Wide receivers coach Dino Dawson will not be returning to Illinois, the football office confirmed Tuesday.

Dawson came to Illinois as part of head coach Ron Zook’s initial coaching staff for the 2005 season. Under his coaching, Illini receivers caught 140-of-332 passes in 2006 for an average 156.5 yards per game – the lowest average in the Big Ten.

Zook made receiver a priority position in recruiting the class of 2007, and as a result, Illinois has brought some of the best receivers in the country to Champaign. Five-star recruit Rejus Benn started classes here in January, and will be joined in the fall by four-star recruit Anthony Morris from Thornton Township H.S.

Prior to coaching the Illini, Dawson worked as the defensive backs coach for Tuskegee University and the University of Cincinnati. He spent much of the ’90s at Bowling Green, where he worked as running backs coach for two seasons, spent a year working with the wide receivers, and became offensive coordinator in 2000.

There is a state-mandated two weeks before a replacement can be hired because the position is a state of Illinois job. But the Illini expect to have a new coach on campus in time for the start of spring practice on March 27.