NORTH CANTON Walsh University announced the hiring of Dan Pifer as the school's new head football coach. Pifer, a native of Celina, Ohio, joins Walsh from Olivet College in Michigan where he was the head coach for five seasons. He becomes just the third head coach at Walsh since it started football in 1995

In a statement released by Walsh, Pifer said his primary focus will be to tap into the rich history of football in the area.

"I think this place is a gold mine," Pifer said in the release. "It will be a brand new start with a new league with a lot of schools that are similar in mind set. My priority is to recruit locally within the state of Ohio with a special emphasis on Northeast Ohio as there are plenty of good kids and strong players within our local community. It will also be a great opportunity to get back to the Division II level and be involved with scholarships again."

Walsh joins the G-MAC for the 2017 season after an unsuccessful run in the GLIAC since moving from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2012. Walsh lost its last 13 GLIAC games was 9-40 in the league in five seasons.

The Cavaliers are coming off the worst season in program history, going 1-10 overall this past fall. Pifer replaces Ted Karras, who guided Walsh to a 9-34 record in his four seasons.

"In Dan Pifer, we have hired a successful coach with a track record of building football programs by instilling player self-esteem and motivation," Walsh University Vice President and Director of Athletics Dale Howard said in the statement. "Dan espouses the philosophy that winning begins with building relationships and trust with the coaching staff, players, parents, fans, and alumni. His enthusiasm to develop student-athletes both on and off the field of play makes him a great fit with Walsh University and our mission of developing the total student in mind, body and spirit."

This past season, Pifer guided the Olivet Comets to a 9-2 record with an appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Olivet went a perfect 6-0 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to win the conference championship and tie a program record for wins in a season.

Pifer led the Comets for five seasons as the head coach and quickly turned around the program into a power in the MIAA. After going 0-10 in his first season, he led Olivet to a 6-4 season the next two years. In 2015, Pifer led his team to a 9-1 record to set the new school record for wins in a season, were co-champions of the MIAA with a 5-1 record.

Prior to joining Olivet, Pifer was the offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator at Trine (Ind.) University for six seasons. While there, he helped guide the Thunder into a national power with three NCAA Division III playoff appearances from 2008 to 2010. This included three straight conference championships with undefeated MIAA seasons. Trine went 41-7 during that time and won 20-straight games both at home and within the MIAA.

Pifer coached Eric Watt, who won the 2010 NCAA Division III Gagliardi Trophy for being the nation's player of the year. That season, Trine led the nation in Division III in scoring offense at 47 points per game.

Pifer has also coached at Bellmont High School for four years, Hillsdale College for two years, University of St. Francis (Ind.) for three years, and St. Joseph's (Ind.) College for one year.

He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from California University of Pennsylvania in 1995 where he was a quarterback for the Vulcans.