Scot Loeffler: Wolverines are a 'playoff team,' have 'some of the best talent that I've seen at Michigan'

One former Michigan Wolverines football quarterback will be the head coach of his team at The Big House Saturday, and it’s not Jim Harbaugh, who’s set to serve the third of a three-game suspension when his team takes on Bowling Green. Falcons head coach Scot Loeffler, a U-M signal-caller (1993-96), student assistant (1996-97), graduate assistant (1998-99) and quarterbacks coach (2002-07), will lead his team into battle under the lights.

Having watched closely ever since joining Michigan as a player, Loeffler knows the Wolverines well and understands the challenge his Falcons have ahead of them.

“We’ve watched the Michigan film,” Loeffler said. “They’re a playoff team. Coach Harbaugh and his staff, I really believe, have done a wonderful job recruiting some of the best talent that I’ve seen at Michigan. They’re super well-coached, they’re developed and, most importantly, they play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. They play with great effort and great technique. So, we’ve got our hands full.

“We look forward to the challenge. Super excited for our kids to go into that great stadium and compete versus a national championship type of team.”

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There aren’t many warts, Loeffler continued.

“They’re good. They’re great,” the former Michigan quarterback said. “There’s not a position on the field that you see that has weakness. I think they’re way better than they were last year. They’re physical, they run to the ball really well, they’re violent, super athletic. I think [Michigan junior quarterback] J.J. [McCarthy] is outstanding. The offensive line reminds me of the five that we had in 1999 that all went in the first round.

“They’re a very good football team and very well-coached. The thing that’s most impressive is how they play — they play hard.”

Bowling Green must play its ‘best football’

Bowling Green is 1-1, with a loss at Liberty (34-24) and a win over FCS Eastern Illinois (38-15). The Falcons appeared in the Quick Lane Bowl a year ago, marking their first postseason appearance since 2015, but were picked by the media to finish fourth of six teams in the MAC West heading into this season. Loeffler knows his team will have to bring its ‘A’ game to have a chance against Michigan.

“We’ve gotta go in there, we’ve gotta play our best football,” Loeffler said. “We’ve gotta be creative. There are some mismatch problems that we’re gonna have, and we’ve gotta be able to adapt and adjust to all their strengths and do what they do well, try to eliminate a couple of things that they do excellent and go give ourselves a chance to go compete.”

Bowling Green played at Tennessee two seasons ago, losing 38-6, Loeffler said to note that some of his players have competed in an environment similar to that of Michigan’s at The Big House. He said the Falcons will go with a silent cadence, something he’s not fond of.

“We’ve gotta walk in there, handle the environment, really lock in on what we need to do and go play our best game,” Loeffler said.

Loeffler raves about J.J. McCarthy, Michigan personnel

The biggest challenge is facing Michigan’s personnel he said, explaining that “after the first snap, it’s playing football,” 100,000 fans or not. McCarthy and the Wolverines’ offense pose a huge threat. The Wolverine quarterback has completed 48 of his 55 passes for 558 yards and 5 touchdowns through two games, wins over ECU and UNLV.

“He’s really good. He’s really come a long way, too,” Loeffler said. “I think the quarterback coach [Kirk Campbell], and obviously Coach Harbaugh being a quarterback guy, have done an excellent job with him.

“He’s got a lot of weapons around him. The running game is ridiculous. The offensive line is their strength, without a doubt. And J.J. can sit back there … whenever you watch him, it’s like skelly. Literally, they protect really well, the receivers do a great job of creating separation, they find the holes in the zones, they create separation in man coverage.

“He’s accurate and athletic, and he can make plays with his feet. He’s one of those special ones at that position, there’s no question about that. He’ll follow those great quarterbacks that walked through those doors.”

Michigan’s run game ranked fifth nationally with 238 yards per game last season, bludgeoning opponents. ECU sold out to stop the run, and UNLV was also keying in on the ground game to a lesser extent. Loeffler alluded to Bowling Green taking a similar approach.

“Well, you’ve gotta stop something — or you’ve got to try to stop something,” Loeffler said. “Obviously, whenver you can stop the run game, which is a challenge in itself. They get into 12 personnel and 22 personnel, and they go back to some old-school, NFL power-style runs that, to be quite honest with you, not a lot of people run anymore, and they’re hard to fit. You’ve gotta try to slow down their run game and try to get them in a situation where it’s at least a one-dimensional game.”

On the other side of the ball, Loeffler pointed to Michigan’s secondary as extremely talented. Sophomore Will Johnson made his season debut last week, but junior safety Rod Moore has yet to play this season despite being close to returning. Even without those two, Loeffler has been blown away.

“I don’t think the two All-Americans have stepped on the field yet,” Loeffler said. “They’re loaded in the back end. That’s what impressive. Up front, they’re powerful, they play with their hands really well. The linebackers can run. But their secondary, I think, is one of the better secondaries that I’ve ever seen, and when I was there we had some excellent, excellent guys in the back end. I think they’re as talented as they’ve had there.”

What else Scot Loeffler said about Michigan football

On what he learned at Michigan…
“There are a lot of guys on our staff that had the opportunity to go to Michigan. The way that we look at it is we’re super grateful for giving us an opportunity to earn a degree, super grateful that we got to play a game that we love. Tremendously grateful for all the relationships that we have from that place.

“I say this all the time, and I learned this from Gary Moeller the first week that I was in camp, he said, ‘You’ll never be able to repay Michigan back for what Michigan is going to do for you.’ That’s the message that we try to teach our players here. Our players are never going to repay back Bowling Green for what Bowling Green is going to do for them.

“With all of the transfer portal, with all of the NIL, at the end of the day, the things that are important in college football still are education, playing as a team, playing a game that we love and the relationships that we build, and then obviously winning championships.”

Favorite memories at Michigan…
“The people — without a doubt. It all started with [former Michigan head] Coach [Bo] Schembechler. Coach Schembechler is from my hometown; it’s probably the biggest reason that I went to Michigan. Believe it or not, all my life, I was a Buckeye. Coach Schembechler was really the reason why I probably went there. And then obviously, Coach Moeller recruiting me, Lloyd Carr, who I consider a father figure, without a doubt. The ties that Coach Schembechler had to [former Bowling Green coach, whose name is on the stadium] Doyt Perry, I think, is really cool. 

“You look at the Harbaugh family — Jack was here. Jack and Jackie, I believe, met here. Jim and John lived some of their youth here, went to St. Aloysius. My roommate in college is the defensive line coach there, Mike Elston, who’s a great man. Great memories. Mike Hart and Ron Bellamy, I coached, the running backs and receiver coaches. Dave Ablauf, who is the media guy, Phil Johnson, who’s now the head trainer. Phil Bromley is still the video guy. So there are a lot of people that are still there whenever I was fortunate to be in those doors. It’s a special place.

“Probably the reason why I love our alum and our former players so much here at BG is that they remind me of my teammates here. Whenever you talk to a BG guy that played at BG, they’re the same way as my teammates. They love their school, they appreciate what they had, they give back — and that’s why I love our alums so much here. They are awesome. They love BG, they appreciate BG, and my teammates feel the same way about where I played.”