Jan 28, 2016 2 min read

Gary Dunn, an assistant coach at Duquesne University, is expected to be named head football coach at California University at a Friday press conference.

Cal has been searching for a head coach since Mike Kellar resigned last month to take the same position at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.

Dunn has been the offensive coordinator at Duquesne University for the past five seasons under Jerry Schmitt. The Dukes won the Northeast Conference title and qualified for the FCS playoffs this fall, where they lost to William & Mary, 52-49. Under Dunn’s guidance, Duquesne’s offense led the NEC in scoring offense (30.7 points per game), passing offense (244.8 yards per game) and rushing offense (174.2 ypg) this season.

He also was the offensive coordinator at Morehead State for 11 seasons. At his first two seasons at Morehead State, the Eagles had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1970-71 seasons.

Dunn is a graduate of Seton-La Salle High School, where he played under former Dukes head coach Greg Gattuso. Dunn was recruited to Cal, where he played under Jeff Petrucci then Kevin Donley. As a Vulcan, he was a four-year starter at center and made first team on the PSAC All-Conference Football Team.

He began his coaching career at Cal as a student assistant and finished as a graduate assistant in 1997.

Kellar, 44, resigned as the Vulcans coach with six months left on his contract to take over Lenoir-Rhyne, also a Division II school, that competes in the South Atlantic Conference. The Bears’ previous head coach, Ian Shields, resigned at the end of the season and took a coaching position at Jacksonville University. In four seasons as Cal’s head coach, Kellar amassed a 31-12 record, the third best winning percentage in the program’s history.