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Getting to know new South Carolina assistant coach Dan Werner

Dan Werner started his new job at South Carolina last week.

There wasn’t a playbook for Dan Werner to turn to after his life was turned upside down that January day in 2009.

While on the road recruiting for Northwestern State, an FCS school in Natchitoches, La., where he’d just been hired as an offensive coordinator, Werner received a life-changing phone call from his 10-year-old daughter, Maya.

“There’s something wrong with Mommy,” Werner recalled Maya saying, during a 2012 interview with Bcs Football Rankings Wiki

Werner’s wife, Kim, with whom he also had a younger son with, died of an enlarged heart. She was 37.

Bruce Feldman, whose work can be found on FOX Sports, FS1 and Sports Illustrated, is also a New York Times best-selling author. His relationship with the South Carolina assistant coach dates back about 15 years, to when Werner was the quarterbacks coach at Miami in the early 2000s.

From 2001-05, Miami’s quarterbacks, which included Ken Dorsey and Brock Berlin, passed for over 14,500 yards with 114 touchdowns. Dorsey was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2001 and 2002. The Hurricanes’ win in the 2002 Rose Bowl made them BCS national champions.

Werner was also on staff in Coral Gables in the late 80s for two other national titles, working as a graduate assistant and volunteer assistant.

In 2006, Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron hired him as offensive coordinator. At the time, Feldman was working on his second book, Meat Market, so he was “around [Werner] a ton” in Oxford.

When Orgeron and his staff were fired after the 2007 season, Werner’s family stayed in Oxford. They still called it home in 2009 when Dan learned that he would have to raise Maya and Ian, who’d been diagnosed with autism, without Kim at his side.

“He’s been through a lot, probably more than most coaches I know,” Feldman said. “And, from the time he left Ole Miss the first time, when they all got fired about 10 years ago, I think his perspective had to change, because of the situation, not just with his wife passing away, but also with his son. … Really, for the first time, it wasn’t his career that was driving all of his decisions. It was his family.”

To keep his family in Oxford, Werner took a job coaching at North Delta School in Batesville, Miss., a small private school that had fewer than 400 students — not just high school students, but all grade levels, from kindergarten through 12th grade.

After a few years there, Hugh Freeze came calling, to bring Werner back to Ole Miss as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his second stint with the Rebels, Werner coached Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly to some of the most productive seasons in school history.

Wallace set Ole Miss career records total offensive yards (10,478), 300-yard passing games (11), completion percentage (63) and pass efficiency rating (140.8).

In 2015, Kelly led the SEC in passing yards (4,042), points responsible for (246) and total offense (4,542). Kelly accounted for a school-record 41 touchdowns and tied Eli Manning’s best Ole Miss single-season record of 31 touchdown throws.

Following his second departure from the program, Werner latched on at Alabama, where he served as an offensive analyst this past season.

“His experience with some of the [run-pass option] game that Ole Miss did, but also — he’d done a lot of advanced scouting for them, but I think getting back on the field and coaching Bcs Football Rankings Wiki ,” Feldman said. “He knew he had a decent situation there, but I think getting back on the field and coaching, working hands-on with the quarterback, I think that was really a big selling point for him.”

The offenses Werner ran at Miami and Ole Miss — the first time — looked a whole lot different than his second stop with the Rebels.

“I remember, after [Orgeron’s staff] got fired … [Werner] went to [see] Rich Rodriguez’s system at Michigan, he’d just gotten to Michigan and that quarterback run-game was pretty hot in college football,” Feldman said. “That wasn’t Dan’s background, but Dan went and spent some time around those guys, to try to learn about that.

“He has been proactive in trying to develop and pick up different things that maybe weren’t in the toolbox beforehand, from all the time — Miami was such a pro-style attack. I think he kind of adapted to that, somewhat. It’s a little different than what his roots are in.”

In 2015, Ole Miss set program records for scoring (531), touchdowns (68), total offense (6,731), passing yards (4,351), passing touchdowns (35), 50-plus point games (4) and games with more than 600 yards of offense (3).

The Rebels led the SEC and were top 10 nationally in scoring (40.8), total offense (517.8 yards/game) and passing (334.7 yards/game).

Less than a week ago, Werner officially began his new job at South Carolina, joining an offensive staff that’s led by 34-year-old Bryan McClendon, whose only experience as a coordinator was in the weeks leading up to the Gamecocks’ 26-19 Outback Bowl win over Michigan.

Described by Feldman as a “stabilizing personality,” Werner brings a good deal of experience that could help junior quarterback Jake Bentley take the next step in his career as the Gamecocks signal caller.

“He’s been around a lot of change and I think there’s an even-keel component that he’s a good teacher from that. He’s a smart guy,” Feldman said of Werner. “It’s just how he’s been able to manage everything around him, I think, is a good trait for him.

“I think, given his path and some of the stuff he’s been [through], I think he’s a good communicator. He’s had to be a good communicator in his life and has been through so much.

“The guys who will work with him and certainly Jake, I think they’ll see that he’s authentic. He’s not a flashy, Bcs Football Rankings Wiki , because he’s a very even guy who’s been through some unique challenges.”

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