Dave Warner, a Lehighton Area High School graduate, has been coaching college football for 29 seasons.

For the past seven years he has been at Michigan State University where he is co-offensive coordinator.In those three decades, no season has been like this past one.He helped guide Michigan State to a Big Ten championship, defeating then undefeated Ohio State in the title game.The Spartans then went to the Rose Bowl where they were a nearly seven point underdog against Stanford. They emerged victorious, and ended the season ranked three in the nation in virtually all the major polls.There were many who argued that the team deserved to play for the national championship and probably would have if the playoff format had started this year instead of next season.Warner, in a telephone interview, said just being in the Rose Bowl was a memory maker in itself, but what made it special was the attendance in Pasadena by Michigan State fans - dubbed the Spartan Nation."One of the things I'll never forget was when we ended up with the championship and going to the Rose Bowl," he said. "There were more people who traveled to California as the Spartan Nation than there were local people. There were 27,000 people gathered around our hotel the day before the game."Warner, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Warner of Lehighton, is a 1978 graduate of Lehighton Area High School. He went to Syracuse University where he got his bachelor's degree in speech communication in 1982 and master's degree in physical education in 1984.He was a three-year letter winner as quarterback at Syracuse, leading them to the Independence Bowl in 1979.He tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles, but got cut.After being released from the Eagles, he said his college coach, Jim Tressler, offered him a coaching position at Syracuse. That began his career which has taken him as an assistant coach to Kent State, Bucknell, Wyoming, Connecticut, Houston, Sourthern Mississippi, Cincinnati, and now Michigan State.This is his eighth season as an assistant under head coach Mark Dantonio.He coached with Dantonio at Cincinnati, then Dantonio got hired as Michigan State's head coach in 2006 and asked Warner to come with him.Warner was the quarterback coach for six seasons, then promoted to co-offensive coordinator this year and put in charge of the running backs.He has earned himself an impressive reputation as evidenced during several Michigan State games broadcast on national television in which the announcers often referred to his intelligent play calling.Warner admits this past season had a shaky start. In fact, a loss to Notre Dame early in the season is the reason the Spartans didn't get to play for the national title.Regarding the Notre Dame loss, the coach remarked, "We had the opportunity to win it and didn't get it done. It is what it is," indicating he will be dwelling on the positive aspects of the season.He made some adjustments and the team went on to end the year with 10 straight wins.Next year has the potential to be another great year for Warner, Dantonio, and Michigan State. They have a lot of returning lettermen including sophomore quarterback Connor Cook, who replaced Andrew Maxwell, who started the season as the signal-caller.Cook ranks among the Big Ten leaders in completions (fourth with 201), touchdown passes (tied for fifth with 20), passing (seventh with 186.4 ypg.), total offense (eighth with 193.4 ypg.), and passing efficiency (ninth with 133.9 rating). He ranked fourth in conference play in passing (213.5 ypg.) and sixth with 12 TD passes, and has produced seven 200-yard passing games. His five interceptions are tied for the least among Big Ten starting QBs."I feel like a lot of important pieces of the puzzle are back again," said Warner. "We will be very solid offensively."He added, "This is one of the few years we haven't lost any big players to the draft."Warner was hesitant about revealing any major changes planned for the offense, but stated, "We continue to explore and expand."The soft-spoken coach said he still periodically gets back to Carbon County. "I'll be recruiting in Pennsylvania so I'll shoot up and see Dad."In summarizing the overview of the team, Warner said the main reason is our staff. We are very much a team."One of the main accomplishments of Warner was mentoring MSU's Brian Hoyer in 2007 and 2008, who responded by becoming one of hte most productive quarterbacks in Spartan history. He then went on to the NFL where he completed his fourth season with the Arizona Cardinals, starting the last game of the season.Warner resides outside East Lansing, Mich. with his wife, Leigh Ann, and their children, a son, Jackson, and daughter, Alexandra.