MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Only 48 hours after news broke of running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider departing for Florida, West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen filled the vacancy Saturday night by hiring Tony Dews of Arizona.
The return of Dews, a WVU graduate assistant from 1999-2001 who coached the Mountaineers receivers in 2007, was first reported by WVSports.com.
Dews joined Rich Rodriguez during a tumultuous three-year stint at Michigan and spent the past five seasons on Rodriguez’s staff coaching receivers at Arizona.
The Clifton, Va., native played at Liberty University and is valued for his recruiting connections in Maryland and Washington, D.C. — areas the Mountaineers could re-emphasize to offset the loss of Seider’s pipeline to the state of Florida
Arizona’s receivers typically prospered under Dews, who also coached tight ends at Pitt (2011), linebackers at UNLV (2006) and oversaw tight ends and special teams at Central Michigan (2004-2005). However, he has never coached running backs.
Adams not leaving?
A West Virginia source refuted Saturday’s report by Jason Higdon of Scout.com that cornerbacks coach Blue Adams is leaving after one season to join Charlie Strong’s staff at South Florida.
“He is not,” the source said.
Last season Adams mentored Rasul Douglas into a second-team AP All-American. That followed four seasons as a defensive back assistant with the Miami Dolphins.