It seems that Scot Loeffler found more than just his potential quarterback of the future down in Tampa when he signed Dwayne Lawson out of Hillsborough HS; he also found the next member of his staff.
Hillsborough head coach Earl Garcia has now confirmed an earlier report by 247Sports that the school's offensive coordinator, Max Warner, will be leaving his staff to join the Hokies as an offensive quality control coordinator.
Warner declined to comment on the situation when reached by phone last week. However, the Virginia Tech athletic department confirmed Warner's hire. Warner began work with the Hokies on February 25th.
But Garcia was more than willing to talk about his former OC/quarterbacks coach, gushing over the work ethic and football knowledge that he'll bring to Tech's staff.
To be clear, Garcia denies the notion that hiring Warner and signing Lawson were somehow connected, saying "it was not by any means a package deal."
Instead, he believes the move stems from the relationship Warner and Loeffler developed as Tech courted Lawson. The pair worked together frequently after Garcia put his OC in charge of handling his most prominent recruit.
"(Lawson) was going to be such a national recruit, so I said 'you take him and I'll take the rest of the kids' because it's a pretty heavy workload to get an entire football team recruited," Garcia said. "In the process, every time Coach Loeffler would come in, he and I and Max would get on the board and we'd share some ideas and he and Scot just hit it off. I told Scot, 'we need him out of here, he needs to get back to college, he's too good a coach to spend time at this level.'"
Warner is indeed no stranger to the college ranks. He previously spent time as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State, a Division II school in Kansas.
It was there that he encountered Al McCray, the school's wide receivers coach that formerly held a similar role down at Hillsborough, who came away immensely impressed with Warner's abilities.
"He's the next Bill Walsh, he's an offensive genius, that's for sure," McCray said. "His football IQ's off the charts, he's a very intelligent, football-minded coach. He's a great quarterback coach, he's great at developing young kids. You'll be hearing a lot about Max Warner in the next 10 years, I can tell you that much."
As Warner's time at Fort Hays wound down, McCray tried to give him a hand as he planned his next move.
"Most GAs in the Division II level spend about two years there, so after that he was looking for a job," McCray said. "And I just said 'hey, Coach Garcia is a great coach to work under.' He's a Hall of Fame coach down there in Florida."
McCray put in a good word for Warner with his old boss, and Garcia quickly found himself hiring a new quarterbacks coach.
"He called me and told me 'hey there's this really talented young guy you need talk to' and Max and I hit off. I turned the offense over to him and that's how we did business for the last few years," Garcia said. "It was all Coach McCray, and consequently, he also turned me on to the guy I hired to replace Max as the new OC...so Coach McCray has been my broker, he's been my talent scout for me."
Garcia was his own offensive coordinator when he hired Warner back in 2011, but after a year, he thought highly enough of his skills to cede those duties to Warner.
"Max is such a talented football coach and such a hard worker, such a committed person, he absolutely eats and breathes football," Garcia said.
His ascension to OC came just as Lawson took over as Hillsborough's starter, and Warner quickly formed a bond with his top quarterback. Garcia thinks that tutelage will prove to be tremendously helpful for Lawson as he acclimates to the college game.
"You couldn't find a better scenario for Dwayne Lawson," Garcia said. "Dwayne was taught at the collegiate level by Max, so as far as the X's and O's, except for the sheer volume of the offense, the structure, the nomenclature, the terminology and all the reads are going to be very familiar because he was taught at that level."
Garcia also believes that the pair's bond off the field will help Lawson as he adjusts to life so far away from home.
"From the emotional side, going from Florida to Virginia and having his father figure, which is basically what Max became to Dwayne, that is so comforting," Garcia said. "It's great for the family, it's great for Dwayne, and it's going to make the transition even smoother. And I fully expect him to be in the mix here for the Ohio State game."
But Warner won't just be working with Lawson in his new role. He'll likely be working closely with Loeffler to study what is, and what isn't, working with the offense, a role Garcia believes that will fit him well.
"Behind closed doors, Scot and Virginia Tech are not getting a 24-year-old GA who's a rookie head coach, this guy is knowledgeable as hell," Garcia said. "I promise you he'll be intimately involved in the offense. And I'm sure he'll be coaching the quarterback to some degree, whether it's pre-practice drills, post-practice drills, on the board or film study, so he'll be involved."
McCray also notes that any coach that works under Garcia learns to cultivate a work ethic that borders on the obsessive.
"Garcia has a sign as soon as you walk into the office, it says 'if you've worked 40 hours this week, it's not enough,'" McCray said. "So that's that mold that I knew Max Warner fit in."
For Loeffler, who's infamous for wandering bleary eyed around the football offices after some sleepless nights, that quality likely stood out immediately. But Garcia also believes Warner can learn plenty from his new boss.
"Scot's coached in the NFL, he's coached Tom Brady, he's been at Michigan, he's done all the D-I stuff and he's got contacts all over the country," Garcia said. "You've got to have a guy that will open the door for you and there's no better guy that I know of offensively than Scot Loeffler. He knows everybody and he's very well respected nationally, so that's a great guy to hook on to for Max."
If Loeffler can indeed open a few doors for Warner, Garcia doesn't anticipate Virginia Tech being the end of the line for his coaching career.
"Within a year he'll be a position coach at a Division I school and he has such a great mind that he'll be an OC within four or five years," Garcia said. "He has a very bright future."
Comments
Very interesting. Forward looking by our Coaching staff & Admin.
I like this hire at first blush. Yeah, he may scoot through here pretty quickly -- but then again, if CFB decides to hang it up in another couple years, we may be seeing the Post-Beamer era of VT offensive coaches coming on board right now, and the future looks pretty solid. (Presuming that the offense gels this third year under Loeffler, which I for one really expect.)
There more I read, hear, and think about this, the happier I am with the hire. Should help us get all the little things done behind the scenes, similar to how our new recruiting positions have helped us step things up on that end.
More importantly, this hire means Loeffler might be able to get some sleep during a game week for once.
Bingo. Here's to hoping we see more of Happy Lefty and less Holy-crap-dude-are-you-homeless? Lefty.
Sounds like a great hire. If he is really that good then once he gets into Div 1 coaching the connection with VT now could pay big dividends later on down the road.
I know he can't actively recruit on the road but I am assuming he will have some role to play in opening more Florida schools.
thanks for the article Alex.
I'd like to know the definition of "actively recruit." I assume he can't talk to recruits, but can he call up his old coaching buddies down in Florida and talk them up?
He can't go out and visit. I'm not sure if he can call or not, but he can probably still tweet/email. And of course he can talk to the guys when they visit.
He can probably contact HS coaches down there as well and get things organized through the coaches without talking to the players. Gauge interest, spread the word about camps, etc.
What exactly does an "offensive quality control coordinator do?" We seem to have added multiple positions in the last few years that have random titles, I guess just ways to wiggle around NCAA max "coaching" limits. Sure seems rather suspect that we get a blue chip recruit and his OC but I am willing to give Frank the benefit of the doubt. Lets see what kind of impact he makes...
They watch film and help prep/assist the OC by being a second set of eyes to spot tendencies, what's working/not working, what the other team's D does in certain situations, etc. Basically they take a chunk of the behind the scenes work off the OC so that he can, you know, coach and recruit. If you read through the other thread about this other posters did a better job of outlining more of the details, but this is the 30,000 foot view of his job.
There's nothing shady about the job, Whit has committed to expanding the staff.
Tech did have one of the smallest staff's for a division 1 team in the nation before Whit starting hiring.
for reference that would have been 2 - Asst. AD Ballein and Beamer's secretary. 4 if you count Gentry and Karlin.
By contrast Ohio State had 37 non-coach football staff members back in 2010.
There is nothing shady about the job. We probably should have had it years ago, lots of other programs have.
The specific person in the job, and the timing, do look a little "off" from the outside. But if the man produces and moves up through the ranks (at Tech or elsewhere), anyone's thoughts of "shadiness" should be gone.
After reading this, I am hoping to see this being more then a one a done situation for Warner. I would like to see him here for a few years and develop into a position coach with our staff then take his talents someone if he decides later. I just do not see the benefit of being at one place for only one year when you are trying to build a productive future.
If Loeffler has that many connections and such a great reputations what looks better on a Coaching resume, one year as a quality control coordinator first year in D1 or 2-3 years experience at Power 5 D-1 school as position coach under the same guy with the same connections.
At this level, experience and who you know means everything and he has the who you know down just needs the experience and opportunity.
One of the values of having an expanded football operations staff is having fresh young minds like Warner around to promote from within when you lose position coaches like Moorehead. Their work is essentially an extended interview. There always tends to be shuffling amongst college staffs (generally little at VT though) so he'll likely have a solid opportunity to work himself up...and if no spots open up, it's fine if he's a one-and-done and moves to greener pastures.
"You couldn't find a better scenario for Dwayne Lawson," Garcia said. "Dwayne was taught at the collegiate level by Max, so as far as the X's and O's, except for the sheer volume of the offense, the structure, the nomenclature, the terminology and all the reads are going to be very familiar because he was taught at that level."
this makes me believe that the chance for dwayne to be the starter THIS season is not that far off. I know french has said alot that Dwayne would have to blow everyone else out of the water but i think he could do that honestly. my biggest concern is not that hes young, not athletic enough, not strong enough etc, its that he hasnt grasp the playbook enough to start year one but from the sounds of it he maybe on the same level as guys who have already been in the system for a year.
That's exactly what it's going to be. It's no secret that he has more physical tools than Brewer, but can he have the same command of a very complex offense at the speed of major college football? He's got 3 weeks to overtake a guy with a full year of starting experience and an additional spring in said offense. If he can do it, more power to him. If not, the QB battle next year is gonna be reeaaally good.
Event with coaching from a guy with DII experience, he still has only played against high school athletes. There is a HUGE difference between playing against other high schoolers and playing against D1, FBS, P5 athletes.
To me this is just coach-speak blah-blah-blah...and does nothing to make me change my belief that (barring several catastrophic injuries) Lawson will not be a starter this year.
We could use all the help we can get on the O.
As long as it wasn't a "packaged" deal, as this article seems to clarify, then I'm OK with this.
The hire is definitely a conflict of interests. But, if Warner is truly the "next Bill Walsh" or perhaps the next Art Briles, then it's worth it. Maybe be another VT diamond in the rough?
I'm not sure how much credence I can put into quotes from a DII WR coach, though. Time will tell.
How is it a conflict of interests?
Even if Warner was hired solely to secure the commitment of Lawson, that wouldn't be a conflict of interest. By definition.
And although I don't think it hurt his cause to have a relationship with the future starting quarterback considering he'll be involved with developing the QB's, I don't think that was why he was brought on. Coaching is a very small profession and networking is key to career success. When you have two respected coaches rave about the ability and drive of a 24 year old high school offensive coordinator, that alone would be enough of a reason to consider hiring him.
Bingo. It's a small, intense, unstable profession, and the guys in it have immense respect for one another. On top of that, you're only as good as your reputation, and no coach is going to stick his neck out for a guy unless he knows that guy will succeed. To have 2 coaches who have worked with him give such glowing reviews is telling. They could have easily given the standard, "we wish him the best, yada yada yada" and moved on. To put that much faith in a guy means a heck of a lot, cause if he doesn't work out, it's on those 2 guys as well.
Wikipedia defines conflict of interest:
It is a conflict of interest because of Warner's history. He has a Lawson bias.
Let's say, in 2016 that Durkin or Ford win the job outright. The starter begins to struggle and Warner pushes to start Lawson. Or, Warner takes it further. He begins to purposely hinder the development of Durkin or Ford (not doing his due diligence on film review, not working hard to actually build up their skills, whatever). That's a conflict of interest.
I would hope Warner would have greater integrity than that, but the conflict of interest exists.
That's only true if it's in Warner's interest for Lawson to win the job. It's not. The only interest Warner has is in making the offense be as successful as possible, because that is how his future employment opportunities will be decided.
Warner and Lawson aren't related. If we're going to say that coaches have a conflict of interest when they are making coaching decisions involving two players that they haven't known for an equal length of time... well I'm pretty sure every coach in the country will have a "conflict of interest" then.
This is a far from unusual situation in CFB. I'm not sure why people seem to view it as shady in someway.
Have you ever taken conflict of interest training from a university? I did, and let me tell you, damn near everything can be a COI. This hire is a COI. That's not to say its wrong or shady; the terms aren't synonymous and it's a mistake people often make. It just means that there is a reasonable perception that actions may have been influenced by undue influence from another party and that measures need to be taken to prevent anything illegal or inappropriate from happening. Being a COI doesn't mean it's wrong; but everything related to the situation must be done in the light of day. In making the hire, the University and/or Athletic Department had to be careful that everything was done properly - other legitimate candidates considered and interviewed, and that Warner merited the position. It certainly sounds like he does, so this is really a non-issue as long as there was no quid pro quo going on and everything was done on the up and up.
Fair enough, I didn't realize that the definition of Conflict of Interest was so broad.
If that is the case though, isn't basically any coaching hire a conflict of interest? Recruiting is a zero sum game after all (there are only so many talented recruits) and coaches will always have stronger ties to specific areas (and thus specific recruits). What about when new coaches come in and have to decide between recruits they brought in vs student athletes who were on campus before the coach?
Does operating in such a binary occupation like college football (either you win the game or you lose, either you sign the recruit or you don't) inherently involve more COI than other jobs?
COI is inherently broad because of bureaucratic power and lawyers. I am a postdoc at a university, and literally every year I have to fill out a form that says nothing more than "I have no competing financial interests." That's it. I have nothing to tell them, but it has to be documented. It's nuts. My boss is a co-founder and chief scientific officer for a small company that licenses some technology and software to industry, so every single paper our lab publishes that is in any way related to the use or application of that software must carry the COI notification. I can absolutely understand that case, but it is something that will always come up.
In coaching, you have a pretty specific talent pool you're diving in. Outsider perception here is the only issue. We all know Lawson merited his scholarship offer, and most among the fanbase are positively giddy about the kid (rightfully so). Warner seems like a solid hire, up-and-comer in the field. No issue there. But for those that don't know all that stuff see the possibility that two scenarios played out. (1) Lawson gets an offer, and Warner, solely by virtue of his connection to Lawson, gets a promotion - a nice pay raise (I'm sure) and professional advancement, all because he met Loeffler due to Lawson. Or (2) Loeffler thinks Lawson is OK but loves the thought of bringing Warner on board, so a deal is made and the kid is a pawn in a multi-million dollar industry. Of course, both range somewhere from unlikely to laughable, but even if the perception exists, that is the reason the University has to do everything by the book.
If VT has crossed the t's, dotted the i's and j's, and put the umlaut's over the Muller, then we're good to go.
That's kinda my point though, isn't there a difference between the appearance of a COI and an actual COI? Just because the university needs to go through it's due diligence to ensure that it's not leaving itself open to legal issues doesn't mean that there is an actual case to be made for a conflict of interest... right? Or am I just completely incorrect in my understanding of conflict of interest?
You're not completely incorrect. But, I think it would help if you thought of conflict of interest and actual conflicts (or impropriety).
Conflict of interest is a possibility of corrupt motivation. e.g. The pre-existing relationship of
DLawson and Warner.Actual conflict is acting on that possibility. e.g. Warner getting into arguments with Loeffler for not playing Dawson.
In the NFL, Chip Kelly is creating COIs left and right. Getting rid of star players to bring in former Oregon Ducks. That creates a potential conflict in the locker room between Oregon Alums (being favored) and non-Oregon alums. It also creates a potential conflict with the Eagles front office and Kelly; the Eagles are probably currently giving Kelly the benefit of the doubt, but if the team ends up sucking and McCoy gets MVP status, a conflict will probably arise.
In college football recruiting, there have to be millions of COIs. For instance, Corwin Cutler's Dad, the 'Breds, and Mike London. Did Eli Harold, Brown, etc really go through the recruiting process or were they pushed by corrupt motives.
We don't want Dawson to play, just Lawson. =D
Thanks. Fixed.
Too much Vanderbeek.
Damn lawyers...............
So now Loeffler is the third best OC on the staff?
{ducks}
Can't lie, I chuckled.
I think that Stinespring guy would make a hell of an offensive coordinator.
If he's as good a coach as they say, it can't be a bad thing for him to be on our staff.
That being said, he is here because of Lawson. That isn't a bad thing, and I'm glad we're starting to play with the same set of standards others have to even the playing field. I also think this means that Lawson is our QB going forward, unless he proves he needs a year of development, first.
I don't like saying that he's here "because of Lawson." He's here due to our recruitment of Lawson, but not because Lawson is here. We don't actually know, but perhaps the hire still would have happened had Lawson not signed with us. With both though, it's just a better situation.
Maybe they're starting him out as QC to kind of size him up and see how he does with the intention of eventually moving him to QB coach and lessen some of Lefty's load. If he doesn't work out as QC oh well, they tried, move on, no big deal. If he's all they're saying he should be and moves up to a position coach and helps our offense improve then that's great. I don't see where we have much to lose by giving this guy a shot. IMO
I believe we'd have to lose a position coach then. I think there is a limit (9?) on coaches that you can have. I believe Lefty is currently OC/QB Coach.
Ohhhhh. I didn't realize there was a limit to the number of coaches. I was thinking the Lefty could just give up the QB coach title and just be OC.
He can. But, a coach would have to go. One scenario would be to get rid of a defensive coach. I'm not a for firing coaches, but an outside observer would probably find a position coach expendable if the position he coaches is near extinct and his recruiting ability hasn't really reached the potential imagined when hired.
Oooooo...what you said! Don't let him hear you, he's still big and tough.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.............this looks verrrrrry interesting!