Following the Big Green's 2-8 Fall season, the Dartmouth football team hired two new coordinators to guide the offensive and defensive side of the ball next season.
Jim Pry, who previously coached receivers at the University of Illinois, and Don Dobes, who has coached linebackers at Princeton University for the past 16 years, will now be the offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, for the Big Green.
Pry will be taking over, in part, the role of former offensive coordinator Mike Hodgson, whose contract was not renewed in December. Dobes joins Sammy McCorkle, who served as the sole defensive coordinator last season and is still with the team.
"It was a lengthy process, in which a number of coaches were interviewed and showed around campus," Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens said. "Many guys wanted this job and opportunity. I was very impressed with the interest level that was shown."
Co-captain Tim McManus '11 said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth that the players are excited about the hiring of these new coaches to what they believe is already an impressive staff.
"Coach Pry and Coach Dobes both offer a great combination of intensity, focus and experience to our team," he said.
Teevens also added that he wasn't just looking for coaches with many accolades, but coaches who would fit well into the Dartmouth community.
"Apart from looking for the best X's and O's' guys, I was searching for coaches who would mesh well with the personality of the staff and student athletes we already have," Teevens said.
Pry has coached college football for 33 years and spent the last four seasons at Illinois. Previous tenures include two seasons at the University of Akron, from 2004-2005, as the offensive coordinator in addition to three seasons at Duke University, from 2001-2003, as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
"Last season, we didn't have an offensive coordinator it was a collective effort that I played a big part in," Teevens said. "Now we have someone with a lot of knowledge."
One notable quarterback who excelled under Pry's coaching is Charlie Frye, who was drafted out of Akron in the third round of the 2005 National Football League draft by the Cleveland Browns.
"I was looking to have coaches that can give this program a collection of ideas we can put in action on the field," Teevens said. "We're looking for multiplicity on the field. We also want to have the best executing offense in the league, one with very minimal mistakes."
Dobes hails from Princeton, where 26 of his Tiger linebackers have received All-Ivy recognition.
Before his tenure at Princeton, Dobes coached at Rowan University for a season, Temple University for four seasons and Rice University for three seasons. He also had a six-year coaching stint at the University of Pennsylvania from 1981-1986.
"[Dobes] knows the Ivy League intimately, as well as the recruiting an Ivy League athletic department needs," Teevens said. "In this league you need to be able to defend the run successfully. You need linebackers who can dominate and make plays. [Dobes'] defenses have always played an aggressive and solid style of football, which apply pressure up front but also defend the pass efficiently."
To avoid a difficult transition process, the new coaches will learn and use the same terminology used by current coaches, Teevens explained.
The coaching changes will not hurt the Big Green's recruiting, he said, because of the program's enthusiasm, current players and impressive facilities, as well as the positive reputations of Pry and Dobes.
Teevens said he hopes the Dartmouth community is eagerly anticipating the team's return to Memorial Field for the 2010 Fall season.
"The guys we have coming back are confident they can succeed against this extremely competitive conference," Teevens said.
McManus added that the team is looking forward to its upcoming Spring and Summer training.
"We hope to situate ourselves in a position where we will realize our potential next Fall and take Dartmouth to the top of the Ivy League once again," he said.
