A veteran assistant coach with title-winning accomplishments as a college coordinator and position coach as well as NFL playing experience, Lawrence Dawsey was hired to coach App State's receivers in January 2022.
The 2024 team had a pair of All-Sun Belt performers at receiver in first-team pick Kaedin Robinson and third-team pick Makai Jackson.
Robinson ranked 10th nationally and No. 2 in the Sun Belt Conference at 93.3 receiving yards per game during the regular season, before suffering a season-ending injury to end a year with 53 catches for 840 yards. Jackson finished season with back-to-back games of 150-plus receiving yards to end the year with 46 catches for 745 yards and five touchdowns.
He completed his second season in Boone in 2023, when App State won nine games and captured a Sun Belt East Division title.
Five different receivers for App State recorded a game in the regular season with at least 93 yards and one touchdown during a year in which Robinson posted team highs for catches (67), receiving yards (905) and receiving touchdowns (10). Christan Horn (15.7), Jackson (15.5) and Dalton Stroman (19.5) all averaged more than 15 yards per catch while making at least 20 grabs apiece.
In his first season with the Mountaineers, Dawsey helped a young group of receivers mesh well with veteran quarterback Chase Brice, with 11 players catching a pass in the opening game against North Carolina. Two new starters, followed by another newcomer, led the team in catches.
Stroman’s Hail Mary tip to Horn contributed to a game-ending, 53-yard touchdown catch to dramatically beat Troy on the same day ESPN’s College GameDay aired from Boone.
Dawsey, a two-time All-America receiver at Florida State and an NFL Rookie of the Year, has learned from some of the biggest names in college football during his coaching career, including Bobby Bowden, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. He was FSU’s receivers coach and passing game coordinator when the Seminoles, led by Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston (QB) and first-round NFL draft pick Kelvin Benjamin (WR), won the national championship in 2013.
After coaching receivers at Florida State for 11 seasons from 2007-17 — he served as the Seminoles’ co-offensive coordinator his final five seasons there — Dawsey worked with the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship in 2018 and 2019 and spent the next two seasons as an offensive analyst at Texas A&M.
The Aggies went 8-4 in the 2021 regular season and 9-1 with a 41-27 victory in the Orange Bowl during the 2020 season.
Dawsey also worked with a first-round draft pick at receiver (Michael Clayton) and won a national title as a graduate assistant on Saban’s LSU staff that included Fisher in 2003, then spent the next three seasons as a full-time assistant at USF.
In his last 15 seasons on a college staff before arriving in Boone, Dawsey was with teams that went 10-4 in bowl games — Texas A&M didn’t play its bowl game in 2021. The Cure Bowl victory improved his record to 11-4 in bowl games at the collegiate level.
Dawsey is regarded as one of the nation’s best recruiters, having been named a Top 25 national recruiter and Top 10 ACC recruiter by Rivals in 2011, 2012 and 2015. He was tabbed the 2011 ACC Recruiter of the Year by SI.com and has also been recognized as one of the nation’s best by 247Sports and ESPN.com. He helped FSU attract a top-five recruiting class in six of seven years from 2011-17.
Dawsey’s four seasons as an FSU wide receiver from 1987-90 corresponded with the first four 10-win, top-five poll finishes by the program, as he completed his college career with 2,129 career receiving yards and 20 career touchdown catches.
A third-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dawsey totaled 240 catches for 3,271 yards and six touchdowns in seven NFL seasons, with 55 catches for 818 yards and three touchdowns during his Rookie of the Year campaign with Tampa Bay in 1991. He also played for the New York Giants (1996), Miami Dolphins (1997) and New Orleans Saints (1999).
A native of Dothan, Ala., Dawsey graduated from Florida State with a bachelor of arts in social science and economics.
Dawsey's stepdaughter, Dominique Arce, is a physician. He and his wife, Chantal – who is a registered nurse – have a son, Lawrence Jr., who is now a lawyer after finishing law school at Boston College.
DAWSEY AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
1998: Tampa Catholic High (Assistant coach)
2002: Blake High (Assistant coach)
2003: LSU (Graduate assistant)
2004-06: USF (Wide receivers)
2007-09: Florida State (Wide receivers)
2010-12: Florida State (Passing game coordinator/Wide receivers)
2013-17: Florida State (Co-Offensive coordinator/Wide receivers)
2020-21: Texas A&M (Offensive analyst)
2022-24: App State (Wide receivers)
Playing Experience
1987-90: Florida State (Wide Receiver)
1991-95: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Wide Receiver)
1996: New York Giants (Wide Receiver)
1997: Miami Dolphins (Wide Receiver)
1999: New Orleans Saints (Wide Receiver)
Alma Mater: Florida State, 1991
Hometown: Dothan, Ala.
Birthdate: November 16, 1967
Wife: Chantal
Son: Lawrence Jr.
Stepdaughter: Dominique Arce
Twitter: @lawrencedawsey
Bowl Games Coached
2003: BCS National Championship (LSU won)
2005: Meineke Car Care Bowl (USF lost)
2006: PapaJohns.com Bowl (USF won)
2007: Music City Bowl (FSU lost)
2008: Champs Sports Bowl (FSU won)
2009: Gator Bowl (FSU won)
2010: Chick-fil-A Bowl (FSU won)
2011: Champs Sports Bowl (FSU won)
2012: Orange Bowl (FSU won)
2013: BCS National Championship (FSU won)
2014: Rose Bowl (FSU lost)
2015: Peach Bowl (FSU lost)
2016: Orange Bowl (FSU won)
2017: Independence Bowl (FSU won)
2020: Orange Bowl (Texas A&M won)
2021: Gator Bowl (Texas A&M DNP)
2023: Cure Bowl (App State won)
