DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University football coach
Mike Dunlevy is happy to announce that former George Washington High School head coach Dan Newell is joining his staff. Newell, who just finished his seventh season at GW, will coach Averett’s offensive line.
“He’s coached football for 20 years, so the experience and knowledge he brings to our program will be invaluable,” Dunlevy said.
From 2003-2009, Newell guided GW to a 48-29 record and three Western Valley District championships. He also took the Eagles to the playoffs five times, including consecutive appearances in the Northwest Region finals in 2007 and 2008. Last season, the Eagles finished 5-6 after advancing to the region playoffs.
However, the opportunity to grow professionally by joining Averett’s coaching staff and stay within his hometown community was too good to pass up, Newell said.
“It’s been a goal of mine professionally to coach at the college level, especially at the Division III level where I played at Hampden-Sydney College,” Newell said. “I’ve had opportunities in the past to pursue these types of job openings, but for one reason or another there’s always been obstacles or barricades in the way or family concerns like having to move. This particular opportunity kind of eliminated all of that.”
The 43-year-old Newell also acknowledged his desire to transition into the college coaching ranks while he was still young enough to be reacquainted with the college game because he feels his has a lot of time left in his coaching career.
“This opportunity had all of the right things in place for me and I really had no excuses for not following through on it,” he said. “I try to tell my kids that at some point when you face your goals and they become a reality, you have to be willing to take that leap of faith and have the confidence to know that it’s going to work out. Coach Dunlevy made all that work out for me and I couldn’t turn it down.”
Averett, which finished as the runner-up in the USA South Conference in 2009, will return two of its three all-conference offensive linemen that made the Cougars one of the top scoring offenses in the conference last season.
At GW, Newell developed offensive lines that made the Eagles one of the top rushing teams in the state. During his tenure, GW set its single-game rushing record three times. The program also produced its first single-season 2,000-yard rusher in 2008.
“Something GW has done a great job with is running the football.,” Dunlevy said. “For us to have the ability to run the ball better, we need to have a good offensive line. That is something he’ll bring to the table for us.”
Newell is no stranger to Division III football. The Danville native, who was a member of GW’s 1982 state championship team, played tight end at Division III Hampden-Sydney.
“Being able to make a long-term commitment to Coach Dunlevy and add some veteran experience to his staff is going to be beneficial to him,” Newell said. “It’s also going to be beneficial for me to be able to focus on something that I’ve always enjoyed doing. I bring different experiences from the places that I’ve been.”
Prior to taking the over the program in 2003 at GW, Newell gained coaching experience at several high schools throughout the state. After graduating from Hampden-Sydney in 1988, he began his coaching career at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, where he was an assistant for the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Newell left coaching to work for an environmental company in 1990 before earning his master’s degree in secondary science education from Virginia Tech in 1993.
In the fall of 1993, Newell returned to his alma mater, where he served as an assistant coach at GW for two seasons. The 1994 GW team finished as the state runner-up. Newell left to take the offensive coordinator position at Maury High School for the 1995 season before taking the head coaching job at Lake Taylor High School from 1996-98. He then worked as an assistant coach at Pulaski County from 1999-2002 before taking over GW’s program.
Newell lives in Danville with his wife, Sam, and three children, Kate, Mac and Faith.