Tight Ends

Dave McMichael is in his eighth season on the Husky coaching staff after joining the program in February, 2001. He is a 34-year veteran of the coaching profession and is UConn’s tight ends coach after also coaching offensive tackles for his first five years at UConn, and serving as the Huskies’ special teams coordinator from 2001-04.

His time at UConn has been marked by a dramatic rise in offensive totals, while the special teams steadily improved as the team’s talent pool deepened. All-BIG EAST pick Ryan Krug developed into an NFL prospect under McMichael, anchoring an offensive line that yielded just 10 sacks in 2003, the third fewest in the nation. Tight End Dan Murray earned All-BIG EAST recognition in 2005 and the Huskies have several talented young players at that position now.

Steve Brouse caught 26 passes, four of which were for touchdowns, in 2007 while his steadily improved blocking ability helped UConn to the 2007 BIG EAST Championship.

Prior to 2001, McMichael spent the previous 18 seasons as an assistant coach at West Virginia under head coach Don Nehlen. McMichael coached the offensive tackles and tight ends for his entire tenure in Morgantown. While at West Virginia, the Mountaineers played in 11 bowl games and finished ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 six times. He was a coach for two WVU teams that played for the national championship (1988 and 1993), finishing both campaigns with an 11-1 record. The Mountaineers also captured the 1993 BIG EAST Championship during his tenure, advancing to the Sugar Bowl after an undefeated regular season. West Virginia won at least seven games a total of 11 times in his 18 seasons in Morgantown.

McMichael has directly coached 11 NFL signees, including UConn’s Tommy Collins (Green Bay) and Ryan Krug (New England). He has had seven players who were drafted by NFL teams, including first round selections Brian Jozwiak (Kansas City — 1986) and Anthony Becht (New York Jets — 2000). He has recruited a total of 14 eventual NFL players, including 11 draftees. He has also worked with five All-Americans, four at tackle and one at tight end.

McMichael went to West Virginia after spending three seasons (1980-82) as defensive line coach at Southern Illinois. At SIU, McMichael helped develop and recruit a core of players that would go 10-1 en route to winning the 1983 Division I-AA Championship. He previously served three seasons (1977-79) as the offensive line coach at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, and one year as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green, his alma mater.

McMichael was a three-year letterwinner on the offensive line at Bowling Green for coach Don Nehlen. The Falcons went 19-10-1 over his final three seasons, including two of the school’s biggest victories; wins over Purdue and Syracuse. He received his bachelor’s degree in marketing research from Bowling Green in 1974 and his master’s degree in physical education at Bowling Green in 1977.

McMichael is a native of Kettering, Ohio, and was inducted into the Fairmont (Ohio) High School Hall of Fame in 1999 as a charter member. He is married to the former Karen Alexander and the couple resides in Coventry, Conn. with their eight-year-old son, John David.