Dan Werner Position: Quarterbacks

One of the brightest offensive minds in college football, Dan Werner enters his second season as the Hurricanes offensive coordinator and his fifth as quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami. This is also his eighth season on UM's coaching staff and his 23rd year of coaching. Werner already boasts impressive credentials as one of the foremost developers of college quarterbacks.

In his second stint as a UM assistant coach, Werner has been an integral part of the development of several of Miami's greatest quarterbacks including Gino Torretta, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, and Ken Dorsey.

The Miami passing game has continued to flourish under Werner's guidance. In 2001 and 2002, Dorsey posted totals impressive enough to win the 2001 Maxwell Award and placed high in voting for the Heisman Trophy both years. In 2004, he tutored Brock Berlin to a resurgence, as Berlin moved into the UM record book with single-season rankings of ninth in passing yards, seventh in touchdown passes and 10th in total offense.

Over the last four seasons, Hurricanes quarterbacks have thrown for more than 12,000 yards and 94 touchdowns under Warner, giving balance to an offensive philosophy predicated on equality between the run and the pass.

Werner, a former UM graduate assistant who also coached at a pair of Florida high schools during the 1980s, returned to Miami after spending the 2000 season as offensive coordinator at Murray State. The Tarpon Springs, Fla., native built the Murray State offense into one of the most potent on the NCAA Division I-AA level, as the team ranked 11th nationally in total offense (452 yards per game) and 13th nationally in passing yardage (276 yards per game).

Prior to his lone season at Murray State, Werner was an offensive consultant to Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville during the 1999 season. Before the job at Auburn, Werner was an assistant coach at James Madison University for four seasons from 1995-98. He began his tenure at JMU as assistant head coach/quarterback coach/passing game coordinator in 1995. In 1997 he was promoted to offensive coordinator/assistant head coach. From 1991-94 Werner coached at Louisiana Tech, where he was an assistant coach in charge of running backs and inside receivers. In 1993 he was promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterback coach.

Werner joined the coaching staff at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in the spring of 1990. At UNLV, Werner was an assistant coach in charge of quarterbacks. In the fall of 1990, Werner left the college game for one season to serve as offensive line coach at Miami's Southridge High School.

As a graduate assistant at Miami during the 1987-88 seasons, Werner worked with UM quarterbacks Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta during an era in which the Hurricanes went 23-1 and won the 1987 national championship. In 1989, he was a volunteer assistant coach working with the wide receivers on another Miami national championship team.

Werner began his college coaching career in 1986 as an assistant at Cornell University. Prior to going to Cornell, Werner coached five seasons on the high school level.

He began his coaching career as a college student, offering his services to local schools around Western Michigan University: Dowagiac Junior High, Portage Central High School and Kalamazoo Christian High School. His first full-time job came in 1983 at Tarpon Springs High School as the junior varsity defensive coordinator. In 1984-85, Werner was the offensive coordinator at Countryside High School in Clearwater.

Werner graduated from Western Michigan University with a bachelor of arts degree in education in 1983. A native of St. Louis, Mo., he attended Parkway Central High School. He and his wife, Kim, have two children, Maya (6), and Ian (1).

Personal Information:

Werner's Coaching Career

Bowl Games as a Coach (6)
2004 Peach Bowl
2004 Orange Bowl
2003 Fiesta Bowl
2002 Rose Bowl
1990 Sugar Bowl
1989 Orange Bowl
1988 Orange Bowl

Coaching Accomplishments