Suddenly there’s a chance the coach who turned Harold Fannin Jr. into a college football beast could be beside him in the NFL.
Based on what Scot Loeffler accomplished with and says about Fannin, it’s easy to picture the former McKinley Bulldog landing with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Loeffler is Nick Sirianni’s new quarterbacks coach after spending the last six seasons as head coach at Bowling Green.
If anybody knows what the tight end who set an FBS record for the position with 1,555 receiving yards might become in the NFL, it’s Loeffler.
Philadelphia’s top picks are at No. 32, No. 64 and No. 96, not far from where the Browns have selections at No. 33, No. 67 and No. 94, following their top pick at No. 2.
Fannin could land anywhere. He is one of the most intriguing and unpredictable players in the draft.
Loeffler’s conversation with the Repository before it was known he was jumping to the Eagles is the basis for this article.
Under Loeffler at Bowling Green in 2024, Fannin’s 1,555 receiving yards obliterated the previous FBS record for tight ends of 1,352 yards owned by Texas Tech’s Jace Amaro.
Fannin was a mystery prospect coming out of Canton McKinley High School, a safety/linebacker who doubled as a wide receiver.
“He was a 6-foot-3, 205-pound body with athletic ability,” Loeffler said while he was still Bowling Green’s head coach. “There’s no question he could have been an outside linebacker or a safety, maybe a big wide receiver.
“We felt he could develop this hybrid position in our offense. Those hybrid positions are hard to find in college and hard to find in the NFL. His body type, his athletic ability, his hands, all matched up with being that type of guy.”
Brian White, a 1980s Harvard quarterback, joined Loeffler’s Bowling Green staff when Fannin was a freshman. White formerly worked with Loeffler on Urban Meyer’s Florida staff and, in a long career as an offensive coach, has observed many NFL-caliber players.
“Brian was the first person to say it,” Loeffler said. “He walked in one day and said, ‘Lefty, we’ve got a guy who’s going to be a high-end draft pick at tight end.’”
He meant Fannin.
How did Bowling Green land such a prospect without a fight from the Big Ten?
“When he was in high school he fell into that dark period when Covid hit,” Loeffler said. “Like a lot of kids, he didn’t handle Covid like you would hope. He really didn’t get recruited because academically he wasn’t in good graces.”
Loeffler grew up in Barberton and was in line to play quarterback at Michigan before he was sidetracked by injury. He was a student assistant at Michigan while Tom Brady developed.
Loeffler acquired recruiting responsibilities at Michigan and pursued a lineman from McKinley, Antonio Hall, who wound up at Kentucky and eventually became Fannin’s head coach at McKinley.
“During Harold’s senior year at McKinley, they were able to get him back on track academically,” Loeffler said. “Harold is a super smart guy. He had a great relationship with Coach Hall.
“Coach Hall really felt Bowling Green would help him academically and guide him in the direction of how to become a pro, how to do business on a daily basis. We had patience with him.
“He really matured over these last three years. He made the dean’s list. He was always a great kid. That was never any issue whatsoever.
“He had to learn accountability and being on time at this kind of level. Along with Coach Hall, his mother, myself and others, it’s been a group effort.
“He really bought into the process of what you need to do on a daily basis to be successful in college. I challenged him from last January all the way to now to really upgrade that standard of what a pro athlete looks like.
“He’s done a great job with all his preparation, taking care of his body, studying the game, and he really developed into a premier athlete. Positions … you name it, he played it for us. Week in, week out, we found creative ways to get him the ball, creative ways for him to attack coverages.
“He was able to handle it all. If you’re an NFL team, you just watch the tape and go, my goodness gracious, he can handle a ton of responsibility, a ton of different positions, a ton of different roles and perform at a high level.
“So, he is the absolute prototypical guy for a position all these NFL guys are looking for.”
Fannin was transfer portal material after going from 218 receiving yards as a true Bowling Green freshman to 623 yards, despite a bout with injury, as a 2023 sophomore.
Loeffler explained part of the reason Fannin stayed:
“I challenged him and said to his mother and his high school coach, ‘If he’s able to follow these standards that a pro would, from January all the way through the season, one of two things are going to happen. One, he’s going to go play in the NFL, or, two, he’s going to be the starting tight end at Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Alabama, wherever he wants to start. But he’s got to do these things really, really, really well at a high level.’
“They all agreed. Harold held up his end of the bargain. We held him accountable. He held himself accountable. He really developed in having pro habits. He was either ready to go to the NFL or to move on to making a million dollars playing tight end (in college) somewhere else.
“He couldn’t have had a better situation. There were a bunch of people around him who wanted to make all his habits elite. Then our offensive scheme worked for him. Not too many places are going to find a way to get him 117 touches, in all the different creative ways he did.”
Fannin built big numbers against Mid-American Conference foes, including a combined 19 catches for 306 yards against Akron and Kent State. He got everyone’s attention against Penn State (11 for 137) and Texas A&M (eight for 145) and in bowl game against Arkansas State (17 for 213).
At Michigan, Loeffler was a teammate of Mark Campbell and Aaron Shea, who became tight ends for the Browns.
En route to landing the head coaching job at Bowling Green, Loeffler made college stops with Florida, Auburn, Boston College and Virginia Tech. He spent a year with the Detroit Lions.
“Besides Aaron Hernandez, Harold Fannin is the best hybrid tight end I’ve ever been around,” Loeffler said.
Hernandez is remembered for a troubled life that ended in 2017. He won the Mackey Award (college football’s best tight end) at Florida in 2009, when Loeffler was one of Urban Meyer’s offensive coaches.
Fannin was a Mackey Award finalist in 2024, when the award went to Penn State’s Tyler Warren. When they met head to head last Sept. 7, in a game won 34-27 by Penn State, Fannin caught 11 passes for 137 yards. Warren caught eight passes for 146 yards.
Loeffler seems convinced Fannin can hold his own in the NFL.
The Eagles have a good tight end, Dallas Goedert, but he lost time to injury in 2024, just turned 30, and is going into the final season of a four-year, $57 million contract.
For what it’s worth, Browns tight end David Njoku is entering the final year of a four-year, $54.7 million contract.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Could Eagles, Browns draft tight end Harold Fannin Jr. in NFL draft?