Jan 29, 2016 5 min read

CALIFORNIA – The interview process for any prospective head coach is daunting enough.

For Gary Dunn, it was a little more pressurized than usual when the eyes of dozens of people were fixed on him as he stated his case to be the next head football coach at California University.

The observers were not administrators, or faculty members or even demanding alumni. Last week, Dunn was trying to win over the players, who were given an opportunity to interview him before a decision was made.

Dunn won them over, just like he did the search committee members and the alumni.

That’s why Dunn was introduced Friday afternoon as the Vulcans’ new football coach, replacing Mike Kellar, who resigned last month to take the same position at another NCAA Division II program, Lenore-Rhyne in Hickory, N.C.

The 42-year-old Dunn, a graduate of Seton-La Salle High School, was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at Duquesne University for the past five seasons and spent 11 years as an assistant at Morehead State in Kentucky. Dunn played for Cal, starting at center for four seasons and earning first team honors in the PSAC. At Cal, he even got to interview candidates before Kevin Donley replaced Jeff Petrucci as coach for the 1993 season.

“It’s pretty common in the interview process,” said Dunn. “The difference was I met with more here than anywhere else. When I was a player here, I was the one on the committee of about eight or nine and here I met with about 45 guys. It was a little bit different but it was good to meet them. … We talked about my vision for the program, who I am, where I’ve been, who I played with and what I planned to do. Then I fielded questions from those guys.”

Dunn felt he made a good impression with the players.

“I was concerned about how he was going to treat the seniors on the team for their last ride,” said senior Jordan Bowman, a three-year starter at defensive back for the Vulcans. “I asked about what kind of defense he ran, what were his philosophies to help us win a championship. I think the majority of the team is coming back. We’ve got a lot of talent coming back.”

Another Cal defensive back, junior Aaron Terry, said Dunn relieved some fears players had over major changes being made.

“I was concerned about whether he was going to do what he said he wanted to do,” said Terry. “I think everyone was afraid of something new, but I think he’s going to bring a lot of good things to the program. He’s a good guy and I want to see where it’s going to go.”

Dunn said he wanted to intensify local recruiting efforts, especially in the Mon Valley.

“We’re going to start (our recruiting) at home,” said Dunn. “If we have to, we’ll throw a wider net. It won’t be difficult to attract quality guys. … We’ll be in battles; at Duquesne, we were in battles. You have to win the battles. I’m as competitive a guy as you’ll ever meet. The first day, we’ll hit the weight room and get conditioned to play spring ball. Everything we do is with a competitive nature.”

Interestingly, as early as Wednesday, Dunn was still recruiting players for Duquesne.

“I actually called all the guys I recruited (for Duquesne) Thursday night and told them what was going to happen,” Dunn said. “I told them one of the other assistant coaches would be in touch with them. I told them they picked a great school, a great program and a great coach and they should stick with it. A couple of them I would have liked to have brought with me because they are really good players, but they understand. They were excited for me.”

Cal’s interview process began with approximately 10 candidates and was pared to six before the decision was made.

“The goal of the search committee was to look for the best candidate we could,” said Karen Hjerpe, athletic director at Cal. “It was a great pool of candidates and it just seemed Gary stood out over everyone else. He was a real gem in the process.”

Dunn will have four assistant coaches and could get some graduate assistants on the staff. Larry Wilson, who was receivers coach and special teams coordinator last season, and quarterbacks coach Chad Salisbury will return and two coaches will be hired.

“We’ll figure some things out,” Dunn said. “We’re going to be excited about what we do have and not worry about what we don’t have.”

Last season, Dunn helped Duquesne finish with an 8-4 record and make the program’s first appearance in the FCS playoffs. With Dunn, Duquesne earned at least a share of three Northeast Conference titles (2011, 2013, 2015). In 2011, Duquesne had its winningest season in nearly a decade at 9-2.

At Morehead State, Dunn worked with the offensive line, coached three All-Americans and 21 first team All-Pioneer Football League players.

“Coach Dunn knows our university well, but what impressed me most is his overall coaching philosophy and his total commitment to student-athletes,” said Cal interim president Geraldine Jones. “Coach Dunn wants his players to perform well, not only on the field, but in the classroom. He expects them to represent the university in an outstanding manner.”

Cal finished with an 8-3 record last season, and did not qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs.