Assistant Football Coach Dave Varnell begins his 15th season with the Skyhawks in 2016.
Varnell began working with the Skyhawk football team during the 2001 winter workouts and was promoted to assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator following the 2004 season. Among his many coaching responsibilities during the past decade, Varnell has served as offensive and special teams coordinator, coached the offensive and defensive lines, tight ends, wide receivers, and secondary.
As an offensive assistant coach in 2010, he helped the Skyhawk passing game amass 2,807 yards, 271 completions, and 20 touchdowns. FLC’s offensive standouts included Justin Johnson (second team All-America, second team All-Super Region #3, first team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Cactus Bowl all-star game), quarterback Tim Jenkins (second team All-RMAC), and offensive lineman Luke Geller (third team All-RMAC). RMAC All-Academic honors were also earned by four Skyhawk offensive players that season.
In 2009, Varnell coached an offense that allowed the fewest sacks per pass attempt in the RMAC, ranked second in passing offense, and featured the NCAA receptions leader (Johnson) and RMAC Co-Offensive Newcomer of the Year (Jenkins).
In 2007, he served as special teams coordinator and secondary coach before being moved to the offensive line mid-season. During the 2005 “Coach V” assisted in coordinating a potent offense that helped the Skyhawks achieve a 6-4 (6-2 RMAC) record.
Varnell graduated summa cum laude from Fort Lewis in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in European history. A three-time academic scholarship recipient, he is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Theta honor societies.
Varnell has extensive coaching experience at the high school level. Most recently, he served as head football coach at nearby Bayfield High School in 1999, guiding the Wolverines to the state playoffs. In 1998, he served as varsity offensive line coach and head junior varsity coach at Bayfield. While at Bayfield, he also coached basketball and baseball at the varsity and junior varsity levels.
Varnell graduated from Arvada High School in 1979, where he competed in football and basketball. Immediately after high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served with the multinational peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 1982-83. He was a player-coach for the USMC's Camp Lejeune in North Carolina from 1980-82, helping his team to a division football championship in 1981.
Varnell and his wife, Diane, have a son, Joshua, and a grandson, Jaxsom David.
