West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has been slowly putting his new defensive staff together for the past several weeks, and although the hires were official, the coaching responsibilities were not.
Until today.
WVU released its updated coaching staff with the new assignments for all of Holgorsen’s assistants. Only one coach, Steve Dunlap, remains from the Bill Stewart tenure.
On defense, the staff ended up being mostly what it was expected to be. Former Oklahoma State defensive assistant Joe DeForest will be co-defensive coordinator alongside former Pitt and Arkansas State defensive coordinator Keith Patterson. DeForest will coach safeties and Patterson will oversee linebackers. Erik Slaughter, from Stephen F. Austin, will coach defensive line and former receivers coach Daron Roberts will now coach cornerbacks.
The one surprise is Dunlap, who is now solely focused on coaching special teams and will serve as assistant (to the) head coach. Dunlap had shared special teams duties for the past couple seasons while coaching safeties.
On offense, there are fewer changes. Receivers coach Shannon Dawson will now be the team’s offensive coordinator; Holgorsen was the head coach and OC last season. Dawson came to WVU after serving as the OC at Stephen F. Austin. Additionally, quarterback Geno Smith‘s position coach will still be Jake Spavital. Spavital was expected to fill the QB coach spot once Holgorsen became the full-time head coach.
Still, these are just titles. Expect Holgorsen to continue to have a heavy influence in the offense.
