Miami is expected to hire former Houston offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson to the same position, as first reported by Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated. Dawson will also serve as the quarterbacks coach for the Hurricanes.
Dawson previously served as the tight ends coach at Houston in 2019 before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2020.
In 2022, under Dawson’s leadership, the Cougars ranked 25th in the country in yards per game.
The hiring comes weeks after Miami’s previous offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis, was dismissed from his position. Under Gattis, the Hurricanes averaged 23.6 points a game, placing them 97th nationally.
Dawson’s offense brings a radically new look to the Hurricanes. His philosophy comes from the air raid offensive coaching tree. Dawson also focuses on a balanced offensive attack that UM head coach Mario Cristobal emphasizes.
He previously served at a number of different schools throughout his career. Dawson began his career in 2002 at Wingate University coaching wide receivers before joining Southeastern Louisiana as an offensive quality control coach and later as a running backs coach.
Dawson was then a graduate assistant at New Mexico State before going on to coach offenses at numerous other programs, including Millsaps, Stephen F. Austin, West Virginia, Kentucky, Southern Mississippi and most recently, Houston.