etc. Scot also says that there were a lot of positives on film, and the kids are continuing to buy into the system. He watched kids fail because they have not had enough time in the weight room. They need to embrace the suck, because things will get better. Scot also takes another subtle shot at Babers for leaving the program is disarray, praises Clawson and says that is what he wants for himself. He wants to leave the program in an amazing place. He also notes that Jinks was so terrible, many kids left the program.

Loeffler keeps harping on building a culture, finding passion, coaching/recruiting their tails off. This program has been in shambles for 5 years, and you cannot waive a magic wand and fix it overnight. Scot preaches that this program needs to get built 24/7, doing the right things on and off of the field. "Attack it like a mad dog" was a phrase Scot used to build this program. Nick from the Toledo Blade also pointed out that BG started 4 true freshmen at offensive line, which could be an FBS record. 

I walk away from this interview with more confident than ever in this tea. We will get back to being true Falcons but it takes time. Scot is the guy, he is an amazing guy, a true class act and I cannot wait for this to pay off for him. 

Twitter @ BGFootballTalk