BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - What do Scot Loeffler and Doug Nus­smeier have in com­mon?

Beyond their new mirror-­image roles as the offensive coordinators in the Iron Bowl rivalry.

Nick Saban interviewed each of them for a job on his offensive coaching staff at Alabama.

He talked to Loeffler in 2008 after pulling the plug on the Major Applewhite ex­periment, before hiring Jim McElwain. Last week, Saban hired Nussmeier to take the very successful baton from McElwain.

Is it a coincidence that Loeffler and Nussmeier both showed up, at different times, on the short list of the best coach in college football? Nope. Saban knows good football coaches when he sees them. He and Gene Chizik have that in common.

Chizik added the final piece of his coaching staff Sunday night when he chose Loeffler as Auburn's new offensive coordinator. If the hire wasn't met with the same public acclaim as the choice of Brian VanGorder as defensive coordinator, it was praised behind the scenes by more important observers.

Coaches who know coaches.

Know this about Loeffler: He may be just 37 years old, but he's worked his way onto the radar of several national championship coaches with job openings in recent years.

That list includes Chizik, Saban, Urban Meyer and Les Miles.

So when Chizik referred to Loeffler as "a rising star," he wasn't trying to prop up a mediocre hire at the end of a frustrating search. He was telling the truth.

Kevin Scarbinsky is a columnist for The Birmingham News. His column is published on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Interesting thing about Chizik's ringing endorsement. Rising doesn't mean he's arrived. Loeffler's earned a reputation in the profession as a quarterback guru, but he's been an offensive coordinator for exactly one season.

It was this past season. At Temple. That's not Auburn, and it's not the SEC.

Loeffler knows that, having spent two years at Florida as quarterbacks coach, but he didn't call plays for the Gators. The results at Temple were good -- how often do the Owls finish 9-4 with a bowl victory? -- but if there's a question about this hire, that's it.

Coaching quarterbacks will be just part of Loeffler's job at Auburn. As important as it'll be for him to help Clint Moseley, Kiehl Frazier and Zeke Pike reach their ceilings from Sunday through Friday, he'll be judged by what they do on Saturday.

And what they do on Saturday will hinge on what he does.

How is Loeffler going to dial up plays on game day against the likes of Kirby Smart and John Chavis? How is he going to match wits with some of the brightest defensive minds in the country on third-and-7 at midfield in the fourth quarter with the Tigers down by five?

There's an art to developing quarterbacks, and by all accounts Loeffler has the right touch in that department, but there's also an art to setting up calls and making calls in the heat of the moment. Gus Malzahn has that knack. Loeffler better have it, or he better pick it up quick.

Quick isn't a word anyone would use to describe this latest Auburn coaching search. It took 40 days from Malzahn accepting the head coaching job at Arkansas State to Chizik choosing Loeffler as his successor, but does that even matter?

No. It also doesn't matter how many other coaches were on Chizik's short list, how many other coaches he interviewed, how many other coaches said no. All that matters now is how Loeffler does his job.

It's easy to say, given the benefit of three years of hindsight, that Chizik went 1 for 2 the first time he hired coordinators at Auburn. Malzahn was a hit. Ted Roof wasn't.

It's impossible to fill in the box score for VanGorder and Loeffler when they haven't signed a single recruit, let alone conducted a practice or coached a game for the Tigers.

VanGorder looks like a home run because he's done this job in this league and done it well.

Loeffler? He's the phenom with plenty of tools.

Drop a civil comment below. Write Kevin at kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com. Follow him at www.Twitter.com/KevinScarbinsky. Listen to him weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 97.3 The Zone.

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