Football: Three Join Coaching Staff
January 11, 2008 04:40 PM | General
January 11, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Football Coach Bill Stewart has announced that former Mountaineer standout players and coaches Steve Dunlap and David Lockwood are returning to Morgantown and Northern Illinois University running backs coach Chris Beatty to become members of his coaching staff.
Dunlap will be the assistant head coach and safeties coach, Lockwood will mentor the cornerbacks and Beatty will oversee the running backs.
“Dunlap and Lockwood have a real passion for West Virginia University, WVU football and the fans of the Mountain state,” Stewart said. “We are truly blessed to have these former Mountaineers return back home and become members of the coaching staff. Chris is a tremendous coach and recruiter and brings a great deal of passion to his work. I look forward to great things in the coming years from these outstanding coaches and people.”
Steve Dunlap
Assistant Head Coach/Safeties
Steve Dunlap, a native of Hurricane, W.Va., and a 1977 West Virginia University graduate, returns to Morgantown and rejoins the Mountaineer staff after serving as the defensive coordinator at Marshall for the past year.
“Steve possesses a brilliant defensive mind and brings a tremendous amount of experience,” Stewart said. “He has a vast knowledge of the game, is a great game strategist and has been successful during his tenure. He played here at West Virginia, coached here for a long time and now returns to his alma mater once again. We are very fortunate to have such an outstanding coach join our staff.”
Prior to that, he served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at North Carolina State in 2005 and 2006. During his tenure, the 2005 Wolfpack ranked eighth nationally in total defense (298.6 yards per game). He also coached three players who were drafted in the first-round of the NFL Draft, including defensive end Mario Williams who was the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
He has coached in 14 bowl games, including 10 at West Virginia, which included two national championship games (the 1989 Fiesta Bowl and the 1993 Sugar Bowl).
The Mountaineer defense took top national honors in 1996, and Dunlap was honored for his coaching ability in 1997, when he was named a finalist for the inaugural Frank Broyles Award, awarded annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Dunlap also served as linebackers at Syracuse from 2001 to 2004, assistant head coach (2002-03) and defensive coordinator (2004).
He spent 17 years as an assistant at West Virginia under College Football Hall of Fame coach Don Nehlen, including 10 as the defensive coordinator (1991-2000). During that period he worked specifically with the inside linebackers (1984-86, 1993-2000), and defensive backs (1987-92).
West Virginia produced 12 winning seasons and made 10 bowl appearances. In addition, he coached 15 players who earned first-team all-conference honors and All-American defensive back Bo Orlando at WVU.
As a player, Dunlap was an inside linebacker for Hall of Fame coach and current Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden at WVU. He was a member of the 1975 WVU squad that defeated NC State in the Peach Bowl, 13-10. He set school records for total tackles (190) in a season and tackles in a game (28 vs. Boston College). He also ranks 10th all-time in career tackles at WVU with 359.
Dunlap earned his bachelor's degree from WVU in 1977, and then worked as a graduate assistant and part-time coach at his alma-mater from 1977-81. He was the defensive line coach at Navy from 1982-83.
He and his wife, Wendy, have two children, Matthew (a student at WVU) and Megan.
David Lockwood
Cornerbacks
David Lockwood returns to West Virginia after serving as the defensive backs coach at Kentucky for the past year. He has been coaching at the college level for 19 years and served as the former defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Minnesota.
“David is as good of a secondary coach as there is in the nation,” Stewart said. “He brings years of experience and is a tremendous teacher, who really stresses the technical aspect of the position. Having worked with him at WVU, his attention to detail and the ability to communicate it to the players is as good as any coach I have ever been around. We are very fortunate to have him on our staff.”
This past year at Kentucky, Lockwood helped guide the Wildcats to an 8-5 record and the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl championship. That marked his sixth-straight bowl appearance and 11th overall of his coaching career. His secondary also ranked among the top 25 in fewest passing yards allowed.
During his five-year tenure at Minnesota, including 2005 and ’06 as the defensive coordinator, the Gophers advanced to bowl games in all five of his years with the team, winning three of the postseason events. Minnesota had played in only seven bowl games in school history prior to Lockwood joining the staff. He coached defensive backs his first three years with the Gophers and worked with the linebackers the last two seasons.
While Lockwood was the defensive backs coach, Gopher cornerback Michael Lehan tied the single-season school record for pass breakups and corner Ukee Dozier tied the UM career record for breakups. Lockwood also was the recruiting coordinator in 2003.
Lockwood coaching tenure includes six seasons coaching in the secondary. He began his coaching career in 1989 as a graduate assistant at West Virginia and also coached at Delaware (1990-93, tight ends and wide receivers), James Madison (1994, TE/WR), Memphis (1995-98 WR, 1999 defensive backs), West Virginia (2000, DB), and Notre Dame (2001, cornerbacks).
While Lockwood was at Delaware, the Blue Hens won two Yankee Conference championships and advanced to the Division I-AA playoffs three times. His ’94 team at James Madison also advanced to the NCAA I-AA playoffs.
Although he coached defensive backs just one year at Memphis, Lockwood had three of his DBs—Reginald Howard, Michael Stone, and Idrees Bashir – play several years in the National Football League.
In the 2000 season at West Virginia, the Mountaineers finished ninth in the nation with 19 interceptions and defeated Mississippi in the Music City Bowl.
In his one season at Notre Dame, the Irish were 10th in the nation in pass defense, only the third time in 54 years that UND had been in the top 10 in that category. He also worked with current Wildcat offensive coordinator Joker Phillips during his year in South Bend.
A native of Media, Pa., Lockwood was a four-year letterman as a defensive back at WVU. He played in two bowl games and was a member of the ’88 WVU squad that posted an 11-0 regular-season record and played in the national championship game.
Lockwood and his wife, Heidi, have three children—daughter Autumn and sons, David Jr. and Jeffrey.
Chris Beatty
Running Backs
Chris Beatty comes to West Virginia after serving as the running backs coach at Northern Illinois last year.
“Chris is a tremendous young coach and we are very fortunate to have him on our staff,” Stewart said. “He was one of the top recruiters at Northern Illinois and is one of the future bright stars in our profession.”
Prior to NIU, Beatty was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., where he helped lead the Pirates to a 10-2 overall record and a spot in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs in 2006.
Beatty helped guide Hampton to the 2006 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship with a 6-1 conference record, before falling to New Hampshire in the first round of the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs. Hampton boasted the No. 7 scoring offense in the FCS at 34.2 points per game, behind the MEAC's all-time leading rusher, Alonzo Coleman, who gained 1,052 yards in 2006.
The Pirates also had one player drafted and six more sign free agent contracts with NFL teams following the 2006 season, including four offensive players.
Before the 2006 season at Hampton, Beatty was a highly-successful high school coach in Virginia who compiled a 78-18 record at three different high schools, including a 40-2 mark at his final prep stop at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, Va. The Eagles made three consecutive appearances in the Virginia AAA championship game under his guidance and won the 2004 state title when he was named the 2004 Virginia High School League (VHSL) AAA Coach of the Year.
Known for his high-powered offenses, Beatty also coached at Salem (Va.) High School and at North Stafford High School where he helped lead both teams to the playoffs. While in the Virginia prep ranks, he coordinated the offense that produced the top four passers in VHSL history and guided the only two teams in state history to boast a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher in the same season.
Beatty earned his bachelor's degree from East Tennessee State University where he was a four-year starter at wide receiver for the Buccaneers, earning All-Southern Conference honors as a senior. After leaving ETSU as the school's all-time leader in receiving yards, he went on to play with the Baltimore Stallions (1995) and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1997) of the Canadian Football League, before beginning his coaching career.
