Loggains, ex-Hog, rises on Titans staff

This November, 2005 file photo shows the Tennessee Titans vs. the Buffalo Bills in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn.
This November, 2005 file photo shows the Tennessee Titans vs. the Buffalo Bills in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn.

— Shortly after Roy Wittke was hired as Arkansas’ quarterbacks coach in 2003, he held individual meetings with his quarterbacks to talk about their take on the offensive scheme, personnel and what needed to be done to improve production.

“Without question, Dowell Loggains had the most insight into the offense of all the quarterbacks we had,” Wittke said. “You could see immediately that he had a really sharp football mind, and you could envision him being a coach.”

Loggains, a Newport native, is now quarterbacks coach for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans after being promoted Wednesday from a quality control position by Titans Coach Jeff Fisher.

Not bad for a 5-5, 165-pound walk-on quarterback who lettered at Arkansas in 2001-2004 because he was the holder on field-goal and extrapoint attempts.

“Dowell and I are still really close, and he texted me about his promotion,” said Wittke, who is now offensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for him, and I know he’s going to do a great job for the Titans.”

Fisher moved Craig Johnson from quarterbacks coach to running backs coach to replace Kennedy Pola - who left to become Southern California’s offensive coordinator - and promoted Loggains to quarterbacks coach.

Offensive assistant Richie Wessman will handle the quality control duties formerly done by Loggains.

“After some internal discussion, we have come up with a plan that will work well both from an offensive staff standpoint and in the best interest for the players and team,” Fisher told The Tennessean newspaper. “We are very fortunate to have a coach like Craig with his background and flexibility on our staff.

“He has coached running backs before and he has a deep knowledge of our offense. We sat and talked for a while, and I know both of us are excited to see him in this new role.

“Both Dowell and Richie also deserve to have their responsibilities increase on the staff, and I expect them to be successful in their new spots.”

Loggains, 29, is in his fifth season with the Titans. He began his NFL career as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys in June 2005, when Bill Parcells was the Cowboys’ coach and David Lee - who had two stints as an Arkansas quarterbacks coach - was an assistant coach.

“Even though Dowell was in personnel when he went to Dallas, he really attached himself to the coaching staff,” Wittke said. “He knew he wanted to be a coach, and he was going to learn as much as he could.”

Wittke said that Loggains was like a player/coach with the Razorbacks. In Loggains’ last two seasons, he signaled in plays from the sideline, and he also assisted with putting together scouting reports.

Loggains played in 50 games at Arkansas on special teams, but he attempted just one pass, which he completed for 11 yards. He started his final two years of high school at Abliene (Texas) Cooper.

So how will Loggains do as a coach telling NFL quarterbacks - Vince Young and Kerry Collins - what to do?

“Dowell will do a great job, because it’s not what you did as a player, it’s what you know as a coach, and Dowell really knows offense and how to make quarterbacks better,” Wittke said. “The Tennessee players will respect him as the quarterbacks coach because he’s going to help them develop and improve.”

Loggains came to Tennessee in 2006 as a coach administrative assistant before being promoted to a quality control position.

Sports, Pages 17 on 07/29/2010

Upcoming Events