Adams: Taylor, Loeffler have moved on, up

The Tennessee connection between assistant coaches Trooper Taylor and Scot Loeffler won’t show up on their resumes. But that doesn’t mean it won’t have a place in UT football.

Taylor, a former UT assistant coach, sought the offensive coordinator’s job after David Cutcliffe left following the 2007 season. Loeffler, a former Michigan assistant, interviewed for the quarterback-coaching vacancy at the same time.

Instead, former coach Phillip Fulmer chose Richmond head coach Dave Clawson for both positions. A year later, everybody is starting over.

Fulmer is out of coaching, having been fired after a second losing season in four years. Clawson is the new head coach at Bowling Green. Taylor is a prominent member of first-year Auburn coach Gene Chizik’s new staff. Loeffler is the new quarterbacks coach at Florida, though the title hardly covers the significance of his job. All he was asked to do this spring: Improve the throwing mechanics of quarterback Tim Tebow, who has helped the Gators win two national championships and won a Heisman Trophy.

Lane Kiffin is starting over, too. He’s the young, first-year college head coach trying to bring a fallen program to its feet.

Kiffin’s program is the one that matters now to UT fans. But those same fans likely will maintain more than a passing interest in the careers of Taylor, Loeffler and Clawson.

And they can’t help but wonder how different the 5-7 season of 2008 — and the history of UT football as well — might have been if Fulmer had promoted Taylor, who already had proved himself as an assistant and recruiter, or hired Loeffler, who reportedly was so impressive in his UT interview.

The worth of both Loeffler and Taylor has increased since then.

Imagine all of the coaching candidates who would have cherished a position on Florida coach Urban Meyer’s staff after two national championships in three seasons. Yet Meyer picked Loeffler, a 34-year-old coach with both college and pro experience, unless you want to quibble over the professional status of the Detroit Lions.

Meyer thought enough of Loeffler that he would entrust him with the teaching of Tebow. How’s that for an endorsement?

Taylor would have been a more convenient hire for UT. But you can understand why Fulmer might have been reluctant to hire someone with no previous experience as an offensive coordinator, though that reluctance seems trivial in hindsight, given the colossal failure of last year’s offense.

Taylor won’t be an offensive coordinator at Auburn, either. But he has been elevated to assistant head coach, which puts him ever closer to his goal of becoming a head coach.

He’s changing his professional image in the process.

Taylor was named a top-25 recruiter by rivals.com in 2005 and 2007, but he might be a better coach than recruiter.

When he coached the running backs at UT, they improved significantly (both Gerald Riggs and Cedric Houston rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2004). When Taylor moved to wide receivers coach at UT, the wide receivers also improved dramatically.

In 2008, his only season at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant had a record-setting year at receiver. Of course, Bryant’s talent is so obvious, he might have even scored a few touchdowns in Clawson’s system.

Don’t judge Taylor just by Bryant. Judge him by his helping four receivers make the NFL from Tulane.

Bottom line: Players keep getting better when Taylor coaches them. You should expect more of the same with Auburn receivers this fall.

And maybe even Tebow will improve under Loeffler, who also coached Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. But you can only guess how UT’s offense might have fared with Taylor as its offensive coordinator or with Loeffler coaching its quarterbacks.

You can make a better guess after you see what they do next.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.