Cowboys Lose Receiver Coach Kasey Dunn to UNLV
STILLWATER -- With reports out of Las Vegas on Twitter indicating that the Cowboys longest tenured position coach, assistant head coach and receivers coach Kasey Dunn, heading to Las Vegas to UNLV to join friend and newly named Rebels head coach Marcus Arroyo as his offensive coordinator. I had to check it out. I found Dunn sitting on a big chair in his office talking to Oklahoma State vice-president Kyle Wray just reminiscing. Dunn actually told me after confirming the news was true that he had spent a lot of time thinking about memories since he accepted the position.
Dunn in completing his ninth season at Oklahoma State and his time in Stillwater started with him coaching Justin Blackmon to the Biletnikoff Award and part of a staff that led the Cowboys to the 2011 Big 12 Championship and number three national ranking along with a win over Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl that Blackmon and one of his walk-on receivers in Colton Chelf played a huge role in. Lots of memories that include James Washington, Marcell Ateman, Chris Lacy, Tylan Wallace, Dillon Stoner, and more. Dunn will have the chance to make a few more before he moves on.
"I'll be coaching at the bowl game (Texas Bowl)," Dunn told me. "Coach (Gundy) said it was okay and I told him I wanted another chance to be with the guys. I'm appreciative that he is letting me do that."
Dunn always wore that sweaty faded hat and at practice an old faded hoddie and sweats everyday. Dunn is a creature of habit and doing the right things and that made his receivers better.
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Mike Gundy will have a big chore directing his staff to finish the 2020 recruiting class in January, but he most important recruit may be the man he brings in to coach his wide receivers especially a potential returning Tylan Wallace, who will be looking to be groomed for a future career in the NFL.
With Dunn coaching at the Texas Bowl it is early to think about possibilites, but coaches out there with Gundy ties include former offensive coordinator at OSU and head coach at Southern Miss and North Carolina in Larry Fedora, former wide receivers coach at OSU Gunter Brewer, and current quarterbacks coach at the Los Angeles Rams in Zac Robinson.
Others that I know of that seem to be qualified and might be interested include Darrin Chiaverini; Walt Bell, who was a GA at Oklahoma State and most recently was offensive coordinator at Florida State; Kenny Guiton at Houston; Andre Coleman, who at Kansas State with Bill Snyder as OC and receivers coach; Jacob Peeler, who was most recently at Ole Miss; and former Missouri receivers coach A.J. Ofodile.
Right now it is a shot in the dark because it will be very hard to replace the success that Dunn has brought to the wide receiver position at Oklahoma State.
Dunn came to Stillwater with loads of experience having coached for receivers and tight ends at San Diego State and then cornerbacks at his alma mater Idaho and New Mexico. He coaches special teams at TCU in 2003. He then moved on at Arizona coaching running backs and he also coached running backs in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks for two seasons after he spent a year at Baylor. His last stop before Oklahoma State was at Southern Miss where he coached wide receivers again.
Recognized as one of the best receivers coaches in all of college football, Dunn was honored by both 247sports and FootballScoop as the national Wide Receivers Coach of the Year in 2017 when he was coaching the trio of James Washington, Marcell Ateman, and Chris Lacy. That trio along with Dillon Stoner all topped 100-yards in a monster game against Pittsburgh.
Dunn recruited and coached Washington at Oklahoma State. The winner of the 2017 Biletnikoff Award and a unanimous All-American, Washington finished his career as OSU’s career receiving yards leader and as the second-most productive receiver in the history of the Big 12 Conference with 4,472 receiving yards to his credit. Washington finished his career with 39 receiving touchdowns, a mark that ranks fifth in Big 12 history.
Dunn coached Justin Blackmon to the 2011 Biletnikoff Award as America’s top wide receiver in addition to coaching him to unanimous All-America recognition. Under Dunn’s watch, Blackmon set the OSU single-season record for receptions in 2011 and was the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. He recruited and coached 2018 All-American and Biletnikoff Award finalist Tylan Wallace. A first-team All-Big 12 honoree, Wallace led the FBS with 63 receptions of 10 yards or longer and ranked second in the FBS with 25 receptions of 20 yards or longer. He injured his knee this past season but still caught 53 passes for 903-yards (17.0-ypr), and eight touchdowns in eight games.
In Dunn’s eight seasons at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys have ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense three times, ranked in the top 10 nationally in passing offense six times and ranked in the top 10 nationally in yards per pass attempt four times.
In 2017, the Cowboys became the first offense in Big 12 history with a 4,000-yard passer (Mason Rudolph), two 1,000-yard receivers (James Washington and Marcell Ateman) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Justice Hill).
Seven of Dunn’s nine seasons at OSU rank among the top 10 in school history for scoring offense, total offense, passing offense and passing touchdowns. He has coached seven 1,000-yard receivers in his eight years at Oklahoma State.
Dunn said it was a good time to make a move.
"My girls (daughters) are in school and will stay at Oklahoma State and they are happy," Dunn told me. "They will stay in school and it is a good time for us to make a move."
Dunn may not be the only one making a move, which by the way, Dunn said he would be the play caller as offensive coordinator. The other move is possibly defensive line coach Joe Bob Clements as sources in Las Vegas say that Clements has had discussion with UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo about possibly being the school's defensive coordinator.
As far as we can tell that is only in the discussion stage.
