It says he's expected to become the WR coach at WVU, which is strange because Lonnie Galloway is the WR coach and he's one of the coaches expected to be retained. Rumors seem to indicate Beatty may be gone. But it will be a while before the staff reorganization is complete. We'll see how it all shakes out shortly...

Enjoy...

DailySentinel.com Wrote:Dawson grateful for opportunity at SFA
By Kevin Gore
Posted: Friday, December 24, 2010 1:00 am

Shannon Dawson looks at his new position at West Virginia as a big opportunity in his career, one that a lot of coaches want but never get a chance at.

It’s because of his success with other opportunities that his latest one exists.

Dawson, who has served as Stephen F. Austin’s offensive coordinator the last three seasons, has accepted an assistant coaching position at West Virginia University.

Reached at his parents’ home in Louisiana Thursday, Dawson said he expects to be West Virginia’s receivers coach next season.

He was hired by Dana Holgorsen, who was recently named West Virginia’s offensive coordinator next season.

After next season, Holgorsen will step into the head coaching position there. He served as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator this year.

Dawson will then become Holgorsen’s offensive coordinator for the Mountaineers, who play in the Big East Conference, which has an automatic BSC bowl berth to the conference winner.

Dawson said he is grateful to Stephen F. Austin head coach J.C. Harper for the opportunity to serve as the Lumberjacks’ offensive coordinator for three seasons, two of which were conference title campaigns.

He was hired by Harper after the 0-11 season of 2007, when SFA struggled scoring points.

Dawson’s offense led the Southland Conference in scoring offense, total offense and passing offense last season, when the Lumberjacks finished 9-3 and won the outright Southland Conference championship.

His 2009 offense led the SLC in total offense and passing offense.

Dawson was brought to SFA by Harper after he had spent two seasons as offensive coordinator at Division III Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss, where he helped Millsaps turn its program around by drastically by improving the offense.

Millsaps didn’t win a game the season before his arrival. The program won two league titles during his time there.

Then came the phone call from Harper.

“First of all, it was J.C. taking a chance on me to hire a Division-III coordinator,” Dawson said. “He took a chance on me, and I took a chance on him, in some respects.”

Dawson’s new position at West Virginia will be a reunion, of sorts, between he and Holgorsen.

While coaching at Mississippi College, Holgorsen recruited Dawson as a quarterback from a small private high school in Baton Rouge.

When Holgorsen left Mississippi College for a job at Wingate, Dawson followed him there and played quarterback and receiver.

Dawson went on to hold coaching positions at Wingate, Southeastern Louisiana, New Mexico State and Millsaps before landing at SFA, where he implemented a spread passing offense.

Under Dawson’s watch, SFA quarterback Jeremy Moses developed into a record-breaking All-American player while the Lumberjacks’ offense averaged about 36 points per game the last three seasons.

Dawson said he and Harper were always on the same page when it came to the program’s offensive goals. That is the same kind of relationship that he has with Holgorsen, whose last three coaching stops were at Texas Tech, Houston and Oklahoma State.

Dawson said he made it a point to keep in touch with Holgorsen, flying to Lubbock to watch Texas Tech practices and to talk to Holgorsen about offense. When Dawson got the SFA job, he made several trips to Houston to spend time with his former coach and friend to talk football, offense in particular.

“I continued to network with him,” Dawson said. “But the opportunity for us to coach together never really came up.”

Until now.

When Holgorsen was named West Virginia’s coach in waiting to replace current coach Bill Stewart after next season, Dawson’s opportunity to move from SFA to a school with national title aspirations had arrived.

“We’re in a BCS conference, so we could have the chance to play for a national championship,” Dawson said. “That’s the goal.”

“This is a great opportunity, one that a lot of Division III offensive coordinators never get,” he said. “I’m just grateful for my three years at Stephen F. Austin. I’ll look at it as my springboard to a great opportunity at a higher level.”

“I’m thankful that J.C. gave me the opportunity.”