In two months, Spencer Brinton said he has gone from not knowing "defenses from defenses" to feeling the confidence he once had when he became the first quarterback to start for San Diego State as a true freshman more than four years ago.

And when Brinton meets with offensive coordinator Terry Malone to go over his progress, he'll know who to thank for his improvement.

In February, Scot Loeffler was hired to replace Stan Parrish as the new quarterbacks coach.

Since then, Loeffler has given Brinton and the other Michigan quarterbacks a crash course in reading defensive coverages and maintaining solid mechanics in the pocket.

Loeffler has "made a huge difference," Brinton said. "He's come in and given me a lot of confidence. He's taught me a lot of the things I need to be a quarterback.

"I've never been around somebody who knows more about football in my life."

Loeffler, a former Michigan quarterback who served as backup to Todd Collins, has a pretty good grasp of the position. After a serious shoulder injury cost him a chance to start for the Wolverines, he immediately worked himself into the mindset of a coach.

Loeffler served as a graduate assistant for Michigan in 1998 and 1999, coaching the scout team and playing a significant role in the development of former Michigan quarterbacks Tom Brady and Drew Henson.

After two years coaching quarterbacks at Central Michigan, Loeffler has returned to make an impact on Michigan's signal-callers, who were in great need of guidance after last season.

"Playing quarterback doesn't happen overnight," Loeffler said. "There's a lot of new things they have to learn. But they're coming a long way."

Loeffler said that with the new offense that Malone has installed, both Brinton and last year's starter, John Navarre, are in the "same boat" learning and development-wise - which should make for an interesting summer competition.

Brinton seemed to have the upper hand in the spring game, looking more poised in the pocket and generating three scoring drives for a total of 17 points - while taking a majority of the snaps later in the scrimmage.

Navarre, on the other hand, struggled a bit, completing 6-of-18 passes for 63 yards and mounting just one scoring drive.

His points came on a long field goal after Navarre failed to take full advantage of the excellent field position that he inherited following a Brinton interception.

While the Michigan defense seemed to hold the upper hand in the game, Loeffler has prided himself on knowing a tremendous amount about the different pass coverages and defenses that other teams will throw at Michigan.

So much so, that he even surprises Brinton.

"He pulls out these defenses that I've never even heard of," Brinton said. "But he's also done a great a job of teaching us what he knows about the position itself."

And when the decision time comes about the starting quarterback, there's no doubt that Loeffler's opinion will be trusted greatly. He said he meets with Malone every day, along with the rest of the Michigan coaches, to discuss the progression of each quarterback and to have a say in the offense.

"Coach Malone wants us to think of it as our offense, not just his offense," Loeffler said.