Terps Add Two Coaches to Football Staff
1/24/2008 7:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 24, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland has hired two football coaches and made adjustments to the staff, Head Coach Ralph Friedgen announced Thursday. The moves complete the Terps staff for 2008.
Danny Pearman has been hired to coach tight ends and coordinate the special teams, and Kasey Dunn has been appointed to oversee the wide receivers. They'll begin their appointments immediately.
Pearman recently coached at Duke and North Carolina after eight-year stints at both Virginia Tech and Alabama. He replaces Ray Rychleski, who left at the conclusion of the 2007 season for an assistant coaching position at the University of South Carolina.
"We're excited to have Danny on board," Friedgen said. "He's a good fit because of his experience in the ACC and his success with special teams and working with tight ends. We feel like he can make a tremendous contribution to our staff."
Dunn coached last season at Baylor following three years at the University of Arizona. Dunn fills the spot vacated by running backs coach Phil Zacharias.
"We're excited to add Kasey to the staff," Friedgen said. "He has the resources to help take us to a new level. He's been at a lot of good programs around the country. His experience should really help us in recruiting. Kasey will also contribute to our offensive game plan."
In conjunction with the hiring of Pearman and Dunn, Friedgen announced that assistant John Donovan will move to running backs coach. Donovan coached the Maryland running backs in 2005 before spending the past two seasons with the quarterbacks.
Friedgen also announced that James Franklin, hired as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator last month, will oversee the quarterbacks.
The Terps two new coaches have experience coaching at all levels of college football.
Pearman spent the 2007 season at Duke University where he coached tight ends and oversaw special teams. This past season, the Blue Devils improved in four of five special teams categories from 2006.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to coach at Maryland," Pearman said of his new post. "Coach Friedgen has an impressive resume and has built a great program over the last seven years. I'm also looking forward to working with James Franklin and the tight ends. James has done some exciting things on offense at each of his stops."
Pearman, 42, coached defensive ends and assisted with special teams at the University of North Carolina in 2006. During that year, Connor Barth was a perfect 10-for-10 in field goal attempts, Brandon Tate was second in the ACC in punt returns and the Tar Heels' kickoff return yardage defense was 14th nationally.
Prior to those two stops, he spent eight years (1998-2005) as the Hokies' tight ends/offensive tackles coach. He also assisted Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer with special teams. Beamer is renowned as one of the top special teams coaches in the nation.
"I'm looking forward to carrying on the special teams tradition with the Terps," Pearman said. "Ray and the staff have done a great job over the years and I want to keep that rolling."
The Terps own the nation's longest streak (98 games) without having a punt blocked. In addition, they also ranked first in the nation last season in kickoff return yardage defense.
Maryland has produced a number of talented specialists. The Terps have had an All-ACC punter in six of the last seven years and an all-league place-kicker in three of the last six seasons.
Pearman, a three-year letterwinning tight end at Clemson, also coached at the University of Alabama from 1990 through 1997, which included a national title in 1992. The Crimson Tide went to six bowl games during his tenure. The native of Charlotte, N.C., was also a member of seven bowl teams with Virginia Tech.
Dunn has spent time coaching on both sides of the ball. He was an assistant head coach at Baylor last season, while overseeing wide receivers and coordinating special teams. The Bears had the 27th-ranked passing offense in the nation last season and five of Dunn's receivers caught more than 20 passes.
"This is an exciting opportunity," Dunn said about the hiring. "Coach Friedgen is one of the top offensive minds in the game and I'm looking forward to being a part of his staff. James has done a great job in past stops and I'm looking forward to helping take the offense to new heights."
Before his stop in Waco, Texas, Dunn, 38, was the running backs coach at Arizona for three years (2004-06). He coached three future NFL backs while with the Wildcats.
Prior to coaching cornerbacks at Texas Christian University in 2003, he was on Mike Price's Washington State staff for five seasons (1998-02), serving as running backs coach throughout his tenure. He also was the special teams coordinator his final three seasons. In 2001 he was also elevated to assistant head coach.
Dunn also coached at San Diego (1994 - tight ends/wide receivers), Idaho (1995 - cornerbacks) and New Mexico (1996-97 - cornerbacks).
A three-time All-America wide receiver at the University of Idaho, Dunn ended his collegiate career No. 2 all-time in Division I-AA history in career receptions (268) and receiving yards (3,847) to Jerry Rice.
The native of San Diego, Calif., went on to play professionally with the British Columbia (1992) and Edmonton (1993) of the CFL and Houston (1992) of the NFL.
