Dowell Loggains was named the head coach of App State Football on Dec

A respected offensive play-caller at both the NFL and college levels, Dowell Loggains was named the head coach of App State Football on Dec. 7, 2024.

Hired at the age of 44, Loggains (pronounced LOG-ans) became the 23rd head football coach in program history. His five-year contract runs through the 2029 season.

Before serving as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Loggains was an assistant for two years at his alma mater, Arkansas, after spending 17 years in the NFL. That includes his time as an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach for the Tennessee Titans (2010-13), Cleveland Browns (2014), Chicago Bears (2015-17), Miami Dolphins (2018) and New York Jets (2019-20).

Loggains’ offense during the 2024 season helped the Gamecocks reach the brink of the College Football Playoff with a 9-3 regular-season record that included wins over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Missouri and Clemson. South Carolina had the third-best rushing offense in the SEC during the regular season at 188.9 yards per game while ranking top 50 in the country in scoring, yardage, rushing, first downs and completion percentage.

He developed redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers into one of college football’s most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks. Under Loggain’s watch, Sellers threw for 2,274 yards with 17 touchdowns while also rushing for 655 yards and seven scores against one of the country’s toughest schedules. He ranked 20th nationally in passing efficiency, 14th in yards per attempt, 25th in yards per completion, 28th in total offense and 35th in completion percentage.

Loggains also found success utilizing Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, one of the SEC’s best running backs, to form a dynamic rushing attack.

In his first season in Columbia, Loggains turned future NFL quarterback Spencer Rattler and a future NFL first-round draft pick, wide receiver Xavier Legette, into one of the most lethal pass-and-catch combinations in the country.

Loggains spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons as the Arkansas Razorbacks’ tight ends coach, earning a reputation as a top-25 national recruiter there.

During his decade-plus as an NFL coordinator and quarterbacks coach, he mentored the likes of Sam Darnold, Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky, Brian Hoyer and Vince Young at quarterback, as well as running backs Chris Johnson, Kenyan Drake and Jordan Howard.

Loggains graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2003 and a master’s degree in education in 2005. He walked on to the Razorback football program in 2000 as a quarterback and holder before earning a scholarship and becoming a four-year letterman, appearing in 50 games.

Loggains and his wife, Beth, have four children: daughters Reese, Aven and Conner, and son, Ryne.

In Columbia, Rattler set a school record by completing 68.9 percent of his pass attempts for 3,186 yards, the third-highest single-season total in school history. Legette caught 71 passes for 1,255 yards, the second-highest receiving yards mark in the South Carolina record books.

Before returning to his alma mater of Arkansas, Loggains served as the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019 and 2020. During his first season with the Jets, he guided an offense that was among the league’s most proficient on opening drives, scoring 40 first-possession points. Darnold’s numbers improved from his rookie campaign, increasing his completion percentage, passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating while also lowering his interceptions.

Loggains oversaw a Miami offense that averaged 4.68 yards per rush in 2018, the NFL’s ninth-best mark. The Dolphins also ranked second in the league with 14 passing touchdowns of 20-plus yards. Drake become one of just nine players in the league to register at least four rushing and receiving touchdowns while producing over 1,000 total yards.

Loggains began a three-year stint in Chicago in 2015 as the Bears’ quarterbacks coach, where he mentored Cutler to a career season, as the veteran posted then single-season bests in passer rating and yards per attempt, all while reducing his interception total by seven from the previous season.

Loggains was promoted to the Bears’ offensive coordinator in 2016 and helped Howard finish sixth in the league with 1,313 yards rushing as a rookie. In 2017, he helped Trubisky, the second overall selection in the draft, transition to NFL starter and finish second among rookie passers in yards and passer rating in 12 starts.

Loggains also groomed another rookie, fourth-round pick Tarik Cohen, that season. The running back became the first rookie since 1965 and first player since 1975 to record a rushing, passing, receiving and punt return touchdown in the same season. Howard and guard Josh Sitton earned Pro Bowl selections under Loggains’ watch during the year, as Howard again produced 1,000-plus yards rushing.

Loggains worked as the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach in 2014 under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. He helped Hoyer to a career season, as the six-year veteran won seven games (in 13 starts) and threw for over 3,000 yards while the offense produced 31 passes of 25-plus yards, the 10th most of any team in the league.

Loggains began his coaching career with Tennessee in 2006 and spent eight seasons with the Titans in a variety of roles, ultimately serving as the offensive coordinator for part of 2012 and all of 2013. After head coach Mike Munchak elevated him to full-time offensive coordinator, he helped wide receiver Kendall Wright and Johnson become just the organization’s fifth 1,000-yard receiving/rushing combo, as Wright brought in 94 catches for 1,079 yards and Johnson gained 1,077 rushing yards.

Loggains joined the Titans as a coaching administrative assistant (2006-07) and quality control coach (2008-09) before spending the next three seasons as the quarterbacks/passing game coordinator, helping Young achieve a career-high passer rating in 2010 and garner a Pro Bowl appearance.