Connor Loper enters his second season at South Carolina State University as Tight Ends Coach.
In the 2024 season, the Bulldogs won the MEAC Championship going undefeated in conference play and 9-3 overall, earning a bid to the Celebration Bowl. This success led to a #18 FCS National Ranking at the end of the regular season. Starting TE, Keshawn Toney, led all MEAC TE’s in receiving yards and earned 1st Team All-Conference honors. Toney also received an NFL Mini Camp invite to the Cleveland Browns in the Spring of 2025.
Prior to SC State, Loper spent 2 years at Benedict College as Wide Receivers Coach / Passing Game Coordinator, and he also served as DFO.
During the 2023 Season, Benedict College won its second consecutive SIAC Championship 47-10 versus Albany State. Benedict went 11-0 in the regular season and made it to the second round of the NCAA D2 Playoffs. Benedict College had the #1 Scoring Offense in the SIAC at just under 40 points per game (39.7). Benedict’s 3rd Down Offense converted 50.9% of the time, good for 9th in the Nation. As a Passing Offense, the Tigers threw for over 3,215 yards, ranking 13th in the nation in that category.
In 2023, four different Wide Receivers posted 100+ yard games (Nicholas Sowell, Reginald Harden, Jalen Jones twice and Caden High twice). Three different receivers had 150+ yard individual games in 2023. Reginald Harden posted a 230 yard game with 3 TDs in the Playoffs versus Lenoir-Rhyne, Nicholas Sowell posted a 176 yard game with 1 TD on the road versus Miles College, and Caden High went for 156 yards and 1 TD in the SIAC Championship game against Albany State. They were the only Wide Receiver core in the nation to have 3 different receivers with 150+ yard games. Reginald Harden also led the conference in Yards Per Catch for the second consecutive season.
In 2022, the Benedict College Tigers went 11-0 in the regular season, winning the SIAC Championship Game 58-21 vs. Tuskegee. The Tigers received a #1 Regional Ranking, earning a first round bye in the NCAA D2 Playoffs. Benedict College led the SIAC in Total Offense (4,686 yards), Scoring Offense (34.6 PPG), Offensive TDs (58), and Passing Yards (2,767).
Prior to Benedict College, Loper was at Southern University where he served as Assistant Wide Receivers Coach from 2019-2021. In 2019, Southern University won the SWAC West Division. In the 2021 Spring Season, Southern University went 4-1 and finished ranked in the Top 25 of FCS. During his time at Southern University, he also received his MBA.
Loper is a 2019 graduate of LSU (B.S. in Sport Administration, Minor in Business). There he served as a student worker for the football team and interned with Player Personnel.
In 2017 and 2018, Loper coached the Inside Receivers at University Lab High School (Baton Rouge, LA) on LSU’s campus, where they celebrated a 26-0 record and two State Championships during that time span. “U-High” finished as the 13th ranked High School Football team in the Nation in 2018, and the No. 1 overall team in Louisiana, regardless of class, in 2017.
Connor Loper is a native of Shreveport, LA. He played WR and TE at Loyola College Prep High School, and started coaching there immediately after he graduated, assisting with the offense during the 2015 and 2016 off-seasons.
