Irish Opponent Notebook: Loeffler Raves About Notre Dame Recruiting, Team

As Blue and Gold Illustrated's Lou Somogyi pointed out, the "unthinkable" would have to happen for Notre Dame to lose to Bowling Green State University.

Heading into Saturday's matchup, ESPN's SP+ has the Falcons at the third-lowest rated team in FBS, while the FPI has them just four spots from the bottom of the college football world at No. 127.

That's why it was no surprise that new Bowling Green Head Coach Scot Loeffler was very complimentary of Notre Dame and Head Coach Brian Kelly at his press conference on Monday. He knows he has an uphill battle coming his way as his team continues to progress through a major rebuild that's still in its infancy.

Still, the praise he gave Notre Dame was incredibly high, to the point that he has the Irish ranked higher than any Associated Press voter did on Sunday.

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Repeatedly throughout his press conference, Loeffler referenced Notre Dame as one of the best football teams in the country.

"There's a reason that they're in the top 10 right now and they might be in the top five," he said. "They're outstanding with their talent. They've done a great job of who they've recruited, they've developed them and they're unique.

"Whenever you're watching the University of Georgia struggle with them at times, you know they've done a really good job recruiting and they have."

Loeffler believes that Notre Dame's recruiting and development has given them depth and speed all over the field but particularly on defense.

Some fans may complain about how Notre Dame has recruited over the years, but it's hard to argue after watching the Georgia game that the Irish don't have the speed and strength to keep up with the most athletic teams in the country, and Loeffler believes this is most evident in the front four.

"I've played against Notre Dame [for] many years," he said. "I've coached against him many years, and I think they have done an outstanding job of recruiting. I think they're different. They're different than what they've been in the past. They've always been good. They've always had great tradition, but they're front four guys are unique.

"There's not a guy on their defense that can't run. They run, they hit and they play with enthusiasm."

When pressed on what sets Notre Dame players and recruits apart, Loeffler suggested that the reports ask his college roommate, Notre Dame Defensive Line and Associate Head Coach Mike Elston. The two played together at the University of Michigan and per Allison Hayes of ABC 57 News, the two were also groomsmen in each other's wedding.

As he referenced, this will not be the first time Loeffler has gone up against Notre Dame.

By my count, this will be his 13th time competing against the Irish football program and his first as a head coach. But he said his favorite matchup comes from his time as a player in 1994, when his No. 6 Michigan Wolverines beat No. 3 Notre Dame 26-24.

"Great game. At South Bend, Todd Collins gets spun around, hits Seth Smith on a shallow cross on a desperation play," he said. "Remy Hamilton kicks the winning field goal. Great game. Ron Paulus played great that game, too. Young quarterback for Notre Dame. It was a great game. Awesome place, fun place to play."

Since 1993, Loeffler is 6-6 against the Irish as a player, graduate assistant and quarterbacks coach with Michigan and as the offensive coordinator at Boston College. All of his wins come from his time with the Wolverines. The only time he went against Notre Dame during his tenure with the Eagles was in 2017, when the Irish won 49-20.

While Michigan and Notre Dame are bitter rivals, it seems that his experiences have given him nothing but respect for the Irish.

"It's a storybook place. It's one of the greatest traditions in college football," Loeffler said. "The people over there are first-class. I've always thought, playing at that stadium, the way that you're treated, the way that the fans treat you — I think it's outstanding. I've been a part of one of the biggest rivalries in that game, and I always thought it was first-class."

Loeffler also touched on his own team heading into this game. Two items he harped on were their depth issues and missed assignments.

None of these struggles are unique for most MAC-level programs, but his Bowling Green program is particularly troubled. There are a few positions where they are an injury or two away from having to play non-scholarship players.

"We're talking about a situation where you have two quarterbacks on scholarship, we have three running backs on scholarship right there," Loeffler said. "You're supposed to have four to five quarterbacks and five running backs on scholarship. That's just at those two positions that hit me immediately.

"There are depth problems in a lot of areas and we've got to improve that. And how you improve that is you recruit really well."

He also says that the team doesn't have players talented enough to make up for one another's mistakes.

So if all 11 players on the field aren't assignment correct, one mistake can turn into a big play for the other team.

"Whenever you're inconsistent the way we are, you'll watch the tape and you'll see nine guys do exactly what they're supposed to do and then there's two that don't," Loeffler said. "Or there'll be 10 that do and one that doesn't. That's the coolest thing about our game is it's getting those 11 guys on the field to do their job all simultaneous, and that's hard to do."

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