Former Hurricane High School football stars Steve Dunlap and John                                  "Doc" Holliday are                                    heading back to West                                 Virginia University as                                  assistant football                                   coaches.

New Mountaineer                                     Coach Bill Stewart                                    announced Dunlap's                               appointment Friday,                               January 11th. However,                          PutnamLIVE.com                                           confirmed that Holliday                                   is also heading back to                               Morgantown where                                      both were players and                                assistants earlier in                                   their career.

"He's heading back," says Holliday's mother, Sally, who still lives on a farm near Hurricane Creek Road. "They haven't made the announcement yet, but he's told us he has the job."

When the announcement was finally made, new Head Coach Bill Stewart had plenty of praise for Holliday.

"Doc Holliday is one of the top recruiters in college football today," says Stewart. "He knows West Virginia University and this football program inside and out. He is a tremendous competitor and knows the game of college football as good as anyone. Having worked on both sides of the football at the I-A level, he brings a level of coaching pedigree that will help make our program that much better. We are happy to have him here."

Holliday, the Associate Head Coach at the University of Florida, will coach tight ends and also be WVU's Recruiting Coordinator. Before the Fiesta Bowl, Holliday interviewed for the Head Coaching position which was handed to Interim Head Coach Bill Stewart hours after the Mountaineers stunned the Sooners of Oklahoma, 48-28.

Dunlap, who most recently served as Marshall University's Defensive Coordinator will be WVU's Assistant Head Coach.

"What an assistant head coach does, I don’t know," Dunlap told the West Virginia Gazette. "I was one at Syracuse and it just meant I did all the stuff [Orange head coach Paul] Pasqualoni didn’t want to do. Go talk to the Rotary."

Both Dunlap and Holliday have family connections to Putnam County. Dunlap's sister is Putnam County Chief Magistrate Kylene Brown. He has been living with her for the past year in Teays Valley while coaching at Marshall.

"We're going to miss him," says Brown, "He is packing his bags and will leave early Saturday morning. It's been great having him here for awhile. Mom's right next door and she loved having her son nearby."

Dunlap's wife and daughter still live in the Carolinas where he coached before returning to West Virginia for his stint with the Thundering Herd. They will move to Morgantown when his daughter finishes high school next year.

Holliday's wife and his sons will remain in Florida-for now. Cade plays for the Gators which beat Ohio State for the BCS National Championship in 2007. His younger brother is finishing high school in The Sunshine State.

"Doc" Holliday played linebacker for WVU in the 1970's then coached under Don Nehlen until 1999. Since then he has split his time with North Carolina and the University of Florida.

Dunlap was Don Nehlen's Defensive Coordinator for 10 years before Rich Rodriguez came to Morgantown in 2000.  

A look back at Steve Dunlap's career

A look back at John "Doc" Holliday's career