Tony Oshey Dews (born June 6, 1973) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the tight ends coach for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He has coached at nine different colleges and has coached every offensive and defensive position except quarterback. He played college football at

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

College career

Tony Dews played college football as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

under head coach

Sam Rutigliano Sam William Rutigliano (born July 1, 1931) is a former American football coach and current television football analyst for WEWS, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland. He served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football Leagu ...

. He played from 1992 to 1995, and was the team's leading receiver among tight ends his final two years. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1996.

Coaching career

Early career

Dews coached the offensive line at Bainbridge High School in

Bainbridge, Georgia Bainbridge is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, Decatur County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is the county seat of Decatur County. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,468. Hi ...

in 1997.

College coaching

Dews coached the defensive line for

Millersville University Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

in 1998. He then became a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

for

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

in 1999, engaging with the offensive line and defensive backs. Dews helped the team win the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

in 2000. He then graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from West Virginia in 2001. Upon graduating, Dews coached the offensive line for

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (commonly known as PennWest California) is a public university campus in California, Pennsylvania and one of three campuses of Pennsylvania Western University, part of the Pennsylvania State System o ...

in 2002 and defensive line at Holy Cross in 2003. He moved on to

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

and coached the tight ends and special teams from 2004 to 2005. He then became the linebackers and special teams coach for

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

in 2006. Dews returned to West Virginia in 2007 to coach wide receivers, helping them to win the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

. From 2008 to 2010, Dews coached wide receivers and was the punt team coordinator for

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 2011, he coached tight ends and was the recruiting coordinator for Pitt. From 2012 to 2016, Dew was the wide receivers coach for

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, helping them reach four bowl games and winning three. In 2017, Dews once again returned to West Virginia, this time as the running backs coach. The team reached the

Heart of Dallas Bowl The First Responder Bowl is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The bowl was first held on January 1, 2011, and since 2014 has been contested in late December. The bowl was held at the Cott ...

, losing to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

On February 6, 2018, Dews was hired as the running backs coach for the

under head coach

Mike Vrabel Michael George Vrabel (; born August 14, 1975) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he earned con ...

. In the 2018 season, running back

Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...

had career highs at the time for rushing yards (1,059), rushing touchdowns (12), and average yards per run (4.9). It was also Henry's first career 1,000 yard season. In Week 13 of the 2019 season, Henry surpassed the 1,000 yard mark for the second consecutive season. Henry finished the 2019 season with another career year, leading the NFL in rushing yards with 1,540 and tying for the most rushing touchdowns with 16.

Personal life

Dews and his wife, Tamika, have four daughters, Savannah, Sierra, Sydney, and Sienna.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioArizona Wildcats bio West Virginia Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dews, Tony 1973 births Tennessee Titans coaches Liberty University alumni Sportspeople from Virginia People from Clifton, Virginia Living people Liberty Flames football players West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches Arizona Wildcats football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches UNLV Rebels football Central Michigan Chippewas football Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches California Vulcans football coaches Place of birth missing (living people)