Quarles announces coaching staff changes

Published 4:47 pm Wednesday, February 22, 2023

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University football head coach George Quarles announced several coaching changes on Wednesday.

Quarles announced the hiring of four new assistant coaches, along with four changes within his staff. All of the changes are listed below.

Dallas Dickey – Wide Receivers

Kirk Garner – Running Backs

Austin Gatewood – Outside Linebackers

Jay Guillermo – Offensive Line

Dwight Evans – Defensive Line

Dylan Lewellyn – Inside Linebackers / Special Teams Coordinator

Logan Marchi – Tight Ends / Recruiting Coordinator

Price Partrick – Quarterbacks / Pass Game Coordinator

“We are excited about the new additions to our staff,” said Quarles. “They are great people, who bring new energy to our program.  We can’t wait to get started and get better every day.”

Dallas Dickey returns to Johnson City after spending the 2022 season as wide receivers coach at UT Martin.

Dickey spent four seasons as ETSU’s offensive quality control coach under head coach Randy Sanders. During his time with the Blue and Gold, the Bucs won two Southern Conference championships, while posting an overall record of 26-17 and an 18-12 conference mark.

In his one season with the Skyhawks, Dickey helped coach UT Martin to an overall record of 7-4 and a perfect 5-0 mark in conference play, resulting in its second straight Ohio Valley Conference title. The Skyhawks finished the season ranked No. 25 in the Stats Perform Poll, while UT Martin was ranked as high as No. 14 in both national polls during the 2022 campaign.

Last season, UT Martin ranked third in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense (34.7 and total offense (442.7) and second in passing offense (269.5). Dickey coached Colton Dowell to all-OVC honors as he ranked ninth among FCS players in receiving yards per game (94.2), 13th in receiving yards (1,036) and 19th in receptions per game (6.1).

For the 2022 season, the Skyhawks’ receivers totaled 236 receptions for 2,965 yards and 18 touchdowns. UT Martin’s receiving corps had six games with over 250 yards, four over 300 and a season-high 463 receiving yards against Murray State. Dowell went over 100 receiving yards in six games, while hauling in at least one touchdown in six contests.

Dickey began his coaching career at his alma mater, West Georgia, where he was a graduate assistant. He helped coach five players to spots on NFL Mini Camps, two all-Americans, six all-conference players – the league’s Offensive Player of the Year – and four all-region selections.

As a player, Dickey was a quarterback for the Wolves where he played in 34 games from 2012-15. Dickey set school records in total yards (7,930), total plays (1,256), rushing yards (1,988), touchdowns (71), rushing touchdowns for a quarterback (20) and career wins (33). Dickey also ranked third in passing yards (5,942).

Dickey, who earned all-American and all-conference accolades, led West Georgia to back-to-back NCAA Division II Super Region titles and trips to the national semifinals. Dickey also excelled in the classroom as he was a three-time all-academic selection.

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Kirk Garner has spent the last two seasons at Vanderbilt where he served as an offensive quality control assistant.

Prior to Vanderbilt, Garner spent three seasons at Virginia as a graduate assistant where he worked with the defensive backs. In his three seasons as Virginia, the Cavaliers’ defensive backs accounted for 25 of the team’s 35 interceptions, including Joey Blount finishing his career with nine interceptions en route to becoming an all-ACC selection. Blount was signed by the Seattle Seahawks where he played in 11 games during the 2022 season.

Virginia went to a pair of bowl games during Garner’s time as a graduate assistant on staff. The Cavaliers shutout South Carolina 28-0 in the 2018 Belk Bowl and then played Florida in the 2019 Orange Bowl after Virginia won the ACC Coastal division with a 6-2 record.

Garner played in 32 games at Virginia where he was a four-year letterwinner for the Cavaliers. Garner totaled 22 tackles and one tackle for loss in his career at Virginia, which was cut short with a season-ending injury in 2017. Following the injury, Garner moved into a student-coach position for the remainder of the 2017 campaign where the Cavaliers reached the Military Bowl.

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Austin Gatewood is back in the Blue and Gold after spending the last four seasons at Vanderbilt.

During his time in Nashville, Gatewood started as a football operations intern before being elevated to a defensive quality coach.

As a linebacker for the Bucs, Gatewood was part of the inaugural class that returned football in 2015. For his career, Gatewood played in 44 of the 45 games for the Blue and Gold, totaling 169 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions.

Gatewood played an integral role in the Bucs’ 2018 season where ETSU won the Southern Conference title and made its first FCS Playoff appearance since 1996. Gatewood was a four-time SoCon Honor Roll member and three-time SoCon all-academic team selection.

Gatewood was a first team all-state selection his junior and senior seasons at East Hamilton High School.

He received his undergraduate degree in physical education from ETSU in 2018 and is enrolled in the liberal arts and sciences graduate program at Vanderbilt.

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Jay Guillermo, a highly touted offensive lineman from Clemson, comes to ETSU after spending the 2022 season at the University of Virginia as an offensive graduate assistant.

Along with the stop at Virginia, Guillermo spent two seasons as the tight ends coach at Western Carolina (2020-21) and one year as an offensive graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2019. Guillermo began his coaching career at Burns High were he was the offensive line coach.

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Guillermo was a four-year offensive lineman at Clemson where he helped lead the Tigers to the 2016 National Championship. Guillermo was a captain the last two seasons for Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers.

During his playing career, Guillermo earned four ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week and two All-ACC honors, playing as center of the Tigers’ offensive line. Guillermo played in two College Football Playoff national title games, while he was named to the watch list for the 2016 Dave Rimington Award – given each year to the top center in college football.

Guillermo worked out for both the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans NFL rookie minicamps after graduating from Clemson. He later signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in May 2017 and announced his retirement from football in summer of 2017.

Guillermo played for Coach Quarles at Maryville High School where he was part of two Tennessee state championship titles. Guillermo played for the Rebels for two seasons after transferring from Burns High in Lawndale, N.C. During his time at Maryville, Guillermo was named 2011 Tennessee Lineman “Mr. Football.”