THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290672
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA McLEROY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 36 lines
Alan Dawson, a coach of perennial Division III tournament teams, was named head soccer coach at Old Dominion University Tuesday.
Dawson has coached two Division III programs to the national championship match. He is no stranger to the postseason, tallying six appearances in nine seasons as a coach and playing for the 1980 Division II champion Lock Haven University.
He overtakes a struggling Old Dominion program. After years at the top of the Colonial Athletic Conference, the Monarchs have faltered the past two seasons, finishing 3-17 this season.
Dawson will be the third coach in three seasons. He replaces Bob Warming who departed last month to accept another coaching position. As with Warming, Dawson inherits a program with lots of young talent, but has limited time to recruit and must rake through the remains of the 1997 recruiting class.
However, Dawson is confident he can sift through the country's high school athletes and snag a few key players.
``It's certainly not finished at this point,'' he said of recruiting. ``We're behind. Whether we can catch up and get some kids in here . . . I feel we can bring some good players in at the last minute. It's my turn to go out there and shake the bushes.
``I'm here to get a job done. Whatever it takes to get that done, I'll do it.''
Dawson is no stranger to building programs. He was the assistant coach at the University of North Carolina last season, but spent the previous nine years leading Division III powerhouse Methodist College to a 129-30-10 record. Methodist advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament six consecutive times, losing in the 1995 championship match.
At this point, Dawson is planning to make no changes.