No touchdowns during a 10-quarter stretch.
There were a lot of forgettable statistics during the SFA Lumberjacks' 0-11 campaign last season.
But no touchdowns during a 10-quarter stretch is one fact that head coach J.C. Harper can't get past.
When Harper began restructuring his coaching staff, a priority was finding a new offensive coordinator, a cutting-edge guy who understands the ins and outs of the passing game, an offense with a reputation of putting pressure on defenses, developing a flow and putting points on the scoreboard.
Harper's candidate list was relatively short, consisting of a handful of guys the coach interviewed on the phone or brought in for visits.
The standout was 30-year-old Shannon Dawson, who fit Harper's criteria in that he played, served as an assistant coach and was the coordinator for passing offenses.
"I wanted someone who could get us to establish a rhythm on offense,"
the coach said. "I liked his attitude, his persona and his confidence."
Perhaps more than anything else, Harper was sold on a former high school and college quarterback who had spent several seasons coaching for programs that were effective at moving the football and closing the deal.
"I want to score,"
Harper said.
A wishbone quarterback at Silliman High School in Clinton, La., Dawson guided his team to three straight appearances in the state semifinals.
He spent two seasons at Mississippi College, where he was a quarterback for a passing offense, and two more at Wingate University in North Carolina, where he was redshirted during a season in which Wingate lost a 73-11 decision to SFA at Homer Bryce Stadium.
Dawson was the team's quarterback his junior year and caught 63 passes for more than 1,000 yards with nine scores as a senior wide receiver.
Like many coaches starting out, he got his first chance at his alma mater, Wingate, before moving to Hammond, La., where he spent two seasons at Southeastern Louisiana under coach Hal Mumme, a passing-game innovator who had a great deal of success at Kentucky before taking over an SLU program that was brought back from the dead.
Dawson left SLU with Mumme, when Mumme accepted the top position at New Mexico State.
His first coordinator job was at Millsaps College, a Division III school in Mississippi.
A 1-9 team the year before his arrival, Dawson made a name for himself at Millsaps, directing an offense that averaged close to 36 points and compiled more than 8,000 yards in his two seasons there. While there were more highs and lows, one painful play came when Trinity lateralled 15 times on the final play to defeat Millsaps.
"During the middle of the play, we have fireworks going off, our crowd thought the game was over, and 15 or 20 seconds later, we lose the conference championship,"
Dawson said in a question and answer session on SFA's web site.
More often than not, Millsaps had more points than its opponent during Dawson's two seasons. Millsaps conference-title season his first year there was the school's first in 33 years
One of Harper's first phone calls on his hunt for an offensive coordinator was to Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, who had coached with Harper's father at Clemson.
McNeill knew Dawson through Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, who had coached with Mumme.
Dawson also has a history with Dana Holgerson, currently the University of Houston's offensive coordinator, dating back to Wingate.
While he was pleased with what Millsaps accomplished during his two seasons there, he was all ears when Harper called out of the blue to inquire about his coaching history.
He had been to SFA before, for that one game when he was a redshirt at Wingate, and to watch his cousin — former SFA running back Taylor Bunch — play during his Lumberjack tenure.
"I'm single, so I can go anywhere in a day,"
Dawson said. "I want to continue to go up in the profession."
Surprisingly enough, SFA's new passing offense will excel because of its simplicity, Dawson said.
The basic set will be one running back lined up behind the quarterback, five offensive lineman and four wide receivers.
Dawson said the players will have to learn only about eight formations and 15 to 20 plays.
He said he is not a coordinator who gets overly concerned with what the defense is doing — instead focusing on the mechanics of the offense.
While the quarterback will have the freedom to check out of a play and into another, it won't be confusing, because the players will have practiced it, leading up to the games.
What's the job of the offensive line?
"To stay between the defense and the quarterback,"
Dawson said. "They have to be good athletes and to be able to move. They have to buy us some time."
The quarterback?
"Know where to go with the ball and put it there on time,"
Dawson said. "Show confidence running the offense."
The running back?
"It's an important position,"
Dawson said. "We'll run the ball 15 times and catch another five or 10 out of the backfield. The running backs will touch the ball 25 to 30 times a game."
And finally, the receivers.
"In all of our routes, run to grass,"
Dawson said. "Don't run to where there are guys in grass. The receivers will learn where they fit into the offense."
If Dawson is under pressure as the new offensive coordinator for a team that scored a meager 16 points per game last season, he doesn't show it.
He said he has developed a gambler's attitude by being in apprenticeship roles for coaches like Mumme, who he called a "riverboat gambler."
"We have to have the confidence that we can do anything,"
Dawson said. "We may have to take as many chances as possible to win a football game."
"You can't be under pressure or play stressed-out. We've got to be relaxed and just play the next play. That's what we have to get across to these kids."
