UTEP Football taps Dave Warner as Offensive Coordinator

UTEP head football coach Dana Dimel announced the addition of offensive coordinator Dave Warner to the staff on Friday afternoon.

Warner brings 36 years of coaching experience to the Sun City after spending the last 13 seasons on the offensive staff at Michigan State. Warner has been a quarterbacks coach and/or offensive coordinator or passing game coordinator for 31 of his 36 seasons as a college assistant.

Dimel has previous experience working with the coaching veteran after Warner served on Dimel’s staff as the pass game coordinator and quarterback coach at the University of Houston from 2001-02.

The two also worked together at Wyoming during the 1998 season when Warner served as the passing game coordinator

“Dave is going to be a great communicator for our offense and quarterbacks,” Dimel said. “He brings a ton of experience to our football program as offensive coordinator. He did a tremendous job at Michigan State for so many years and was such a huge help in our time together coaching at previous stops. He will be a great addition to the staff helping progress the program to where we want to be.”

During his time in East Lansing, Warner served in a variety of roles, including offensive coordinator/running backs coach (2013-18) and quarterback coach (2007-12; 2019).

During his time as the co-offensive coordinator at Michigan State, along with Jim Bollman, the Spartans collected a 56-23 record (.709), won two Big Ten Championships (2013, 2015), five bowl games (2014 Rose, 2015 Cotton, 2017 Holiday, 2018 Redbox, 2019 Pinstripe) and earned a berth in the College Football Playoff (2015).

MSU set numerous offensive team records and placed six players on the All-Big Ten First Team, including three position players of the year in the conference, in addition to eight NFL Draft picks on offense.

Warner directed the most prolific offense in Michigan State history in 2014. The Spartans set numerous school records, including points (559), scoring average (43.0 ppg.), offensive touchdowns (70), total offense (6,510 yards; 500.8 ypg.), rushing touchdowns (44), rushing yards (3,057) and first downs (321). Michigan State’s improvement in scoring offense (+13.6 points per game) and total offense (+115.3 yards per game) in 2014 ranked among the Top 10 increases among teams in the FBS.

In his only season at Cincinnati with Mike Dantonio, Warner mentored two starting quarterbacks, in Dustin Grutza and Nick Davila. During the 2006 regular season, Grutza ranked fifth in the BIG EAST in both passing efficiency (123.9 rating) and total offense (168.1), while Davila orchestrated the offense in Cincinnati’s 30-11 upset over then-No. 7 Rutgers on Nov. 18 as he completed 11-of-15 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown.

Before coaching at Cincinnati, Warner coached wide receivers at Southern Miss in 2003 and 2004. He has also made stops as the passing game coordinator at Houston (2001-02), offensive coordinator at Connecticut (1999-2000), passing game coordinator at Wyoming (1998) and quarterbacks coach at Bucknell (1997).

Warner and Dantonio also coached together for four seasons at Kansas, when Dantonio was the secondary coach for the Jayhawks from 1991-94. Warner spent nine total seasons as quarterbacks coach for Kansas (1988-96). Prior to KU, Warner spent four years on the staff at Kent State (1984-87), including the last two as quarterbacks coach.

A three-year letter winner as a quarterback at Syracuse, Warner finished his playing career ranked seventh in career passing yards (2,593) and was a member of the 1979 team that won the Independence Bowl. After graduating in 1982, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Orange, working with the quarterbacks and offensive backs.

Warner has coached in 16 bowl games, including victories in the 2014 Rose Bowl over No. 5 Stanford and the 2015 Cotton Bowl against No. 4 Baylor, in addition to an appearance in the 2015 College Football Playoff.

Warner earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communications from Syracuse in 1982 and received a master’s degree in physical education from the school in 1984.

Warner and his wife Leigh Ann have a son, Jackson. Warner also has a daughter, Alexandra.

THE WARNER FILE

PREVIOUS COACHING EXPERIENCE: College – Graduate assistant at Syracuse (1982-83); running backs coach (1984-85) and quarterbacks coach (1986-87) at Kent State; quarterbacks coach at Kansas (1988-96); quarterbacks coach at Bucknell (1997); passing game coordinator at Wyoming (1998); offensive coordinator at Connecticut (1999-2000); passing game coordinator at Houston (2001-02); wide receivers coach at Southern Miss (2003-04); quarterbacks coach at Cincinnati (2006); quarterbacks coach at Michigan State (2007-12); offensive coordinator/RB coach at Michigan State (2013-18); quarterbacks coach at Michigan State (2019).

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in speech communications from Syracuse in 1982; master’s degree in physical education from Syracuse in 1984.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE: College – Three-year letterwinner as a QB at Syracuse (1979-81).

 

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE: Player – 1979 Independence Bowl. Coach – 1992 Aloha Bowl, 1995 Aloha Bowl, 2003 Liberty Bowl, 2004 New Orleans Bowl, 2007 Champs Sports Bowl, 2009 Capital One Bowl, 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, 2011 Capital One Bowl, 2012 Outback Bowl, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, 2014 Rose Bowl, 2015 Cotton Bowl, 2015 College Football Playoff (Cotton Bowl), 2017 Holiday Bowl, 2018 Redbox Bowl, 2019 Pinstripe Bowl.