Offensive, Defensive Coordinators Hired for Football

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth head football coach Buddy Teevens announced the hiring of his coordinators today, each of whom have at least 25 years of collegiate coaching experience. Jim Pry, recently of the University of Illinois, and Don Dobes, who spent the past 16 seasons at Princeton, have been chosen to be the offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively.

“I am very excited to have two individuals with such a wealth of college coaching experience on their respective sides of the football joining my staff,” commented Coach Teevens. “I've known Jim for a number of years, and he has proven himself to have a very innovative offensive mind while being exposed to a multitude of offensive schemes and packages. Don, with his knowledge and experience in the Ivy League, has a keen understanding of what it takes to be successful in this conference. Both will bring terrific energy and enthusiasm to our program, and their personalities will mesh very well with both the staff and the student-athletes.”

Pry has been a college coach for 33 years, and for the past four seasons, Pry was an assistant coach for Ron Zook at Illinois, coaching the receivers and the slots. Under his tutelage, Regis Benn garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Year and second-team Freshman All-America honors before being named a fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele Magazine while ranking among the top 20 nationally in receiving yards per game as a sophomore. The Illini participated in the Rose Bowl in Pry's second season with the team as well.

Pry spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Akron, helping the school to a MAC Championship and a spot in the Motor City Bowl. He had one quarterback, Charlie Frye, drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Browns after finishing his career 11th on the NCAA total offense chart and 16th for career passing, and another, Luke Getsy, that ranked 22nd in the NCAA FBS in total offense and 14th in passing offense. In 2005 Pry orchestrated the Zips offense to a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver, making Akron just the 31st team in NCAA FBS history to possess three players with those statistical milestones.

Before taking the job at Akron, Pry served as the quarterbacks coach for one season (2001) at Duke before being promoted to the offensive coordinator for the 2002 and '03 seasons. In his final season with the Blue Devils, Chris Douglas earned first-team All-ACC honors after becoming just the fourth back in Duke history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Other stops for Pry as an offensive coordinator include 11 seasons (1980-90) at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, one season at the University of Buffalo, and four years at VMI. His East Stroudsburg offense averaged at least 25 points per game in 10 of his 11 seasons and led the NCAA Division II in total offense and passing offense in 1996. With his 1991 high-octane offense, the Warriors earned a place in the Division II playoffs.

In his first season with the Keydets, VMI set 13 school offensive records and 1 NCAA record. All told in his four seasons in Lexington, Va., VMI set 27 school offensive records.

Pry joined the West Liberty State program in 1981 as the offensive coordinator while specifically coaching the quarterbacks and receivers, then was promoted to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the next three years. Before serving as the Lewis County High School head coach for four years (1977-80), Pry was the offensive and defensive coordinator at West Virginia Tech for two years.

A native of Altoona, Pa., Pry got his start in coaching at his alma mater, Marshall University, as a graduate assistant from 1973-74. Pry graduated from Marshall with a degree in physical education in 1974, then earned his master's degree from the school in the same field in 1975.

Pry and his wife, Kathy, have three adult sons, Brent — the newly appointed defensive coordinator at Georgia Southern — Nathan and Jon.

“One of the things that interests me at Dartmouth is the challenge to help turn the fortunes around for the program,” Pry stated. “I can't wait to get on campus to learn about our personnel and the offense, and figure out what I can implement from my experiences to help Dartmouth succeed.”

Dobes is a veteran of the Ivy League with 21 years as a coach in the league, plus a total of 29 seasons as a college coach. The past 16 years, he was an assistant at Princeton as the linebackers coach, adding the responsibility of run defense coordinator in 2000. Dobes also worked with the punt block/return team and the PAT/field goal blocking unit, and his 2004 and '05 punt return team led the Ivy League in return average. He helped the Tigers to two Ivy championships during his tenure, in 1995 and 2006, and last year coached the fifth-leading tackler in the FCS. That 1995 squad also led the nation in turnover margin. A total of 26 of his linebackers earned All-Ivy recognition.

Prior to his arrival at Princeton, Dobes spent a season as the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., coaching the inside linebackers. In that lone season with the Profs, Dobes helped them reach the 1993 Division II championship game.

Dobes was the offensive coordinator at Temple University for four years, including in 1990 when the Owls were the most improved team in Division I-A with a 7-4 record, their best mark in 11 years. He coached four NFL players and four All-Big East players during his tenure. Dobes served as the offensive coordinator at Rice University for three years (1986-88) as well.

His coaching career began at Penn in 1981, spending his first three years as the head freshman coach while compiling a 15-3 record. In 1984, Dobes became the inside linebacker coach, then the offensive line and tight ends coach in his final year with the Quakers in 1985.

A 1979 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan with a degree in physical education, Dobes began his collegiate playing career at Northern Michigan where he was a member of the 1975 Division II national championship squad. At Illinois Wesleyan, he was a two-time letterwinner as well as an all-conference and academic all-state honoree. Dobes earned his master's in education from DePauw in 1983.

Dobes has four children — Stefanie, a 2007 graduate of Princeton; Russell, a senior at Burlington County College; Kevin, a rising senior defensive back at Princeton, and Trent, a high school senior.

“I am extremely excited to become a part of one of the historic football programs in the country, and work with Coach Teevens and his staff,” Dobes said. “From what I saw on the field this year, the younger classes were exceptional and gained confidence every week they stepped on the field. With this strong corps to build around, we have a great chance to be really good down the road by combining some of the things that have been done here with what I've been doing.”