The Carolina Panthers just announced three moves to their coaching staff.

They’ve hired Ken Dorsey as quarterbacks coach, Jim Skipper as running backs coach and Al Holcomb as linebackers coach. Skipper previously spent nine seasons (2002 through 2010) with the Panthers and was with the Tennessee Titans the last two seasons. Holcomb spent the last four seasons with the New York Giants.

But the most significant hire might be Dorsey. He’ll be Cam Newton’s position coach.

Mike Shula was in that role the past two seasons. Shula was promoted to offensive coordinator after Rob Chudzinski left to become the head coach in Cleveland.

This will be Dorsey’s first job as an NFL assistant. He spent the last two seasons as a pro scout for the Panthers. Dorsey played quarterback for Cleveland and San Francisco for seven seasons and also played for Toronto in the Canadian Football League.


(espn.com)

If the Panthers are looking for continuity when it comes to their offense, then their smartest move came in filling the position of quarterbacks coach, vacated when Mike Shula was promoted to offensive coordinator, with Ken Dorsey.

It was Dorsey who worked with quarterback Cam Newton during the 2011 lockout, teaching Newton the Rob Chudzinski offense.

In fact, when the lockout ended and the Panthers hired Dorsey as an advance scout, the Panthers legitimately were nervous about potential allegations that Dorsey had been working directly on behalf of the Panthers during the lockout.

Regardless, it worked.  Newton was able to hit the ground sprinting for the Panthers, thanks in large part to the work of Ken Dorsey, who with Chris Weinke got Newton ready.  (Actually, Weinke was more involved in the lockout work with Newton than Dorsey.)

Newton’s ongoing development will hinge on the ability of Dorsey to do what he, along with Weinke, did two years ago in establishing a rapport with Newton and getting him ready to play.

In his second season, Newton didn’t seem to be as ready to do much of anything, especially early in the year.  And there have been lingering whispers of Newton not listening to coaches, and of a general lack of energy on offense with the team in 2012.  While Shula was part of that in 2012, Dorsey was part of the critical efforts to get Newton ready for one of the best rookie seasons for any quarterback in NFL history.


(profootballtalk.com)

The Panthers again are staying in-house to fill a coaching position.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera is expected to hire Ken Dorsey, one of the team's pro scouts, as his quarterbacks coach, a source with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.

Dorsey, 31, joined the scouting department two years ago after working with former Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke at IMG Academy, where they trained Cam Newton during the lockout before Newton's rookie season.

Dorsey is the winningest quarterback in University of Miami history, posting a 38-2 record and leading the Hurricanes to the 2001 national title. Dorsey, drafted in the seventh round by San Francisco in 2003, was 2-11 as a starter with the 49ers and Cleveland. He also played with Toronto in the CFL in 2010.

The Panthers promoted three assistants last week – offensive coordinator Mike Shula, receivers coach Ricky Proehl and special teams coordinator Richard Rodgers. They also re-hired running backs coach Jim Skipper, who was on John Fox's Panthers' staff for nine years before spending the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans.


(charlotte.com)

The Panthers have hired former NFL and University of Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey to be an advance scout, which will entail Dorsey attending the games of the team’s next opponent and reporting back on what he sees.  On the surface, it isn’t that big of a story.

Given that Dorsey previously worked for the IMG Madden Football Academy, which worked with Panthers quarterback Cam Newton after the draft and during the lockout, the decision to give Dorsey a job could be interpreted as a reward for Dorsey’s efforts to school Newton in the playbook of offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, whose relationship with Dorsey dates back to their mutual time at Miami.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that move was in the works before Newton chose IMG to help him get ready for his first NFL season.  We’re also told that Newton picked IMG via a connection other than Dorsey’s link to the Panthers.  Moreover, even though media reports have painted Dorsey as being directly involved in the tutelage of Newton, we’re told that former Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke took the lead, and that Dorsey assumed a lower profile, with Dorsey having only limited contact with Newton.

Still, despite the fact that the Panthers disclosed the situation to the NFL after Newton began working with IMG, there’s bound to be suspicion regarding the connection.  For now, it appears that any suspicion that Dorsey was working as a double agent and/or that he’s being repaid for helping the Panthers get Newton ready is unfounded.



(profootballtalk.com)

The Riverview High football team is preparing to unveil a new pro-style offense this season. Unfortunately, the architect of the new offense won’t be around to call the plays.

Ken Dorsey, the former University of Miami and NFL quarterback who joined the staff of new Riverview football coach Todd Johnson this past spring, is leaving for a coaching job in the NFL. Dorsey is still working with the Rams but will be leaving shortly for an opportunity to coach professional football.

“We knew this would come about sooner or later,” Johnson said. “We are just thrilled to death that we were able to work with him all the way through spring and have him install the offense, and really teach us the ins and outs.”

The offensive coordinator job will be turned over to Jeremy Taylor, who played at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, before graduating from USF and moving to Sarasota in 2000. He has been coaching at Riverview for the past decade and has two children.

“He is a real smart guy, a real Xs and Os coach,” Johnson said about Taylor. “He knows the offense great and will take over the play calling.”
Volunteer coach Torry Johnson will be added to the official staff.

Dorsey, who has yet to reveal the team he will join, installed the type of offense used in college and pro football during the spring and continues to work with the players.

“They have a real good grasp of the offense,” Johnson said about quarterback Devonte “Tater” Williams and the rest of the players. “They know what we are trying to accomplish. They can call plays in the huddle in the two minute situation and have a real good feel for what we are trying to do.”

Dorsey, who led the University of Miami to a national championship in college and played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns in the NFL, has been invaluable in installing the offense and working with the coaches and players.

Dorsey was drafted in the seventh round by the 49ers in 2003, starting three games in place of the injured Alex Smith in 2005. He was traded to the Cleveland Browns for Trent Dilfer in 2006. He played six games with the Browns as a backup before being released.

He also was on the roster of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League after briefly working with the Lakewood Ranch football team. He has recently worked with the football program at IMG Academies.

“He told me before spring that this was his dream and I knew that,” Johnson said about a job in professional football. “He was a bit hesitant to do the play-calling, because he knew anytime this could happen. I said, ‘Look, if we get the opportunity to work with you for a week, we will take it. We want you all the way in.’

“I am glad we did it that way. We learned so much from him, not only the players but the coaches as well. We were lucky to have him for as long as we did.”

The Rams open the football season Aug. 26 against Dunedin at the Ram Bowl in the fall classic. They open the regular season Sept. 2, at Palmetto.



(htpreps.com)

Former University of Miami running back Alonzo Highsmith was on the show on Monday morning. Highsmith is a scout for the world champion Green Bay Packers:

--Alonzo, I can't remember a team that had more injuries that won a Super Bowl championship. You guys... I don't know what the final count was of guys who went down that you lost for the season, but to be that beaten up, to have that many guys who were backups or on the practice squad make an impact on what you guys did and that run through the playoffs is just one of the best stories we have ever seen for a Super Bowl championship. Would you agree? "Oh, yeah, it was a tremendous story, but I think the thing that really had our team excited was the fact that every game we lost this year--we were 10-6--six of those games we lost we should have won. ... And the thing that helped us most probably was playing away from home, out of Lambeau Field, because our offense was more of a passing offense by the end of the year, so it allowed [quarterback] Aaron [Rodgers] to play indoors. It became like fast-break football, and that was to our advantage."

--Sam Shields, a former 'Cane, has to be one of the best stories from last year: "I think there's only a couple players on our defense who played more snaps than Sam Shields. I mean, he played six hundred and something snaps last year and he was a big part of our defense."

--Speaking of former Hurricanes, how would you rank the greatest of all time? "I'd have to put Ted Hendricks over [Ken] Dorsey."

--What are your thoughts on Al Golden and the UM program? "I'm ecstatic about Al Golden. I think he's brought the right state of mind back to the program. The thing I like about Al Golden... I call him a cross between Jimmy [Johnson] and Howard [Schnellenberger]. He's all about accountability. You're going to have to earn your keep on this football team. There's nothing given to anybody."

--One last thing, Alonzo. You're from the old school of like, 'Hey, Alonzo, just because your coming in here as a five-star linebacker/running back, we want to let you know you're going to have to earn it and you're going to have to wait your turn.' Today's guys, they want it like, 'I'm coming to your school because I heard everybody's gone and I have a chance a chance to start as a freshman.' It wasn't like that when you came in: "I've been writing a book for the last two years, and I should be finished with it in another year or so. And I've been interviewing coaches and talking to coaches and talking to people like yourself. The book will be called 'Entitled,' and it's just about today's athletes and how everybody feels like they're owed something. ... It's amazing to listen to young guys talk."


(sun-sentinel.com)

The transition of Ken Dorsey from player to coach was both gradual and inevitable, the prototypical tale of the brainiac quarterback running the game from the sideline instead of the huddle.

Dorsey, a former seventh-round pick of the 49ers and one of college football's most decorated winners at Miami of Florida, retired after spending the 2010 season with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Now Dorsey is the offensive coordinator of Riverview High in Sarasota, Fla., and is installing an offensive system for first-year head coach Todd Johnson, a former NFL safety. He also is quarterbacks coach at IMG Madden Football Academy in nearby Bradenton, working with athletes as young as 9 years old all the way up to Cam Newton, the No. 1 pick in this year's NFL draft.

"We get kids you are teaching the basics to, all the way up to those who are refining their game," said Dorsey, a Miramonte High graduate.

When pressed, Dorsey acknowledges that he would some day like to be the offensive coordinator at a major college or in the NFL, with his "dream job" returning to the Bay Area to run the offense at Cal.

After that?

"We'll see what happens," Dorsey said.

Dorsey, 30, is still at an age where could be in the prime of a successful NFL career, something he envisioned while leading the Hurricanes to a 38-2 record and victories in the Rose and Sugar bowls as a sophomore and junior.

Drafted in the seventh round by the 49ers in 2003, Dorsey spent three years with a once-proud franchise that was in a down cycle. Then he was traded to the Cleveland Browns for Trent Dilfer, joining a team looking for an identity and some gifted athletes.

The NFL is full of stories of quarterbacks short on arm strength and athleticism who find themselves in the right situation and flourish, most notably New England quarterback Tom Brady. As a sixth-round pick, Brady's reputation wasn't much different from Dorsey's.

Floyd Burnsed, Dorsey's coach at Miramonte, admittedly is biased but wonders how things could have been different with a coach and system like Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

"I think he could have been like a Tom Brady in the NFL had he been with the right team," said Burnsed, now the coach at Solano College. "When he was with the Niners, he told me once he got hit 21 straight times -- even when he was handing the ball off. You saw what he could do at Miami when he was surrounded by good players."

In five NFL seasons, Dorsey was 2-11 as a starter and completed 52.5 percent of his passes for 2,082 yards, eight touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His passer rating was 55.2.

So, yes, Dorsey has cast an admiring glance at Brady and the environment that helped make him a three-time Super Bowl champion bound for the Hall of Fame.

"There's a little bit of that ... a small amount," Dorsey said. "But at the same time, I'm proud of what I did. You play the cards you're dealt. No matter what system you're in, no matter the talent around you, you come in, work your butt off every day and you're the one that has to look in the mirror. I feel like I can do that."

Two things happened during Dorsey's professional career that he believes will pay dividends in the long run.

First, he got one season under 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy in 2005, the year before McCarthy landed the head coaching job in Green Bay and eventually ascended to coach of a Super Bowl champion.

"He's been a huge influence on me, and I know a lot of stuff I learned from him is exactly what I'm going to be teaching to the guys I'm coaching," Dorsey said.

After a difficult time in Cleveland, where Dorsey had little faith in the direction of the organization, he spent a final season in Toronto. He never played a regular-season game for the Argonauts, backing up Cleo Lemon, but he rediscovered his love for football.

"I was in offensive staff meetings, almost a player-coach without the title," Dorsey said. "It really started my transition into being a coach."
Jamie Elizondo, the Toronto quarterbacks coach, said Dorsey helped with running backs as well as the passing game.

"He's got the whole pedigree from who he's been around," Elizondo said. "He's been there and seen it. I joked that he'd be passing me by very quickly. I would expect he's going to have a very fast ascent up the coaching ranks."

Burnsed remembers Dorsey approaching situations like a coach in high school. Confronted with some confusing defensive packages one day by coordinator Paul Yriberri at Miramonte, Dorsey threw three interceptions in practice. He immediately marched Yriberri to the chalkboard after practice for a breakdown.

"I don't think he ever had another problem with the coverage," Burnsed said. "He was a kid that would make mistakes, ask questions to get the right answers and never make the same mistake again."

Burnsed thinks Dorsey's background makes him ideally suited to instruct ultra-talented youngsters on the nuances of the sport. Dorsey, after all, had to rely on fundamentals and study to succeed.

Elizondo thinks that is selling Dorsey short.

"To say he would be good with players with great physical gifts is to undervalue him," Elizondo said. "He's going to be great with whoever he works with."

Dorsey said he has to guard against being impatient with players "who don't put as much time in as I did.

"I had to outthink a defense because if things broke down and it wasn't perfect, I couldn't break off a 15- or 20-yard run," Dorsey said. "It's just not the way I was built. I think that's what coaching is about -- putting guys in the right position to come up with the right play.

"Sometimes the other team is going to have a better call, but I tried to be right more often than I was wrong."


(mercurynews.com)

BRADENTON, Fla. – Ken Dorsey was excited to be out at the IMG campus on Sunday for the first-ever Madden Football Academy.

Part of the reason for the former Miami quarterback’s smile, he was still thinking about his visit to the Hurricanes campus the day before.

Dorsey likes what he sees at his alma mater from first-year coach Al Golden and the new regime. The two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and Maxwell Award winner has visited Coral Gables several times since Golden was hired, including the spring game.

“Just the access they give a lot of alumni, the fact they really reach out and try and make a consertive effort to get alumni back and be part of the program, I think it’s exciting to see,” Dorsey said. “Seeing the energy and enthusiasm they bring every day on the practice field, you see it during practice and you see it during the summer camps when they’re dealing with the kids. That type of energy and enthusiasm along with their knowledge of the game will take them a long way.”

Several other former players feel the same way. Dorsey keeps in touch with guys like Kellen Winslow, Joaquin Gonzalez, Brett Romberg and Kevin Beard.

“I think everyone is excited about the future for that program,” Dorsey said. “I think everyone is excited about Coach Golden and what he’s bringing. I think every time you go down there, he’s there and really energetic and you can tell he’s excited himself. To have a head coach that will return phone calls if you call him and no matter what the situation is, he’s there for you now as a current player, or he’s there if you’re a player from the past. That’s exciting to see as a former player.”

Dorsey was part of one of the greatest runs in college football, leading Miami to a 38-2 record as the starting quarterback, including the 2001 National Championship. The school record holder for total offense, passing yards, passing completions and passing touchdowns, Dorsey doesn’t think it will be long until the current team sees the same kind of success.

“I’m really excited about where they’re going,” he said. “I think they have a great opportunity to do some really good things in the ACC, and play at the level of competing for multiple National Championships I think that’s always the expectation there, and with the level of talent they’re able to bring in, that’s always a possibility if they can pull it together on the field.”

Dorsey recently announced his retirement after playing six seasons in the NFL and one in the CFL. He’s now helping former Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke with his program at IMG, and coaching at Riverview High in Sarasota. Coaching is where he’d like to end up.

“Hoping to get into college or pro one of these days, but right now I like what I’m doing,” Dorsey said. “Hopefully if the right opportunity arises in the future, we’ll definitely see where it goes. I started a little late for some of that stuff. We’ll see if something happens next year.”


(247sports.com)

As the quarterback of the Miami Hurricanes, Ken Dorsey led his fellow teammates to a National Championship in 2001. Now working as the quarterback coach for the IMG Madden Football Academy , Dorsey has established a new kind of success through the athletes he instructs.

After receiving his first recruiting letter his junior year of high school, Dorsey ultimately ended up with the Canes. At Miami, his 38-2 record landed him as a National Champion, a two-time Heisman finalist, a Maxwell Award winner, and a two-time Archie Griffin Award recipient.
Dorsey accredits his high school football coach as the motivating factor in his career.

“In terms of teaching me the game and the techniques of how to play quarterback, he provided me with a good base of fundamentals.”

Even though Ken wasn’t “the most athletic or strongest guy on the team,” he claims that, “fundamentals made up for the things [he] wasn’t as talented at.” Dorsey’s impeccable work ethic landed him with an impressive college record and ultimately took his career to the next level.

Growing up in the San Fransisco area, Ken Dorsey dreamed of someday playing for the 49ers. In 2003, that dream came to life.

After his stellar career with the Miami Hurricanes, Dorsey was drafted to the San Fransisco 49ers. He played for the 49ers until 2005 when he moved to the Cleveland Browns. However, it was his time with the Canadian Football League that finally guided him toward a career in coaching.

“I always knew I wanted to coach when I was done playing professionally. It was great for me to be able to play for the Toronto Argonauts, because it made me realize how much I really loved the game of football.”

It didn’t take him long to find his place at IMG’s Madden Football Academy. After working with the NFL Draft prospects at the combine training, Director Chris Weinke offered Dorsey a position as the quarterback coach.

“When Chris contacted me about helping out, in my opinion, it was a no-brainer. He does a great job with the program, and that is what I want to be associated with. Not only IMG, but Chris specifically. With the IMG Academy structure and facilities, the sky is the limit with this program.”

Despite all of the reputable accomplishments and statistics of Ken Dorsey, the characteristic that makes him a qualified coach is his sincere investment in the athletes in the IMG Madden Football Academy.

“To me, the part I love is working with the kids. It’s fun to work with the athletes that are just naturally talented, and helping them achieve their goals. We also get those kids that are maybe less talented, and they don’t really get the attention they need from their high schools. I really enjoy getting see them get better and improve through the week.”

Dorsey can relate to the process of working hard to get where you want to be as an athlete.

“I have always believed in the work ethic you have to have to be great. I had to put in the time to work at it.”

And that is exactly what he is doing with the athletes in the IMG Madden Football Academy. At only 30 years-old, Dorsey has words of wisdom beyond his years. His advice for his pupils:

“No matter what your talent level, you can give yourself a chance if you put in the time to work at it.”


(blog.imgacademics.com)

A couple of weeks ago, former Cleveland Browns quarterback Ken Dorsey retired from football. One of the thing he has been doing since then? Training with rookie quarterback Cameron Newton, the first overall pick of the draft for the Carolina Panthers.

When Dorsey was with the Browns, fans often said that it seemed like he was a good mentor and that coaching could be in his future. In Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback, he discusses the Rob Chudzinski connection between Dorsey and Newton.

There's a good reason Dorsey and Newton have become workout and classroom partners. In 2001 and 2002, Dorsey, at Miami, was coached by Hurricane offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski. In 2007 and 2008, Dorsey, with the Cleveland Browns, was coached by Browns offensive coordinator Chudzinski.

Newton was able to get a Carolina playbook, with Panthers offensive coordinator Chudzinski’s encyclopedic offense, to take with him during the lockout, and Dorsey spent last week instructing Newton in the finer points of the offense, in addition to telling him the expectations and coaching methods of Chudzinski. “The best way to describe it,” said the quarterback coach who readied Newton for his pre-draft workouts, George Whitfield, “is it’s like an old pilot grooming a new pilot to take over his plane. The old pilot’s teaching him about every one of the controls in the cockpit.”



(yardbarker.com)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Ken Dorsey, the quarterback who led Miami to the 2001 national championship, has retired from professional football.

Dorsey spent last season with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts, after six years in the NFL.

Dorsey threw for 9,565 yards and 86 touchdowns with the Hurricanes, with whom he went 38-2 as a starter. He started 10 games for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, then started three more for the Cleveland Browns in 2008.

In his NFL career, Dorsey completed 214 of 408 passes for 2,082 yards and eight touchdowns.

Dorsey has spent time as a high school football assistant coach, and plans to pursue coaching full-time starting this fall.



(ap.com)