NFL job great, but Loggains still an Arkansas guy

Former Arkansas quarterback and current offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans Dowell Loggains works with camper Adam Saveall, 13, of Fayetteville Saturday, Jun. 1, 2013, at Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE - Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains would love the opportunity to be an NFL head coach, but the former Arkansas quarterback said that isn’t his dream job.

“My goal since I was 5 years old has always been the same, and that’s to one day be head coach of the University of Arkansas,” Loggains said during a recent visit to Fayetteville. “That’s what I work towards every day.

More on WholeHogSports

http://www.wholehog…">Loggains, Wilson are together again

“Arkansas is a special place, and my five years here were the best five years of my life. It’s also a special place to my family.”

Loggains, 32, is the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL. He stressed his career goal in no way means he isn’t rooting for Bret Bielema, 43, who was hired as Arkansas’ coach in December after compiling a 68-24 record in seven seasons at Wisconsin.

“I hope Coach Bielema is here for a long time and wins a lot of games,” Loggains said. “The only thing I know about him is his record, and he’s got a great one. I think he’s a guy who knows what he wants his program to look like, and how to get it there.

“I think he has a plan ready to bring Arkansas back.”

As for Loggain’s plans?

“There’s no timetable for me to be a head coach anywhere,” he said. “My goal wasn’t to be the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL. My goal is to be a successful offensive coordinator and one day hopefully have an opportunity to be a head coach.”

Loggains, who lettered as Arkansas’ holder from 2001-2004 after redshirting in 2000, was promoted from the Titans’ quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator with five games left in the 2012 season after Chris Palmer was fired by Coach Mike Munchak.

With the Titans at 4-7 and ranked 27th in the NFL in passing and rushing offense, Munchak decided it was time to give Loggains a shot.

“The plan all along was that I was going to take over as coordinator at some point in the next couple of years,” Loggains said. “Then we didn’t start the way we wanted and Coach made the decision, ‘Hey, we’re out of the playoff hunt.

“Let’s get going towards next year and try and win some games.’

“In his mind, he thought I’d gain valuable experience calling the last five games.”

Word of Loggains’ promotion began leaking in media reports while he was in a meeting.

“A lot of people knew before I did,” Loggains said. “I came out of a meeting and had 117 text messages and 35 missed calls. I knew something was up.”

Munchak praised Loggains’ ability to work with coaches and players.

“He’s learned from a lot of people,” Munchak told Tennessee media. “He’s a guy that has no ego. He doesn’t worry about who’s getting the attention, he just wants to be good at what he does.

“He’s the kind of guy that people like working with, they want to help.

“They like his enthusiasm. Hopefully, that will pay off for our players and our team.”

Loggains said it was tough to see Palmer fired, but he immediately focused on preparing for the Titans’ game against the Houston Texans.

“It’s what we preach to our players, that it’s next guy up and you’ve got to be ready to do the job when you’re given the opportunity,” Loggains said. “At that time the head coach decided to make a change, so I needed to be ready.”

The Titans went 2-3 in the last five games, capped by a 38-20 victory over Jacksonville.

“I knew at the time, the offensive turmoil we were in, we just needed to come together and have once voice,” Loggains said of his approach.

“I told the staff, ‘We can’t change the offense, it is what it is. We’ll get everyone going in the right direction.’”

Loggains, who signed a two-year contract with Tennessee in January, said the Titans will be more run-oriented this season, featuring running backs Chris Johnson and Shonn Greene in a system he learned under former offensive coordinators Norm Chow and Mike Heimerdinger.

“In today’s game, that means you only throw the ball 35 times,” Loggains said. “But the big thing is we want to run the ball when we have to run it.”

Loggains said he expects to see significant improvement from third-year quarterback Jake Locker, who was hampered by a shoulder injury last year.

The Titans also have beefed up their offensive line by signing free-agent guard Andy Levitre from Buffalo and making Alabama All-American guard Chance Warmack the 10th pick in the NFL Draft. Warmack is expected to be an immediate starter.

“We knew playing in the SEC that he’s going to do exactly what we want him to do because he faced the best competition,” Loggains said. “Every week he was facing a first-rounder.

“Chance is just a guy that needs to learn, needs to get more fundamentally sound in some of his pro pass stuff, but he’s already a mauler up front in the run game.”

The Titans’ receiving corps, with includes former Springdale standout Damian Williams, added Tennessee’s Justin Hunter as a second-round pick.

Loggains said he hasn’t met Bielema, but he developed a good football relationship with Bobby Petrino, Arkansas’ coach from 2008-2011 before being fired for off-the-field issues and is now at Western Kentucky.

“The first couple of times when I came to Arkansas and Coach Petrino was here, he wasn’t running over to talk to me,” Loggains said. “As we got to know each other better and started talking football, I think we kind of clicked that way.

“I don’t know that we have a great personal relationship, but it’s a great football relationship. I think there was a mutual respect between the two of us as far as offense goes.”

Loggains grew up in Abilene, Texas, but he was born in Newport and his parents raised him as a Razorbacks fan.

He attended Arkansas’ football camp from 1990 through 1999 until joining the team as a walk-on in 2000.

“Since my goal always was to be the Arkansas coach, I felt like I should go to school here and learn everything I could about Arkansas and the SEC,” Loggains said.

Loggains initially was disappointed when he didn’ta get a graduate assistant coaching job at Arkansas in 2005, but he caught a break being hired as a scouting assistant for the Dallas Cowboys, where he worked long hours helping assistants Sean Payton, Tony Sparano and Todd Haley - all of whom went on to become NFL head coaches.

Loggains became a coaching administrative assistant with the Titans in 2006 and worked his way up on the staff.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Dowell has become an outstanding coach, because when he was here as a quarterback he was the smartest guy in the meeting room,” said Joe Ferguson, the former Arkansas quarterback who played 18 seasons in the NFL and was Loggains’ first position coach with the Razorbacks. “He knew the offense as good as anybody.

“Any time you put him up on the board to draw anything, he could do it.”

Clint Stoerner, Arkansas’ starting quarterback from 1997-1999 who played for Dallas, said he’s enjoyed watching Loggains’ career develop.

“Dowell knew he wanted to be a coach when he was here. He knew what it was all about, and he got on the fast track,” Stoerner said. “It’s always about who you can put yourself around, and he put himself around some very influential people and he showed he was worthy of their trust in him.”

Loggains said as much as he enjoys coaching in the NFL, it’s not the same as being involved in the college game - especially at Arkansas.

“Saturday’s are different than Sundays,” Loggains said. “Both are big business, but I love the passion that’s in Razorback Stadium when you pull up in the team bus.

“That’s the thing you miss in the NFL. There aren’t any marching bands, there aren’t any fight songs.”

Dowell Loggains glance

POSITION Offensive coordinator for Tennessee Titans AGE 32 (born Oct. 1, 1980) HOMETOWN Newport HIGH SCHOOL Abilene (Texas) Cooper FAMILY Wife, Beth, daughters Reese and Aven. His wife was a former Arkansas cheerleader and is from Bryant.

COLLEGE A former walk-on quarterback who lettered at Arkansas in 2001-2004, playing in 50 games as the team’s holder.

Also took a few snaps at quarterback.

COACHING CAREER Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant 2005, Tennessee Titans coaching administrative assistant 2006-2007, offensive quality control assistant 2008-2009, quarterbacks coach 2010 through first 11 games of 2012, offensive coordinator since last five games of 2012.

NOTEWORTHY Loggains is the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL. … Has a two-year contract at Tennessee through the 2014 season. … Attended Arkansas’ football camps from 1990 through 1999 before walking on with the Razorbacks in 2000 when he redshirted.

Sports, Pages 32 on 06/30/2013