Scot Loeffler still installing new offense at Virginia Tech

As the summer comes to an end, new Virginia Tech football offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler has a plan of attack once Virginia Tech reconvenes at the start of August.

“We’re going install and we’re going install, install and install,” he said at a Roanoke Valley Sports Club event Monday night at the Salem Civic Center. “And after install, we’re going to install some more.”

Three months after the end of spring ball, Loeffler isn’t worried about retention, encouraged by the fact that what the team installed in the spring was “methodically slow,” simply putting down the building blocks of the offense.

“We’re going to throw a lot at them and the ability to adapt to the new stuff is not hard once you have a foundation,” he said. “And I think those guys have a foundation. So we should be in good shape.”

Loeffler has gotten reports about the players’ offseason from the strength and conditioning staff and seems encouraged from what he’s heard about a “meaner” Logan Thomas.

“When you’re a young player like he was when he played so young, you’re just trying to do your job, lead by example,” Loeffler said. “Once you figure out who you are and are all about, then you can start to be a little bit more vocal. And we’ve stressed that with him. It’s time for him to run the show. It’s his team and go do it.

“I love it. Beyond love it. Every great one that I’ve been around, even Tim [Tebow]. Mild-mannered? No. They run the show. It’s their team. And I see that in him.”

With the Alabama opener a little over a month away, Loeffler wants Tech to focus on each day leading up to that game.

“It’s a great challenge for our kids,” he said. “We’re going to focus on the everydays. Not Alabama. Every day we’ve got to find a way to be a little bit better, and Alabama will be here before we know it. We’ve got to take care of the day first, not get 30 days advanced.”

Here are some other topics Loeffler touched on:

On what the fans should expect in the offense’s sense of urgency, Loeffler said it will be a deliberate attack, but not necessarily no-huddle.

“Offensively what we’re going to be is this: we’re going to be a pro-style attack that huddles and has the ability to no-huddle,” he said. “And I think that’s really important in college football and in pro football. The reason that we want to huddle is that we want to trade, shift and manipulate the defense and get our best players matched up against their worst players. And when you’re simply no-huddle, you can’t do that. You can’t create those matchups.”

Loeffler said Virginia Tech has a contingency plan at running back that it will simply have to go to earlier than expected following the summer dismissal of Michael Holmes. He thinks J.C. Coleman and Trey Edmunds will be fine, saying they have “specific skill sets and we’ll just utilize what they do well.”

Finding a starting five on the offensive line will be a top priority next month.”Those guys have had great pride,” Loeffler said. “They’ve heard it, just like I’ve been here seven months and I’ve heard it. There’s a sense of urgency with that group to make sure that they do their job. They’ve been criticized. They’ve been beat up. And anytime that that occurs, you get a little bit of an edge and the urgency picks up.”

Loeffler echoed the praise Thomas and Beamer heaped on redshirt freshman receiver Charley Meyer at the ACC Kickoff.

“I love him,” Loeffler said. “I don’t like him. I love him.”

Loeffler said Meyer reminds him of new receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, a walk-on in his days at Illinois who out-worked guys and ended up having a five-year NFL career.

“This Charley Meyer, now, he’s one of those guys that we’re going to try to out-recruit him,” Loeffler said. “There’s no question we’re going to. But I don’t think I could ever get him off the field because of how tough and relentless he is. I really, really, really like him a lot. He’s tough.”

Lastly, Loeffler was asked about Tom Brady and Tebow, two players he coached in some capacity in college, and what makes them tick. He gushed about both, especially Brady, someone he’s such good friends with from his Michigan days that he calls “Tommy.”

“Tommy Brady is a CEO in every sense of the word,” Loeffler said. “He had a 29 ACT, maybe 30 is what I think it was. Super bright. Super tough. Can run a business. If Tom wasn’t a QB, he’d be running IBM or doing something like that. So his success to me, it’s not shocking.

Regarding Tebow, he said: “Tim just needs time. Tim’s a guy who will get it. He’s tough. What’s amazing about all the guys, they all have the same intangibles and the ‘it factor.’ Obviously Tim and Tom play differently, that’s all.”

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