A familiar coach within the PSAC West, Dave Durish enters his second season as the offensive line coach.
In his first year with the program, Durish worked with a unit that helped Cal U lead the country in scoring offense at 49.6 points per game. The Vulcans also eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards last season for the first time since 2009. The offensive line featured four overall All-PSAC West selections with three being first-team honorees. Center Taylor Nikithser was named a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American and also received the PSAC Champion Scholar Award.
Durish spent a decade on the coaching staff at Clarion, including seven years as the offensive coordinator. Additionally, he has coaching experience at the NCAA FBS, FCS and Division III levels during his career.
Dating back to start of his coaching career, Durish spent a combined 15 seasons with the Golden Eagles, as he served as a graduate assistant from 1993-95 and an offensive line coach from 1997-98. He returned to Clarion in 2006 as the offensive coordinator and also coached the offensive linemen during his latest tenure with the program.
Durish played an instrumental role with the program in 2009, as the Golden Eagles finished with an 8-3 overall record despite winning only a combined four games the previous three years. The Clarion offense featured three All-PSAC West First-Team selections and running back Alfonso Hoggard was named the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league in rushing yards, scoring and all-purpose yards.
Hoggard repeated as an All-PSAC West First-Team honoree as a senior in 2010 and finished his career with over 6,300 all-purpose yards and nearly 35 touchdowns.
In Durish’s final year as offensive coordinator, Clarion boasted the All-PSAC West First-Team quarterback for the first time in 20 years. Ben Fiscus passed for nearly 2,500 yards and led the team with almost 700 rushing yards while accounting for 20 touchdowns.
Durish also coached two of the top wide receivers in Clarion history in Jacques Robinson and Pierre Odom. Robinson, who was a three-time All-PSAC West selection, holds the all-time school record with 207 receptions and sits third in receiving yards. Odom ranks fourth at Clarion in both career receptions and receiving yards.
In 1996, Durish spent one year at Ohio Wesleyan as the offensive coordinator before returning to Clarion in 1997 as the offensive line coach. He then spent the 1999 season as the defensive line coach at Case Western Reserve.
Durish served as the defensive line coach at Millikin (Ill.) from 2000-03 and also was the school’s assistant athletic director. He helped the football program win over 30 games during his four seasons. The Big Blue tied for the league title in 2000, finished with a 9-2 overall record and made its second appearance in the NCAA Playoffs in three years. The following year, Durish mentored the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Defensive Player of the Year in Mike Lindsey, who finished his career with 45 tackles for loss (TFL).
In 2004, Durish served as the quality control coach at Illinois under then-head coach Ron Turner before spending the 2005 season as the defensive backs coach at Georgia Southern.
Durish earned his bachelor’s degree from IUP in 1991. He and his wife Tracy reside in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and have two children, Natalie and Patrick.
