He had to wait an extra eight years, but Scot Loeffler finally gets to coach Kyle McCord.
Loeffler is in his first year as Eagles quarterback coach, and McCord is the rookie 6th-round quarterback from St. Joe’s Prep.
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WATCH HEREBut once upon a time Loeffler was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boston College, and McCord was an 8th-grader at Harrington Middle School in Mount Laurel, N.J.
“Yeah, we go way back,” McCord said. “When I was in eighth grade, he was at Boston College, and he offered me a scholarship. So I've known him forever and we've kept in touch, too. He's one of the few college coaches that I didn't play for that I still have a lot of conversation with.
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SIGN UP “And now to be playing for him? I mean, you never know how your paths are going to cross. And so for him (to be) in his first year here and obviously my first year in the NFL being together is pretty sweet.”
How does an 8th-grader get a scholarship offer from an ACC school? He was a really good 8th-grader.
“I was all right,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, I had a strong arm and my footwork was pretty solid, but you look back at those videos and you think you're the best and there's like so much to clean up. But I was pretty good.”
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The scholarship offer came in the spring of 2017, but McCord didn’t know about it until after he entered the Prep that fall.
“I didn't start my freshman year at the Prep and after our senior quarterback committed to his school, then my head coach brought me in his office after the season and was like, ‘You know, they offered you back in June, but I feel like now is the time to tell you.
“That was my first offer but my high school coach held it for me because he didn't think I deserved it yet being in eighth grade, which is fair. So I guess technically, yes, that was my first offer, but I didn't know about it until a few months later. … So it kind of felt like I missed out a little bit, not knowing. But it is a funny story.”
Loeffler left B.C. after the 2018 season to become head coach at Bowling Green, where he spent the last six years before joining Nick Sirianni’s coaching staff. And McCord threw for a Catholic League-record 6,887 yards and 88 touchdowns before entering Ohio State in the fall of 2021 and then playing last year at Syracuse, where he led the BCS with 4,779 passing yards.
But even when they went their separate ways, they kept in touch.
“Just this last year at Syracuse, I think I talked to him maybe three times throughout the season, which is a good amount for someone who you're not playing for,” McCord said. “And he’d reach out after games and give advice and congratulate me and stuff like that. And obviously he was still (coaching) in college too, so we had no idea that it was even a possibility.
“And then I met with him on Zoom when he got the (Eagles) job, watched some film on Zoom together. But obviously you have no idea where you're going at that point.”
When the Eagles called McCord to let him know they drafted him, Loeffler was on that call.
Eight years after recruiting McCord out of middle school.
“There was just so much emotion when I first got the call and then hearing his voice,” McCord said. “I was like, ‘Oh, man, that's crazy, seeing how far we've come.’ I think it was 2017 when I first met him. And then now, whatever it is, eight years later reuniting. So it is pretty cool just to kind of see it come full circle.”
McCord will start out the summer competing with Dorian Thompson-Robinson, acquired from the Browns in the Kenny Pickett trade, for the 3rd-string job behind Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee, another 6th-round pick.
And he’ll do it playing for a coach who’s been a fan of his since he was 16 years old.
What did Loeffler see in a teenage Kyle McCord all those years ago?
“I was very intentional and loved football, and I think he saw that right away,” McCord said. “And I think that's part of the reason he offered me so early is that he saw just my mindset around the game. And I think on top of that, too, just being a quarterback guy and having that opportunity to meet so early, it's cool to kind of see that relationship develop.
“And so I'm thankful that he kept in touch because obviously not a lot of coaches do that.”
