MORGANTOWN —
Although West Virginia has not yet made any formal announcement on coaching changes, football coach Dana Holgorsen has completed rebuilding his coaching staff by hiring former Bill Stewart assistant Lonnie Galloway to work with the wide receivers while moving offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson from the wide receivers to the quarterbacks.
Jake Spavital spent the last two years working with WVU’s star quarterback Geno Smith but left last week to accept the job of quarterback coach and co-offensive coordinator at Texas A&M, where he has the opportunity to work with last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
Holgorsen previously had fired cornerback coach Daron Roberts and outside linebacker coach Steve Dunlap and replaced them with former Rich Rodriguez aide Tony Gibson to work with the safeties and former East Carolina offensive coordinator Brian Mitchell.
Terms for all the new hires are reportedly complete but they are waiting for background checks and approval from the school’s human resources department.
The Galloway hire is an exceptionally important one, for it not only gives the Mountaineers a proven coach at the position familiar with the school and its history, but also a top-notch recruiter to work the fertile Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area.
Galloway was said to be the lead recruiter in bringing the highly decorated wide receiver/running back/returner Tavon Austin to West Virginia as well as being important in the recruitment of defensive end Bruce Irvin, who became a first-round draft selection of the NFL and plays for Seattle.
He also mentored Jock Sanders at WVU.
Galloway coached receivers at WVU from 2008-10 and joined Wake Forest in March 2011. In his first season there, Galloway helped Chris Givens earn first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. He led the ACC with 102.3 receiving yards per game and set a school record with 1,330 yards. Given was a fourth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams in the 2012 draft.
Receiver Michael Camprano was third in the ACC this season with 79 catches for 763 yards and three scores.
During Galloway’s first year at Wake they passed for a school record 3,291 yards with him as passing game coordinator.
Dawson is former quarterback at Wingate, having played the position one year with Holgorsen as his position coach. At Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin before coming to WVU he was quarterback coach and offensive coordinator from 2008 to 2010 and led the nation in passing offense the final two years.
Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @bhertzel.
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