Offensive Coordinator

Temple lost an offensive mind the same day it gained an offensive standout. Romond Deloatch, a senior wideout from Phoebus High School in Hampton, Va., gave Temple an oral commitment Sunday afternoon. Hours later, the Owls announced that offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler had resigned to take the same position at Auburn. "Auburn is one of the special jobs and special places in college athletics, with a tremendous amount of history and tradition," Loeffler, 37, said in a news release issued by Auburn.

Steve Fairchild is back with the Buffalo Bills, hired as the team's offensive coordinator and given the task of improving one of the NFL's worst offenses. Fairchild, who spent the last three seasons as the St. Louis Rams' offensive coordinator, broke into the NFL as the Bills' running-backs coach in 2001-02. He becomes the second assistant hired by Dick Jauron, named head coach Monday. Jauron's first hire was Bill Kollar, as defensive-line coach. Jets. Offensive coordinator Mark Heimerdinger accepted an unspecified financial agreement to be released from a contract that had two years remaining.

Matt Cavanaugh, the Baltimore Ravens' offensive coordinator, resigned under pressure yesterday after meeting with coach Brian Billick, who finally lost patience with the team's sputtering attack. The Ravens (9-7) lost four of their final six games and missed the playoffs. Much of the blame was heaped on an offense that finished 31st among 32 teams in average yards per game. Former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel, who served as a senior consultant on offense for the Ravens this season, will be considered as a replacement.

The Dallas Cowboys named former Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets coach Bruce Coslet as their new offensive coordinator, putting him in charge of one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the NFL. Coslet, who has been out of football since the 2000 season, replaced Jack Reilly, who was fired earlier this month. Coslet has 21 years of experience as a coach and an assistant. With the Bengals, he had a 21-39 record from 1996 through the 2000 season. He posted a 26-39 record with the Jets from 1990 through 1993.

Former Michigan quarterback Scott Loeffler, who was the quarterbacks coach at Florida the past two seasons, will be Temple's offensive coordinator for new coach Steve Addazio. Addazio, of course, was the Gators' OC the past two seasons. Sources familiar with the situation have confirmed the OwlScoop.com report. Loeffler played quarterback for the Wolverines in the mid 1990s, then served as a graduate assistant there. In that position, he reportedly helped in the development of Tom Brady.

In a sign that college football recruiting efforts have become more aggressive than ever, St. Joseph's Prep sophomore Skyler Mornhinweg has, according to some reports, already orally committed to play for Stanford. Mornhinweg, a member of the Class of 2012, is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback and defensive back for the Hawks. His father, Marty, is the offensive coordinator for the Eagles. Mornhinweg declined to comment on his decision last night and said that a news conference to announce his college choice has been tentatively set for Tuesday.

Staying within the family, Monsignor Bonner has promoted Greg "Bubba" Bernhardt from assistant to head football coach. Bernhardt, 34, was the team's offensive coordinator for the last five seasons. Before that, he served in the same position at Cardinal O'Hara. "Obviously, I'm extremely excited," he said. "Since I got into coaching, it's been a dream of mine to be Bonner's coach. " Bernhardt, a 1995 Bonner graduate, was a wide receiver and cornerback for the Friars' 1994 Catholic League championship team.

Saturday at 2 p.m., Beaver Stadium, State College   TV/Radio: Big Ten Network (tape delay at 8 p.m.); WNTP-AM (990), WNPV-AM (1440). Coach: Bill O'Brien will make his debut as head coach on the Penn State sideline. Scoring: The offense will receive points for touchdowns, field goals, extra points, plays of 15 yards and longer (two points), and two consecutive first downs (two points). The defense will gain seven points for a touchdown, six for a turnover that doesn't result in a touchdown, four for a sack, two for a tackle for loss, and one for a three-and-out.

With Penn State about to start spring football practice without Joe Paterno in charge for the first time since Lyndon Johnson was president, the list of questions about new head coach Bill O'Brien's plans for the team appears to stretch from Old Main to the top of Mount Nittany. But the biggest unknown as the Nittany Lions open their spring drills Monday is: Who is the starting quarterback? The Penn State offense was one of the worst in the Big Ten last season, finishing in the bottom three in the conference in five key categories, including total yards (10th)

Temple has hired another coach with Boston College ties. Multiple sources confirm that former Boston College offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers will be named the Owls' quarterbacks coach. News of Rogers' hiring came days after sources said former Eagles wideouts coach Ryan Day will be named Temple's co-offensive coordinator and wideouts coach. He will share offensive coordinator duties with Matt Rhule, who was Temple's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator last season.

The U.S. team completed its 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the first round of the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning the closing singles matches in Fribourg, Switzerland. Harrison made his Davis Cup debut, defeating Michael Lammer , 7-6 (0), 7-6 (4), to extend the Americans' lead to 4-0. Isner, who stunned Roger Federer in four sets Friday, then beat Marco Chuidinelli , 6-3, 6-4, to give the U.S. team its first sweep since 2004. MLB: Catcher Mike Napoli and the Texas Rangers finalized a $9.4 million, one-year contract to avoid arbitration.

On national signing day, when asked about his vacant offensive coordinator position, Temple football coach Steve Addazio said he was looking to bring someone in who could work with the quarterbacks. He wasn't lying. Sources have confirmed an OwlScoop report that former Boston College offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers will be joining the Owls staff. He'd spent the previous five seasons as the QB coach with the Minnesota Vikings, where he worked with Brett Favre. Rogers has been in the profession for more than three decades, most of them at the collegiate level.

COLTS QUARTERBACK Peyton Manning and Rockies first baseman Todd Helton have been working out at Duke this week, an athletic department spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman said both are there primarily to visit David Cutcliffe, who was Tennessee's offensive coordinator when both were college quarterbacks. The cover was blown earlier yesterday when Matt Skura, a Duke football player, posted on Twitter that he was "stretching" next to Manning. The post was later taken down.

NEW ENGLAND Patriots coach Bill Belichick confirmed that Josh McDaniels will be the team's offensive coordinator next season. McDaniels was brought in during the playoffs to serve as an offensive assistant. He was widely seen as the heir to offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who had been hired to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State. But it wasn't official until Belichick confirmed the move yesterday, a day after the Patriots lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, 21-17.

Having entered a mini-era of NFC superiority, let's look at some numbers. Between the 1997 and 2006 seasons, the AFC won eight of the 10 Super Bowls and the two NFC winners (Tampa Bay and the Giants) entered the game as underdogs. But, starting with the Giants' win over the Patriots after the 2007 season, the NFC now has won four of five. Strangely, in four of those five years, the conference champion won only nine or 10 games in the regular season: The 2007 Giants and 2010 Packers went 10-6 and the 2008 Cardinals and 2011 Giants were 9-7. But the 2007 Giants, 2010 Packers and the Giants again on Sunday won the Super Bowls.