Johns Hopkins University Athletics

Updated:  July 12, 2021

Entering his 24th year as the offensive line coach at Johns Hopkins is Nick Schloeder, who has coached some of the top offensive linemen in school history.  He is believed to be the longest tenured assistant football coach in school history.

Schloeder’s offensive linemen have combined to earn 61 All-Centennial selections, including 32 first team citations. Schloeder has also coached the only seven offensive linemen in school history to earn All-America honors (Joe Figueroa-2018, Chantz Anderson-2016, Colin Egan-2014 & 2015, Armand Jenifer-2012 & 2013, Ed Rodger-2010, Matt Weeks-2003, David Perna-1999), while eight of his players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, including Ben Gaal, who earned first team honors in 2017.  In addition, two of the last four Blue Jay football players to earn a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship played offensive line for Schloeder (Gaal (2019) & Vincenzo Bonaddio (2013)).

Johns Hopkins' run to the NCAA Semifinals in 2018 was fueled in large part by a productive offensive line.  JHU set school records for points per game (45.8) and yards per game (550.3) and scored 27 or more points in 13 of Hopkins' 14 games on the year.  Three Blue Jay offensive linemen earned All-Centennial honors, including first team selections Joe Figueroa and Jarrett Smith.  Figueroa repeated as a first team selection in 2019, while fellow senior Frank Petracco was an honorable mention selection for the second consecutive year.

Playing behind one of Schloeder’s most inexperienced lines, the 2016 Blue Jays set then school records for total offense (6,121), yards per game (510.1), passing yards (4,106) and touchdown passes (37) in 2016.  Three players earned All-Centennial honors, including two first-time starters.

Schloeder may have turned in one of his best coaching jobs in 2014 as Johns Hopkins averaged 37.4 points and 434.4 yards per game with an offensive line that featured four new starters.  The Blue Jays produced three All-Centennial Conference selections along the offensive line, including two who had never started a game at Johns Hopkins prior to 2014.  The 2015 unit paved the way for an offense that set school records for points (45.7) and yards (505.8) per game; not surprisingly, all five starters on the offensive line earned All-Centennial recognition.

Since Schloeder took over as offensive line coach the Blue Jays have produced the only five single-season 1,000-yard rushers in school history (seven overall 1,000-yard rushing seasons) and eight of the top nine rushers in school history.

In a career checkered with impressive units, the 2009, 2012 and 2013 groups are likely Schloeder’s best. All five of his starters earned All-Centennial honors in 2009, including Mike Stoffel and Tim Miller, who garnered first team honors. JHU averaged 379.0 yards and 29.8 points per game in 2009. The 2012 unit had four All-Centennial performers, including first teamers Armand Jenifer and Ben Cranston. Jenifer earned First Team AFCA All-America honors and the Blue Jays averaged 36.8 points and 485.2 yards per game.

The 2009 and 2012 units set the stage for 2013, when four players earned All-Centennial, including three first teamers, Jenifer repeated as an All-American and senior Ben Cranston won the Rimington Award as the nation’s top center in Division III and also earned All-America honors. The 2013 team set then school records for points (40.6) and yards (500.6) yards per game.

Schloeder’s unit made a seamless transition to one of the top passing offenses in the nation in 2010 as JHU finished ninth in the nation in passing yards per game (308.7) and the Blue Jays allowed just 11 sacks in 404 passing attempts on the year.

The 2009 and 2010 teams set the stage for a record-breaking 2011 campaign that saw the Blue Jays set then school records for points per game (39.8) and total offense (492.7) behind an offensive line that featured four All-Centennial selections, including three first team honorees. The Blue Jays nearly matched those totals a year later with Jenifer and Cranston anchoring a unit that had just one senior starter.

Two or more of Schloeder’s offensive linemen have earned All-Centennial honors 20 times in his first 22 seasons and 28 have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades.

Schloeder played football at Franklin & Marshall from 1985-88, helping the Diplomats to three Centennial Conference titles and the 1987 ECAC South Championship. In addition to his coaching duties at Hopkins, Schloeder is currently a fifth-grade teacher at the Gilman School.