A coaching veteran of nearly 40 years, Dan Dodd is in his second season serving as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant at Arkansas State. Dodd will again be working with the LU quarterbacks.
Dodd was forced to rely on all that experience during his first season in Beaumont as he took over an offensive squad that had a total of five seniors on the 22-member depth chart, and two of those seniors were at the quarterback position. Dodd’s quarterbacks ran into quite a bit of hard luck during the 2017 campaign. SMU transfer Darrel Colbert, Jr., who won the starting job out of camp, was hurt in the sixth game and lost for the rest of the year. His replacement, Andrew Allen, started the next three games before having his year come to an early end due to injury. Dodd then turned to senior Blake McKenzie to start the final two games of the year. Ironically, the first two years of McKenzie’s career came to an early end due to injuries, but he closed the season with two stellar performances, including a come-from-behind victory at Houston Baptist. During those two games McKenzie completed 35 passes for 388 yards and a touchdown.
Prior to Colbert’s injury, he garnered CollegeSportsMadness Southland Player of the Week honors after completing better than 78 percent of his passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns against UT-Permian Basin. He also carried the ball eight times for 69 yards and two scores against the Falcons.
Dodd has experience coaching in 12 bowl games, including the GoDaddy Bowl and New Orleans Bowl as a member of the Arkansas State staff. He also brings playoff experience coaching at the FCS and high school levels.
During his time in Jonesboro, Ark., Dodd helped create a record-setting offense that set school standards for touchdowns and yards of offense. Dodd also spent time as the Red Wolves recruiting coordinator, where he helped bring in the Sun Belt’s top signing class (according to Rivals.com) in 2014.
During the 2015 season, he assisted with an ASU passing attack that posted the fifth-most passing yards in school history and 35 rushing touchdowns. Dodd directly worked with honorable mention All-Sun Belt tight end Darion Griswold, who signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts after the season.
Dodd’s career has taken him from the high school ranks through every level of the college game. Prior to his stop at Arkansas State, Dodd spent time at Tulane, New Mexico, TCU and Utah State. He has also spent time at the FCS level (Western Illinois) and the junior college ranks.
Dodd served as the offensive coordinator at Tulane for four years, working with the Green Wave quarterbacks. He was named assistant head coach for the final three seasons in New Orleans. In 2010, Tulane ranked 38th nationally in passing offense, while running back Orleans Darkwa garnered freshman All-America honors after setting a Green Wave freshman record with 925 rushing yards and 11 scores.
Darkwa’s emergence as the leading rusher came just a year after Dodd’s offense produced a 1,000-yard rusher in Andre Anderson. That season, Anderson teamed with receiver Jeremy Williams to produce the first 1,000-yard rushing and receiving tandem in program history.
During his time with the Green Wave, Dodd also worked with Matt Forte. As a senior, Forte was one of the nation’s leading rushers posting a school-record 2,127 yards, which was the seventh-best single-season performance in NCAA history.
Dodd went to Tulane after spending seven seasons at New Mexico, including six seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Dodd followed Dennis Franchione to TCU after UNM’s 1997 bowl season, where he spent two seasons as the TCU offensive coordinator before returning to UNM in January 2000.
Dodd was a member of coaching staffs at New Mexico and TCU that produced four-straight winning seasons from 1996-99 and participated in three consecutive bowl games (1997-99).
During his time in Albuquerque, UNM’s offensive production not only improved but Dodd mentored several athletes who were recognized on a national level. Tailback DonTrell Moore became the sixth player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. Moore would go on to become MWC Player of the Year, while former quarterback Graham Leigh was named WAC Mountain Division Offensive Player of the Year.
Dodd began his coaching career in the Southern California high school ranks in 1980, before leaving to become an assistant at Butler (Kan.) Community College. He served as head coach his final two seasons, and helped lead Butler to three Jayhawk Community College Conference titles.
A native of San Clemente, Calif., Dodd is a 1978 graduate of Drake University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in education. He set three school passing records as the Bulldogs quarterback, and was the 1977 co-captain.
Dodd, and his wife, Dayona, have a daughter, Anne, and a son, Bobby, and three grandchildren.
Â
Â
