New Miami football OC Shannon Dawson history producing explosive offenses
Shannon Dawson first became an offensive coordinator at the FBS level in 2012 at West Virginia where he was also the wide receivers coach. Dawson has been an OC every year since 2012 with the exception of 2019 when he was the tight ends coach at Houston. Dawson has a big task with the Miami football program.
Dawson is a part of the Air Raid Coaching tree. More specifically Dawson has worked closely with Houston head coach Dana Holgersen. From 2011–2018 Holgersen was the head coach at West Virginia before he left for Houston where he has been the head coach since 2019. Holgersen worked under Mike Leach as the OC at Texas Tech.
Beginning with his first season as the OC at West Virginia, Dawson has led explosive offenses. The Mountaineers finished 16th nationally in 2012 with 229 plays for 10 or more yards. Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey both finished with over 100 receptions and 1,000 yards in 2012 with plays being called by Dawson.
Austin had 111 receptions for 1,287 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in 2012. Bailey had 113 receptions 1,627 receiving yards and 25 TDs. Geno Smith who had an epic comeback season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, completed 71.2 percent of his passes for 4,198 yards, 42 TDs and six interceptions for WVU in 2012.
“There’s a lot of freedom in the system, so I’m excited for that.” ICYMI, Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke joined me and @ADavidHaleJoint on In Play @accnetwork to discuss his return to the U and his early impressions of new OC Shannon Dawson pic.twitter.com/Kx9pF5QNSt
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) March 1, 2023
Miami Football: Shannon Dawson history producing explosive plays
Year Team 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
2012 WVU 229 70 43 24 11 5 5 1 0
2013 WVU 180 59 34 17 7 5 4 0 0
2014 WVU 225 72 33 21 9 4 1 0 0
2015 KY 164 62 27 13 6 4 1 0 0
2016 USM 219 69 30 19 16 11 8 4 1
2017 USM 92 68 36 23 9 5 4 3 0
2018 USM 165 46 17 12 5 4 3 0 0
2020 Houston 126 41 14 3 2 0 0 0 0
2021 Houston 228 73 29 12 5 1 1 1 0
2022 Houston 237 71 34 15 5 1 0 0 0
The numbers for Houston in 2022 came in only eight games. Dawson’s offenses have been up and down nationally in explosive plays but have continually shown the ability to consistently make big plays throughout his career as an offensive coordinator. The lack of big plays in 2022 hindered Miami offensively.
Houston was ninth nationally in 2022 with 237 plays of 10 or more yards. The Miami football team was 67th with 176 plays of 10 more yards. Miami plummets in the national rankings with plays from scrimmage beginning in 10-yard increments at 20. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke thrived throwing deep passes in 2021.
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Appearing on the ACC Network Van Dyke told Andrea Adelson and David Hale last week that he expects Miami to have a well-balanced, explosive offense. Mario Cristobal is embracing a more modern offense by hiring Dawson. It will be interesting to see how their views mesh and how much freedom Cristobal provides Dawson.