Jeff Loots, a native of St. Paul, Minn., was a three-year letterwinner for SMSU and finished his career completing 703 of 1,224 pass attempts for 10,116 yards and 102 touchdowns, all of which are school career records following his career.
Loots was a first team NAIA All-America in 1992, a second team NAIA All-America in 1991 and an honorable mention NAIA All-America in 1990, while also earning second team AP Little All-America honors in 1992.
A three-time first team all-conference quarterback, Loots was named conference most valuable player in both 1990 and 1992, becoming the first player in conference history to earn the award twice. The Mustangs were 22-5 with Loots starting at quarterback.
Loots, who currently holds over 20 school records, had one of the best seasons a quarterback could have during the 1991 season. He led SMSU to a 9-1 record, the best in school history, completing 272 of 464 passes for 4,111 yards, 50 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He threw five or more touchdowns in six games that season while also passing for more than 330 yards in eight games.
In 1990, he helped lead SMSU to the program’s only conference championship while also leading the squad to the NAIA national playoffs before losing in the first round to Carson-Newman (Tenn.).
During his senior season in 1992, Loots passed for 2,927 yards and 29 touchdowns in the first seven games before suffering a career-ending injury in week eight.
Following his collegiate career, Loots was ranked the nation’s 11th best passer headed into the 1993 NFL draft and ended up signing with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League before he ended up playing in the Arena Football League for eight seasons including being part of two Arena Football League Championship teams.