Dennis Creehan New Head Coach at WV Wesleyan

West Virginia Wesleyan has announced the appointment of Dennis W. Creehan as its 21st new head football coach. Prior to joining Wesleyan, Creehan served as the defensive coordinator of the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the Canadian Football League.

“Denny brings with him an endless amount of enthusiasm and a wealth of experience including two successful stints as a Division II head coach,” said Wesleyan Director of Athletics Ken Tyler. “He is a nationally known coach who is both a man of character and discipline. He is excited and ready to take on challenges and is prepared to win now.”

In 1975, Creehan served as offensive coordinator at Carnegie-Mellon University (D-III) before joining the staff at his alma mater, Edinboro University in 1976 as defensive coordinator. In 1979, he took over as head coach, posting a 39-20-1 record in six seasons while capturing league titles in 1982 and 1984.

He left Edinboro for the Canadian Football League in 1985 as a special teams coach with the Edmonton Eskimos, a position he held for two seasons and again in 1991. The Eskimos won the Western Division Championship in 1986. Between stints with the Eskimos, Creehan served two seasons as head coach of San Francisco State (D-II) and three seasons as special teams/linebacker coach at California.

In 1992, he became the head coach at the University of South Dakota where he inherited a one-win program and improved to an 8-3 season in four years. He was named the 1993 North Central Conference Coach of the Year. At South Dakota, he coached future New England Patriots and three-time Super Bowl winner Matt Chatham.

Creehan was also a member of several NCAA Division I staffs including stints at Army, Duke, Rutgers, and Arkansas State. As a defensive coordinator at Rutgers, a special teams coach at Duke, and linebacker coach at California, he coached future NFL players Wesley Robertson (Kansas City Chiefs), Dax Strohmeyer (NY Jets), Ryan Fowler (Tennessee Titans), and Ken Harvey (Phoenix Cardinals). Creehan spent four seasons from 2004-2007 as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator of the Calgary Stampeders installing an innovative 3-4 defensive scheme.

A high school graduate of Bethel Park in Western Pennsylvania, he was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2000 and was inducted into Edinboro University’s Hall of Fame in 2001. He is the author of five books and several published articles. He and his wife, Linda, have two sons, Kevin and Casey. “Linda and I are delighted to be coming to Wesleyan,” said Creehan. “This is a great situation for our families. I have always enjoyed coaching at institutions with strong academic reputations such as Wesleyan. I am anxious to begin building a coaching staff, meet one-on-one with current players, and begin recruiting student athletes to Wesleyan.”

Creehan plans to focus his recruiting efforts on West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia. “Denny is a bright, articulate, and an innovative coach,” said Terry Shea, current assistant football coach for the St. Louis Rams and former head coach at San Jose State and Rutgers University. “He will be a perfect fit for Wesleyan.”

“Coach Creehan is a first-class coach and gentleman,” added Charlie Taaffe, former head coach of the CFL Hamilton Tiger Cats and Division I-AA Citadel. “He commands respect and is always prepared.”

“Denny is a successful, driven, organized winner,” stated Bruce Baumgartner, current director of athletics at Edinboro University and four-time Olympic wrestling medal winner. Creehan replaces long-time Wesleyan coach

Bill Struble who stepped down after coaching at the United Methodist College for 26 years.